News

Posted on

Travelling to WordCamp US

WordCamp US is in the very accessible location of Nashville, Tennessee. After you get your ticket, you’re going to want to get your hotel reservation, and then figure out your transportation. Here’s some tips and tricks to make your planning as stress free as possible, and get you here ready to celebrate all that the North American WordPress community has to offer.

Airport

Nashville International Airport (Airport Code: BNA) is located about 30 minutes from the the downtown Nashville area where all of our venues are located.

Hotel

Renaissance Nashville Hotel, is our official hotel for WordCamp US. It is withing walking distance of Music City Center, the site of the WordCamp US and Contributor Day. Make sure you reserve before October 31, 2017 to take advantage of our $189 per night special rate.

Ground Transportation

The Renaissance Nashville does not provide shuttle service from the airport. No worries, you can get to the hotel a number of ways:

Rental Car

Nashville International Airport has a rental car facility a short walk from the terminal. There, you will have the choice of nine (9) rental car brands including Enterprise, Alamo, Budget, and many more.

Advantage Car Rental is offering WCUS attendees a 10% discount.

Note: If you do intend to rent a car and stay at the Renaissance Nashville, please note that the hotel does not own any on site parking. The hotel provides valet parking services through a company called TownePark.  This service is currently $38 a night (plus applicable taxes) and includes in/out privileges. If you prefer, there are a number of garages downtown that you can choose from. The library garage, which is right across the street from the hotel, is about $14 a day (plus applicable taxes) with no in/out privileges.

To book convenient and affordable parking, we recommend using SpotHero, the nation’s leading parking reservation app.

Spot Hero Parking Deal

Spot Hero has offered WCUS attendee the following deal. To reserve your parking spot today, visit the WordCamp US SpotHero Parking Page and book a spot with rates up to 50% off drive-up.

New to SpotHero? Download the SpotHero iPhone | Android app and enter code WORDCAMP for $5 off your first spot!

Taxis

There are a variety of taxi companies to serve you. There is a flat rate of $25 to get to the downtown area.

Ride Sharing

Lyft and Uber are available in the Nashville area.

Jarmon Transportation

You can also get a ride via Jarmon Transportation for about $20. A reservation is required. Call (615) 275-0146 to reserve your ride.

Traffic, Detours, and Road Closures

I24 Closures – Major (we recommend leaving extra travel time if you are driving in from out of town)

This will affect the following:

  • Saturday & Sunday Only
  • It is the last 2mi and detours are obvious and mandatory.
  • Slow down will be 15-20min
  • Slow down is due to bottle necked traffic
  • Nashville is small and the city loop is easy.
  • MCC is accessible from all sides in less than 5-10min from Interstates
  • From I-24 West (St Louis, MO)
  • From I-65 North (Bowling Green, KY)
  • From I-40 East (Knoxville, TN)

Traffic Maps:

Christmas Parade – Saturday, December 2

  • The annual Nashville Christmas Parade will be march directly in front of our venue, Music City Center
  • We recommend:
    • giving yourself extra travel time
    • reserving a parking space if you are driving (see Spot Hero offer above)
  • Please note according to parade organizers:
    • 8:45 am – foot traffic across Broadway should cross at 8th or Higher
    • Foot traffic will not be allowed across the parade area until after the parade is over.

 

International Travelers

To make traveling to the US a little easier, we’ve put together an International Travelers page with instructions on how to get a letter to attach to your visa from the WordCamp US organizing team and the latest information we have on traveling to the US.

To make this as smooth as possible for everyone involved, please follow the directions as listed in the Sending a Secure Note via LastPass documentation.

Don’t Forget

  • You MUST purchase a ticket before we can send you a visa letter. No exceptions. If you have issues purchasing your ticket, please contact us.
  • We’ll need 1-2 weeks to process your letter. Allow yourself plenty of time to get your letter and submit it with your visa application.
  • To ensure that your request is processed in a timely fashion, we need your request no later than November 1st.
Posted on

The Loss of One of Our Own

It is with a broken heart that we write that the WordPress Community lost one of its own today. Jesse Petersen, a Genesis Preferred Developer, theme and plugin developer, and so much more lost his fight with Cystic Fibrosis today. Jesse was a valued contributor to the WordPress community and will be greatly missed by those who knew him. He was a WordPress user since 2005, a developer since 2008 and a friend to many.

Jesse is most known as being a Genesis Preferred Developer. As a Genesis-preferred developer since 2009, StudioPress trusted Jesse with their customers to assist with custom sites  and he was often personally recommended by the StudioPress founder, Brian Gardner for work. He was dedicated to his profession and to his clients to build products that they can be proud to use on their website. You can find some of his newest themes at GenesisThe.me.

Jesse was also a plugin developer. His newest plugin was GenesisThe.me After Entry Widget Pro that added a widget after a post.  He also has 5 plugins in the WordPress repository including Genesis Latest Tweets and Stealth Login Page. His last commit was only 5 days ago.

Jesse enjoyed being a WordCamp Speaker. He spoke at WordCamp Tampa and WordCamp Orlando in 2015 to name a few. Some of his talks  can be found at WordPress.tv. He enjoyed being a part of the WordPress Community and sharing his knowledge of WordPress.

Also, Jesse was a member of The WP Crowd and was on many of their podcasts. He was also a Treehouse instructor. His lessons include  Modern WordPress Workflow and Genesis Theme Development, which was released in August 2015

Jesse’s personal life was as full as his professional life. He was a family man with a beautiful wife and two adorable boys. Both of his boys came to them as foster children and then they became a forever family. You may remember his “surprise adoption” story of when they adopted their youngest son, Parker back in January, 2016. Jesse and his wife, Kristin, were foster parents up until they decided to take a pause from accepting anymore foster children. He was dedicated to his family and friends. He had a heart bigger than WordPress. 

Cystic Fibrosis had other ideas for Jesse. CF is a genetic disease that affects the ability of chloride to pass through cellular walls. This results in a lack of water balance in cells. Lack of water balance results in a thickened mucus that creates a problem in CFers’ respiratory tract (including sinuses), pancreas, liver, skin, and digestive tract. The life expectancy for CF is about 37 years. Jesse was 38.

Jesse leaves behind a wife and two precious boys who will be going through a lot in the upcoming days. They also could use all the help they can get for last expenses and going forward. Ben Meredith has setup a Give fundraiser to help with the last expenses and for the family going forward.

If you would like to read his story about his past few months of waiting for a lung transplant, please see New Lungs For Me . His older blog about Cystic Fibrosis can be found at Cystic Fibrosis Fatboy.

Jesse said just two days before his passing on Twitter “Can you look over your life and say you’d be leaving those connected to you better off having known you? If not, start today.” I think we can all safely say, we are better off for knowing you Jesse Petersen.

 

Images used from Jesse’s blogs.

Posted on

Call for Sponsors

TL:DR The call for sponsors for WordCamp US 2017 is open! Click here to apply

Sponsoring WordCamp US is a little different than sponsoring your average tech conference or trade show. It’s different than vying for a branding opportunity at a swanky corporate party. It’s sponsoring a lot of intangibles, but those intangibles pay off. It’s supporting the WordPress Community.

It’s being a part of the WordPress Community.

So, what does your company get out of sponsoring WordCamp US? It gets the attention of attendees who are highly engaged. They tune in, listen, and observe. You have the opportunity to be a part of a community that works because everyone works together. By being a part of this event, community members and attendees get to know you and your brand on a deeper level. Your support enables attendees to have a high-quality conference at a super affordable price.

We’re more about the holistic experience than the showmanship. Sure, there will be booths, banners, and swag. A bit of glitz and glamor. Everyone loves those. But more importantly there will be connection and conversation. Engagement with the driving force of WordPress. We are people driven. Community driven. Code driven.

The WordCamp program is unique and thrives because of the sum of all its parts and when you sponsor WordCamp US 2017 you make all this possible.

We want to make sponsorship and support of our event as attainable for those who support the WordPress Community as possible. With that in mind this year WordCamp US has sponsorship opportunities available from $300 to $75,000. We hope there’s a level that will work for you and your company.

For more information or to apply to sponsor, check out our Sponsors page.

We’ll see you in December.

Posted on

Call for Speakers

Update: Speaker submissions are now closed. Thanks to everyone who submitted a talk! We’ll get back to everyone as soon as possible.

We’re thrilled to announce that WordCamp US 2017 is officially accepting speaker applications!

The 3rd annual WordCamp US will be held December 1-3, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. We are excited to bring together WordPress enthusiasts from around the globe to participate in this fantastic event that celebrates all things WordPress. We appreciate the varied talents and perspectives that developers, content creators, designers, etc.  bring to the WordPress community. We’re looking to build a program packed with amazing presentations which reflects this incredible diversity of the WordPress community, and we want you to be a part of it!

Photo credit: Seth Goldstein.

What We’re Looking For

WordCamp US showcases the best of WordPress and the WordPress Community. We’re particularly interested in hearing from those who have used WordPress in interesting, innovative, and significant ways. Whether the open source software was used to deliver something technically amazing, or whether WordPress was the foundation for creating something meaningful in the community, we want to know about it. We’re also looking for dynamic and versatile speakers to talk about how they use WordPress to grow their business, develop advanced plugins, tell their stories, and much much more. Everybody has a unique WordPress story to tell, and we want to hear yours.

There’s much we can learn from others who haven’t traditionally spoken to our community. Your voice is welcome here.  If you work on other Open Source projects or web design and development in general, and think the WordPress community could benefit from your story, we want it told at WCUS.

Looking for more inspiration? Check out presentations from last year’s event.

Photo credit: Seth Goldstein.

Apply Today!

Please use the application website below to share your ideas with us. We encourage potential speakers to upload more than one pitch, but no more than three submissions will be accepted from an applicant. If you choose to submit more than three, the first three will be the only pitches considered.  If you run into problems submitting your application, please contact us.

Apply to speak at https://wcus-speakers.org

All applications must be submitted by June 23, 2017 at 11:59 EST (-5 GMT).

Posted on

The Renaissance Nashville Hotel is the WCUS 2017 Official Hotel

The Renaissance Nashville Hotel, one of the Nashville’s premier hotels, is the official hotel for WordCamp US 2017. It is just a short walk away from Music City Center, our official venue.

Photo Credit: Marriott International

Cool off in the indoor pool, burn off some steam in the fitness center, or relax and enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi in the hotel lobby while you work on a few lines of code.

Several trendy eateries and bars are located within the hotel proper, and there are multiple other options within walking distance of the hotel.

Photo Credit: Marriott International

We have also been able to secure a special rate for WordCamp US attendees of $189 a night for rooms that feature either a King or two Queen beds. Reservations can be made online at this specific link. Alternatively, attendees can call 1 (800) 468-3571 or (615) 255-8400 and mention WCUS to get the special rate.

Don’t wait until the last second! Reservations are being accepted now through October 31, 2017.

Buy your tickets to WordCamp US today!

Contributing Writer: Eleasha Drew
Photo Credit: Marriott International

Posted on

Nashville’s Music City Center is Home to WordCamp US 2017

Nashville is hosting WordCamp US, y’all. We are excited to announce that WordCamp US 2017 will take place at the phenomenal Music City Center. Even though this venue is just 4-years-old, it has already made its mark as an amazing destination center.

Music City Center is able to boast its 2.1 million square foot presence in the heart of Nashville. It’s the perfect site for everything from intimate bridal shows to massive comic conventions. With its downtown location, visitors find themselves just steps away from Nashville’s many offerings.

In addition to hosting events, Music City Center is the host to public artwork. The center represents over 50 artists and displays with over 100 pieces of eye-catching artwork. The art pieces include a mixture of paintings, suspended pieces, new media, mosaics, and light works that can be observed throughout the building.

There are many attractions within walking distance of Music City Center. Highlights include the popular:  Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Johnny Cash Museum, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and Bridgestone Arena.

A couple of bus stops or a short cab ride away are attractions like Centennial Park with its Parthenon showpiece, Vanderbilt University, and the world famous Grand Ole Opry.

All you foodies out there won’t be disappointed. Whether you’re looking for something high-end to good, old-fashioned home cooking, there’s a place for you. Withing walking distance of Music City are a variety of eateries to explore including: Etch, The Southern Steak & Oyster, Bakersfield Tacos, Merchants, and more. Just a short cab ride away is the Germantown section of Nashville which is home to one of the hottest rising destination food scenes in the US.

Nashville is growing by leaps and bounds as a diverse city with many possibilities. Here are just some of the  accolades Nashville has received in recent years:

  • Nashville named WalletHub’s #1 best city for women-led businesses
  • Nashville named the 2015 Destination of the Year by Travel and Leisure Magazine
  • Nashville named 2011 Best Music Scene by Rolling Stone Magazine
  • Nashville ranked within the top 10 on Cvent​’s list of Top 50 Meeting Destinations in the United States. (August 2015)
  • Nashville listed in Collaborate Magazine’s list of the Top 12 Foodie Cities for Meetings.
  • Nashville named #3 Best Convention City in the 10 Best USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.
  • Nashville named in GreenBiz.com’s list of Top 10 U.S. Cities for Green Meetings in 2014.

With all that Downtown Nashville has to offer, you can see why the Music City Center was chosen as a great venue to host WordCamp US. We can’t wait for you to come and enjoy the conference as well as the wonderful city!

Buy your tickets for WordCamp US today!

Photo credit: Randy Hicks.
Contributing Writer: Eleasha Drew

Posted on

Welcome to WordCamp US 2017

Nashville Cumberland River at Sunset

We’re happy to announce that WordCamp US 2017 is officially on the calendar!

WordCamp US 2017 will be December 1st – 3rd in Nashville, TN.

Subscribe using the form in the footer to stay up to date on the most recent news. We’ll be keeping you posted on all the details over the coming months, including speaker submissions, ticket sales and more!

Photo credit: Randy Hicks.

WordCamp US 2017 is over. Check out the next edition!