Can’t wait for tomorrow? Want a sneak preview of what is on deck? Well then check out our lead organizer April Holle as well as some of our speakers chatting it up on WPwatercooler.

Check it out at http://www.wpwatercooler.com

Many thanks to our generous sponsors who enabled us to increase the number of seats available this year for WordCamp Phoenix. Incredibly, even with more tickets available, we have SOLD OUT!

Didn’t get your ticket? Don’t despair yet, you have one more chance. A limited number of walk-up tickets will be available for purchase at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning at registration in the Crowne Plaza San Marcos. Be sure to get there bright and early to get yours. Tickets are good for the whole weekend, so even if you are planning to attend just Saturday, you better get your ticket tomorrow or miss out on an epic event.

A huge shout-out to all of our Community Sponsors. Because of their generosity, we have been able to give out 6 free conference passes to attendees who otherwise would not have the means to attend the conference.

CODYL
codyL is a website development company providing a range of web based business solutions to their clients. Utilizing and specializing in the WordPress platform, we help both smaller and larger businesses build effective websites that create a better user experience for their audience and, in turn, achieve their business goals online. They are passionate about design and development and driven to produce results.

Website: http://codyl.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/codyLdotcom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/codyL (@codyL)

CREDLY
Credly helps the world recognize lifelong achievement by offering the leading platforms for verifying, sharing and managing digital badges and credentials. Credly is a powerful web service and a universal framework for issuing, earning, displaying and rewarding achievement in the form of digital credentials and badges. Our system includes: a web application to store, display, manage and share lifelong credentials, a free mobile app for earning, issuing, displaying, and sharing credit and an “Open Credit” API to seamlessly integrate into existing sites, applications, functions, workflows and online communities.

Website: http://credly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Credly
Twitter: https://twitter.com/credly (@credly)

CYBERCHIMPS
CyberChimps is a responsive WordPress theme design and development company that develops themes you can trust including iFeature Pro, Responsive, Business Pro, and Eclipse Pro. CyberChimps is comprised of a team of WordPress professionals that have over 7 years of WordPress experience and believes in supporting customers, designing premium products that just work, and giving back to the WordPress community.

Website: http://cyberchimps.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cyberchimps
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cyberchimps (@cyberchimps)

POSITIVE ELEMENT
Positive Element is a “boutique” custom web design firm focused on creating web sites for professionals, authors and small businesses that are user-friendly, easy to maintain and easily optimized for search engines and social media. We develop primarily in WordPress and SquareSpace, creating unique web sites that reflect client brands and meet their specific, individual needs.

Website: http://www.positiveelement.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/betsela (@betsela)

STICKERGIANT
We Print Custom Stickers. Every Sticker Has A Story. Stickergiant.com was designed to print super high quality stickers quickly. Our service and quality is both guaranteed and legendary, a winning combination. The best materials make the best stickers and we don’t skimp on sourcing the best sticker material and laminates. Quality Material. Quality Color. Free Die Cutting. Free Artwork Services. Legendary Support and Advice.

Website: http://www.stickergiant.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stickergiant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/stickergiant (@stickergiant)

WordCamp simply would not be possible without our phenomenal sponsors. So, it gives us great pleasure to welcome two additional sponsors:

Platinum Sponsor – WiredTree

Bronze Sponsor – EventDay

Be sure that you’ve got your ticket so you don’t miss out on an action packed weekend!

WIREDTREE
WiredTree provides Managed VPS and Managed Dedicated Servers to WordPress users worldwide from our Chicago-based data center and offices. Every WT server is backed by 24×7 telephone support, ticket support with 15 minute average response times, and is fully managed and monitored by WiredTree to maximize uptime and minimize frustration. All servers come ready-to-run with cPanel/WHM and are optimized and security hardened with firewall and anti-spam out of the box. With experience in SSD technology, MariaDB, Memcached, WordPress plugins, server optimization, and LiteSpeed Web server, WiredTree can take your site’s performance to the next level.

Website: http://www.wiredtree.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WiredTree
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wiredtree/ (@wiredtree)

EVENTDAY
EventDay is a total solution that helps small business and large conferences manage the entire lifecycle of your event, conference or meeting. We offer a world class conference and meeting management application and specialize in online registration and super-fast check-in service using QR codes and smartphones.

Website: http://www.eventday.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EventDay
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EventDay (@EventDay)

Our team at GoDaddy is focused on helping you to have a very fast and reliable WordPress site. But here’s a dirty little secret: WordPress is fast. Content, plugins, and themes make it slow. If you have a website that is feeling a little sluggish, you can use WebPagetest to get back on track.

This post will show you how to look past the report card, and become an advanced WebPagetest user.

Don’t use this…

Use this!

Load Time
This is the time it takes for the browser to stop spinning and completely load your website — typically 3-7 seconds.  Load time is largely dependent the number of requests (images, css, javascripts) and bytes in (images, video, slideshows).

Choosing a responsive theme can reduce the load time for your site by only showing what your user’s browser needs to display.  This can reduce the number of requests needed to render your site in the browser more quickly.

You can also reduce your load time by choosing proper image sizes for your posts (usually medium), and remove unnecessary widgets and plugins from your site.

First Byte
This is the delay between requesting your site and when it starts to display in the browser.  You want this under 1-2 seconds to make your site feel fast.

A caching plugin like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache can lower your first-byte time. You can also use P3 Profiler (a GoDaddy plugin) to see which plugins are slowing down your site.

Speed Index
Google’s speed index measures how quickly your site appears on the screen, even if it hasn’t downloaded completely. A speed index around 5,000 is average, and lower is better.

Top: low speed index – Bottom: high speed index

Your speed index will naturally improve as you optimize your site.  Advanced users should look into removing render-blocking javascript.

Be careful, animations, complex color schemes, interstitial dialogs, and auto-playing slideshows / videos can artificially inflate your speed index.

First vs. Reload
Compare the first visit and the reload visit to your site. A drop in the scores tells you that the browser is caching your site effectively.  This means that return visitors will have a much faster experience.

Example of well cached results

If your site isn’t caching properly, you can use the Browser Caching module in W3 Total Cache, find a mod_expires tutorial, an nginx tutorial, or ask your host.

BONUS: Content Breakdown
Click on the “Domains” tab to make sure you’re not hosting half of your site with Google, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook due to the amount of widgets and embedded media on your site. Reducing requests to third-party domains can make your site feel snappier.

Some third-party requests can help your site, like images delivered through a content delivery network (CDN). Too many third-party requests can slow down your site’s load time, though.

The team at GoDaddy is happy to help you start 2014 off right with a fast and fresh site!

Hey Phoenix!

A big hello from everyone at WP Engine. We’re excited to see you all very soon.

WordCamp Phoenix is one of the major WordCamps of the year, and we’re incredibly excited for the opportunity to join the whole community for a weekend of amazing talks, connections, and great conversations.

If Phoenix will be your first ever WordCamp, welcome!

If you’re a veteran of the WordPress community, we’re looking forward to connecting again.

Everyone is welcome to come by our booth for some brand new WP Engine swag. We’ll have stickers and soft WP Engine T-shirts of all sizes.

WP Engine will also have some exciting news to share as well, so stay tuned….

Who is WP Engine?
WP Engine is the one of the most mature premium managed hosting platforms for websites and applications built with WordPress, powering tens of thousands of websites.

Businesses such as Discovery Networks, HTC, VM Ware, Atlassian, Asana, and Country Music Television rely on WP Engine’s platform. Our customer service team of WordPress Experts specialize in hands-on service.

Developers love WP Engine because they know that the people at WP Engine understand the challenges of developing WordPress sites and have built an entire development toolkit with features like the one-click staging area, push from staging to production with a click, and .git for version control and deployment.

Information about why top WordPress developers, bloggers, and enterprises trust WP Engine for their managed WordPress hosting needs can be found at www.wpengine.com.

See you all this weekend!

P.S.: We want to say a quick thank you to the WordCamp Phoenix Organizers for all their hard work putting the event together.

From 9am to 11am on Sunday, January 19 please join us for WordCamp for Kids. This special WordCamp session will be lead by Suzette Franck. She is the WordPress evangelist for Media Temple and a veteran WordCamp speaker. Past attendees and their parents look forward to attending each year and will be there helping out with the class.

The session is a fun experience and can be a very useful skill for young ones to learn. Each child will come out of the class with a functioning website (with parental supervision, of course). Past graduates of WordCamp for Kids have started their own websites and started blogging.

Please register here if you are planning to attend WordCamp for Kids. We are looking forward to seeing you & your little ones.

Planning to be at WordCamp for the phenomenal Foundation Friday sessions? Fantastic!

You may be interested to know that while you are finding something tasty for lunch, just showing your badge at some of the Downtown Chandler restaurants will get you a discount. Here’s what’s cooking in Downtown Chandler and how much you can save:

• Bourbon Jacks (10% discount)
  Bourbon Jacks blends traditional country with contemporary appeal, boasting a fresh, innovative menu, extensive drink selection, and an exciting atmosphere equipped with live entertainment and large HD TVs.
• 
  Brunchies (10% discount)
  Part of the Serrano’s family restaurants, Brunchies serves up Mexican breakfast and lunches that draw customers from all over the valley.
• Coach & Willies (10% discount)
  They offer a full menu with many tasty options, including their signature lobster bisque! C&W’s new one of a kind design includes 31 HD flat screen TV’s where you can watch all your favorite sports teams while in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
• Murphy’s Law (15% discount)
  This friendly neighborhood people’s bar offers over 50 beers and a full line of spirits 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The menu features local favorite dishes like fish and chips, beef & chicken Shepard’s pie, vegetarian and skinny menus and more
• Paletas Betty (10% discount)
  Find a delicious seasonal menu of handmade Mexican ice and cream pops made locally in Chandler from scratch.
• Planet Subs (10% discount)
  Planet Sub, the oven baked original, offers subs made on freshly baked bread daily.
• SanTan Brewery (10% discount)
  Located in a renovated 1954 bank building, this microbrewery not only boasts great hand-crafted beers brewed on the premises, but delicious food as well.
• Serrano’s (10% discount)
  The first restaurant of this well-known local chain and a downtown Chandler icon, Serrano’s is known for it’s tasty, authentic Mexican cuisine.

Print the discount list or save it to your device

We couldn’t have started 2014 better!

Happy 2014! The New Year couldn’t have started better for us! We at SiteGround are extremely proud to kick off 2014 with WordCamp Phoenix. As Gold Sponsors of the event, we finished 2013 eagerly preparing materials and giveaways for this fantastic gathering and look forward to January 17-19 to meet great WordPress folks and have fun together.

As of the last two years, we have been actively attending, sponsoring, and speaking at WordCamps, and we like talking to customers at these events. We believe these are the best places where we can find out what we do well and what we need to do better. So if you are going to WordCamp Phoenix 2014 (why would you miss it anyways), we sure hope you’ll stop by and have a chat! You can’t miss us – we have large colorful circles on our stand and lots of cool swag at the booth.

SiteGround is a web hosting company servicing more than 300,000 domains, a large percentage of which work with WordPress. As huge fans of the open source software, our involvement with WordPress started long ago when it was just a new blog tool that quickly became hot. Over the last few years, we watched with admiration how from just a handful of people who were using it on our servers – now there are tens of thousands of people working with it. The more of our clients chose WordPress, the more dedicated we became to supporting that software. Now we have an array of tools whose development went through with the purpose of creating convenience for our WordPress users.

SiteGround WordPress hosting now gives users the flexibility of a typical host and the convenience of a managed WordPress provider. On our servers, users could use any plugin or theme they like, have access to their account via FTP and SSH, while at the same time WordPress gets autoupdated by SiteGround together with all extensions added from the official repository.

Besides the server setup we maintain, we developed a caching solution for WordPress with static, dynamic and memcached included, to boost website performance. In terms of security, we have applied unique, in-house security solutions. For example, we were among the first to stop a huge brute-force attack that WordPress users suffered through in 2013, thanks to a combination of rules we added to our server software. And none of these solutions included stopping your login access to the admin area!

One more thing worth mentioning is that Siteground cares about user experience and to that end we develop tools like our Staging tool and integrated GIT, which allows users to work with WordPress conveniently. We also have a password manager for the WP admin that could be accessed from our cPanel, and offer free website migration to new clients.

And finally, we have lots of surprises for all attendees at WordCamp Phoenix, and we can’t wait to meet you all!

You may have noticed that we started out talking about the Phoenix WordPress event in 2014 with a different name, WP Weekend Phoenix. The vibrant and passionate WordPress community in Phoenix has meant each year our event becomes larger and has the opportunity to impact more people throughout the community. Along with the growth, there have also been new opportunities to serve the Phoenix community in the best way possible.

Given our collective experience putting together WordCamps in the past, our dedicated staff of organizers initially determined we needed to branch out as an independent event in order to produce the level of experience the Phoenix community deserves.

Fortunately, the folks at WordPress Foundation reached out to us to see if we couldn’t figure out a way to continue as a WordCamp. After successful negotiations on certain guidelines, we are thrilled to report that our event will operate as an official WordCamp in partnership with the WordPress Foundation!

Brian Krogsgard at Post Status was kind enough to do a full write-up, so if you are craving specifics, be sure to check out the article. We hope our suggestions will help all future WordCamps with the challenges of growth as well as assist WordPress Foundation with clarity and transparency for their guidelines. Afterall, we are all looking to benefit local and global community interests and growth.

We can’t wait to share every exciting detail about WordCamp Phoenix 2014. If you previously signed up to attend, speak, volunteer or sponsor on any of our current forms, don’t worry, your information followed us over. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

• Attend – Tickets will be releasing soon, so get on the early bird list!
• Speak – Get your speaker submission in NOW! The speaker deadline approaching, don’t miss this chance to share your WordPress goodness!
• Volunteer – We are looking for awesome peeps to help out in all kinds of ways. Volunteers get free admission to WordCamp Phoenix and a fantastic volunteer hoodie!
• Sponsor – Slots are filling up, but we’re still actively taking sponsors. Don’t miss your chance, get in touch today!

Be sure to follow us on your favorite social network:

Looking forward to the biggest and best Phoenix WordCamp yet!