JOSH POLLOCK

Josh Pollock is the founder and lead developer of Caldera Labs, creators of Caldera Forms, a drag and drop responsive form builder for WordPress. He is also a WordPress core contributor, author of two books about WordPress development and a member of The WPCrowd.

Josh will present on an Introduction to Block Development.

LEE DROZAK

Lee Drozak is a Digital Strategy who designs and develops WordPress websites for people who love their online business but haa-ate their websites.

She’s here for those who are tired of fitting into everyone else’s mold. Those who are rebelling against sleazy online marketing. Those who want a website that takes your customer on a journey and allows you to solve the problems that brought them to Google search.Her straightforward advice has been featured at WordCamps, Soar To Success Magazine, and Pittsburgh Biz TV Shows. She’s presented to organizations large and small to share her love for website creation and passion for making the process simple.And when she’s not teaching small business owners how to create effective and client attractive websites, you can find her exploring the outdoors, listening to the horse and buggies in her Amish town or enjoying a glass of wine.

To learn more about Lee Drozak and discover how a solid WordPress process can help you reign in your client projects. visit www.leedrozak.com.

Lee’s presentation is on Difficult Clients or Clients Who Become Not So Ideal.

BEN MEREDITH

Ben is the Senior Support Technician at WordImpress, the makers of Give, the most robust donation platform for WordPress. He also created Better Click To Tweet, the most popular WordPress Plugin for adding Click to Tweet boxes to WordPress posts and pages. A lifelong North Carolinian (with a 4-year break in Middle Tennessee just after college), Ben is also one of the organizers for WordCamp Raleigh, leading the team in 2017 and 2018. When not coding or solving code puzzles to support users, you’ll find him with a guitar in hand or perhaps playing a round of disc golf. He’d lobby for it being called just “golf” and making that other game “ball golf” or perhaps “expensive ball golf.”

Ben will talk to us about How To Get Better Support.

MAX IVEY AKA THE BLIND BLOGGER

Maxwell Ivey is a totally blind man who grew up in a family of carnival owners in Texas. He started going blind at age four, lost much of his vision by age 12, and was totally blind by the time he graduated from college. Still he attended traditional high school and college. He became involved in scouting and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He would participate in the family business helping with bookings and operating games until his dad’s death forced the closure of their small traveling show. He started helping people sell surplus amusement equipment online. He had to learn so much including how to hand code html, master social media network, recruiter clients, set fees, write copy, build an email list, record videos, and so much more. People told him how inspiring he was which lead to starting a second website the blind blogger where he shares the more personal aspects of being a blind entrepreneur. That lead to writing three books his latest about competing for and winning one of the amtrak writers in residence. He would use his prize to take a crazy solo trip to New York City during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. He wrote about that in his latest inspirational self-help book titled The Blind Blogger’s NYC Adventures, How You Can Make Your Dreams Come True. Along the way he became. Prolific guest on podcasts, radio shows, virtual summits, and other online media opportunities. This lead to helping friends do the same. Now days he is hiring out to help fellow authors, coaches, speakers, bloggers, and podcasters more exposure by booking them on podcasts and radio shows so they can share their stories, reach new audiences, and build their brands. He loves helping people and is a no excuses allowed life goals coach and motivational story teller as a speaker. He is currently planning to travel the world sharing his message of accomplishing goals by finding solutions instead of making excuse. He loves to sing and will probably sing during his talk. If you have questions for him, just ask. He believes it’s better to answer an awkward question than to have people guess.

Max will present on When You Don’t Have Your Own Audience, Borrow Someone Else’s.

ABBEY SAGER

Abbey Sager, 18, was born and raised in northern New Jersey and now resides in southwestern Pennsylvania. She currently goes to Southern New Hampshire University majoring in Nonprofit Management. Already putting these skills to use, Abbey also runs her own 501(c)3 non-profit – Diverse Gaming Coalition – which fights to end online harassment. Her interests include how people use their emotions, bullying and harassment, and how these two ideas correlate. She actively volunteers for organizations such as Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, Peace First, and Youth Service America.

Abbey will present on How To Build Your Platform Around Compassion.

SAM JADALI

As a cybersecurity researcher and crypto activist, Sam’s dedication and passion in the cloud space has been alive and well before the term cloud was born. He has spent the last 20 years in the hosting industry and he founded Host Duplex 8 years ago. Since the launch of HD, Sam and his company have been not only managing WordPress sites but educating clients on security and performance to assist in their success. His clients include some of the most visited WordPress sites on the internet including MacRumors and AppShopper . He quickly realized that client education is vital for not only his success but for their success. With his depth of knowledge of plugin security and compliance regulations, he continually educates his clients on how to be preemptive with security while maintaining the performance they expect.

An avid Big 10 fan (Go Hawkeyes, sorry Panther fans), Sam escaped the Iowa cold and moved to Southern California 7 years ago. He currently resides in downtown San Diego and is currently learning the ropes of raising a new puppy.

Sam will present on GDPR Is Here. Does It Affect You and Are You Compliant?