We are excited to announce the speakers for WordCamp Buffalo 2018! We are humbled to have such a variety of highly dedicated, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic WordPressers joining us.
WordCamp speakers are entirely volunteer. They self-fund their travel and accommodations to speak at WordCamps all over the world. We are grateful for their commitment to the Buffalo WordPress community.
Anne-Marie Huurre
Anne-Marie comes from the computer game & high tech industry and understands the related stresses. Her work in mindfulness and stress management continues to help high tech and health care workers. She has a passion for helping family caregivers.
Ben Dunkle
Ben Dunkle is a teacher, designer, and artist. He actively works on the WordPress open source project, and has designed thousands of icons for WordPress, including the Dashicons that we see in the wp-admin. Ben has organized and spoken at numerous WordCamps and runs a monthly WordPress users Meetup group.
Chrissie Pollock
Chrissie is a huge fan of the WordPress community. She loves helping people get the most out of their sites in her daily job as a Happiness Engineer at Automattic. Before that job she was a professional writer and often ghost-wrote for people, using the WordPress platform.
Joe Cartonia
I am a Buffalo native working in Virginia Beach as a WordPress plugin and API developer for BoldGrid since 2014. Technology (electronics, computer hardware, and software) has always been a major interest of mine since the first grade. I also enjoy traveling, motorsports, snowboarding, playing guitar, and spending time at the beach.
Jonathan Lawrence
Jonathan D. Lawrence is a faculty member in the Religious Studies Department at Canisius College. He has used WordPress for several years in the classroom and to create a website for the Religion in Western New York Project: https://blogs.canisius.edu/religionwny/. He has a “bad” habit of breaking course management systems and likes to stretch tech tools to accomplish new tasks.
Lee Hurst
When I picked the name “Helpfullee” as a personal brand name, I found I had to live up to the name! For the two years that has meant monitoring Twitter and other social media for people needing help with Google Data Studio. Fortunately, I’ve been loving that and people took notice: I recently signed a contract with Wiley to write their first book on Data Studio!
Working on websites is like a mystery novel or puzzle to be solved. How can we make it work better?
When I’m not doing WordPress, I work at a large industrial company doing web application development, global web development, SEO, and strategy. I’ve been developing on the internets since 1995 with companies like IBM, Aetna and Kodak but I really love helping small businesses and hobbyists get more from their websites.
Maryann Reissig
Mother, wife, professional, friend, sister, daughter, WordPress fan. Maryann has worked in web development for over 20 years, mostly in the higher education arena. She uses WordPress at her day job as well as to help local businesses and organizations maintain and grow their web presence. She loves to find new ways to use her skills to help others and her goal is to create a diverse and welcoming community around her.
Michelle Ames
Michelle completed her MBA in Marketing, E-Commerce and Information Systems from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. She has over twenty years of experience in higher education; ten years owning a web design and marketing company; and currently serves as the Head of Customer Success for Impress.org (developers of GiveWP.com and WPBusinessReviews.com).
Michelle is a veteran of public speaking. She’s been an instructor for a wide variety of topics including Using Quantitative Data Analysis Software, Meditative Drawing, Intro to WordPress, and Marketing for Massage Therapy. Michelle speaks at conferences all over North America. You can find many of them recorded on WordPress.tv including “Little Things That Make a Big Difference” and “Hidden Features of WordPress Revealed,” as well as panel discussions on marketing, WordPress experts, and women in technology.
Michelle is the author “A Good Firm Handshake (and other essential business tips)” available on Amazon.com.
Say hi to Michelle on Twitter at @michelleames and check out her website at worksbymichelle.com.
Mikel King
20+yr Technology Leader, Public Speaker, Columnist, USCG Veteran, Brewer of beer, Coffee Evangelist – VP of Engineering at Haymarket Media
Nick Adams
I’m from Rochester, NY. I’m the Chief Operations Buff at WP Buffs. I’ve been an organizer for WordCamp Rochester since 2017.
Shanta Nathwani
Shanta has spoken at more than 30 WordCamps, mostly in beginner and content architecture talks. She was a professor in Web Design and Development at Sheridan College for 5 years before joining Weever Apps Inc. in Hamilton, Ontario just under a year ago as the Customer Service Co-ordinator. She was promoted 6 months later to the position of Quality Assurance Supervisor, overseeing the QA Department.
She blogs at shanta.ca and can be found on Twitter @ShantaDotCa
Trevor Johnson-Steigelman
Trevor is the owner of Coaches of Technology, Inc., a company that provides classes on the programming of robotics and microcontrollers for youngsters. The company also provides technology training for adults, including iPad classes, Windows training, and Video Lesson creation. More information is available at coachesoftechnology.com.
He is also an Assistant Professor of Physics at Finger Lakes Community College. He uses his website, physicsthisweek.com, to help students at FLCC and other schools learn the fundamentals of physics.
Tricia Isham
Tricia is a web designer who creates sites for small service-based businesses. She believes every business deserves a strategic, professional-looking website, not just a pretty one. She goes the extra mile to help business owners get online and loves to come alongside others and help them learn WordPress.