I spoke yesterday at WordCamp Phoenix
Yesterday I gave a talk at WordCamp Phoenix in their 101 series. The 101 series is for newbies to WordPress. My topic was an introduction to themes and I used a metaphor most people could quickly understand: legos! You can see it here.
I thought it went well, people were engaged, and the response after the talk was very positive. But this isn't just a post about me. It's only partially about me.
The WordPress Community has some great Rockstars
Because after the talk, I stepped outside to hang out with folks in the patio. Out there was Mike Shroder (@getsource), the WordPress evangelist for dreamhost. If you don't know Mike, you should follow him online. He presents at WordCamps, contributes to the core, and is an all-around great guy.
I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. The difference between the WordPress community and other software ones is that while every community has it's rockstars, the WordPress rockstars are approachable. They're down-to-earth and easy to hang out with.
So as we were talking, a gentleman walked up and engaged us in chatting. He started talking about presentations, energy and directed his comments to me. Then he talked about image processing (the topic Mike is presenting this weekend) with Mike.
Find your own way to contribute
It's unlikely that I will contribute code to the core like Mike. But that doesn't limit my ability to have an impact in the community in a different way. I train. I present. And I write. Most people count themselves out because they can't write a theme, a plugin, or add to the core. But that's not the only way to contribute.
So host a meetup.
Or give a talk.
Find your own path to contribute. Find your niche.