Join our ONA 2019 Meetup!

Coming to the annual Online News Association (ONA) conference in New Orleans next month? We’re having the first in a series of WordCamp for Publishers meetups at like minded events to continue our conversations about journalism, advancing the open web, and open source tools for publishers.

Our meetup will take place at 5PM on Friday 9/13 at the AC Hotel Bourbon, which is just a few blocks from ONA 2019. The exact location in the hotel will be provided early next week.

If you’re interested, sign up here to be notified once we have more details. We’ll also be announcing more events in the coming weeks and months, some in person and some virtual. Join our brand new Meetup group to stay informed.

Hope to see you soon!

Host WordCamp for Publishers 2020!

WordCamp for Publishers will return in 2020 – maybe to your city! Unlike most WordCamps, our organizing team is distributed across the US, so it’s important for us to have a local organizer to help facilitate venue coordination, event logistics, swag delivery, and much more.

If you (as an individual, or a group of individuals) are interested in helping with this and have a great suggestion for a city, please fill out the application form. Please note that we do have a preference for cities that are underrepresented media markets so we can bring them an amazing event they might not normally experience.

We’ve left most fields optional, but please fill out as much information as you have. If you have any questions or other supporting materials that don’t fit here, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Friday is Mentorship Day!

Tomorrow is an opportunity for you to give back to the community by sharing your expertise, or, learn from our talented attendees. Come join the first ever WordCamp for Publishers Mentorship Day!

We’ll be grouping folks by topic and introducing speed mentorship rounds for attendees to connect with each other. Doors open at 10:00 am on Friday, and we’ll have several rounds of mentorship hours until 1:00 pm.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can still do so now: http://bit.ly/wcmentor


If you’re still around tomorrow night, don’t forget about our Columbus Clippers baseball game at 7:15pm at Huntington Park. Tickets are first-come, first-serve. We hope to see you there!

Everything you need to know about WordCamp for Publishers 2019

WCPUB 2019 is upon us! We can’t wait to welcome everyone to Columbus for this year’s event. Here is some up-to-the-minute information as you hit the road!

Join the conversation!

Follow us on Twitter and please use the #WCPUB hashtag all week to join the conversation at WordCamp for Publishers 2019!

Check-in and Registration

There will be signs outside the Vue Columbus pointing the way to the check-in table. Registration (and coffee!) opens at 9:30 am. Opening remarks begin at 10:00 am and the first sessions are at 10:30 am. We’re starting a bit later than usual to give folks a chance to show up and have time to schmooze and say hello to our sponsors.

If you have colleagues who still haven’t bought their tickets, they can grab one here. We’ll have enough food and supplies for the latecomers, although they’ll need to hand-write their badge.

Mentorship Day

Friday is Mentorship Day. You can be a mentor or to be mentored. Sign up here and join us Friday to exchange knowledge with the amazing other folks in our publishers community.

Food and Drink

Coffee and soft drinks will be available throughout the day at the Vue. There won’t food provided except lunch, so plan accordingly if you have special needs.

For lunch, we’ll be sampling some of Columbus’s finest gourmet food trucks! On Wednesday, Nazca Peruvian Eats will be on site to hand out tasty Latin American options, and on Thursday we’ll be chowing down on Middle Eastern cuisine from Pitabilities. Vegetarian options will be available both days.

Lunch will be provided on Friday at Mentorship Day as well. We’ll take a headcount on Friday and place an order with a local eatery to be announced!

Social Events

WCPUB is all about getting to know other folks in the community, so we’ll have a plenty of time to kibbitz.

If you’re arriving early enough on Tuesday, feel free to join us for an informal hangout at Arepazo Tapas Bar Grille (515 S High St, Columbus) from 8:00 pm onwards. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

On Wednesday night, join us at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters (1124 Parsons Ave, Columbus) from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm for a coffee house-style hangout. Light snacks and drinks will be included. Feel free to bring board games, card games, or other activities!

On Thursday night, we’ll be having the usual conference afterparty at Wolf’s Ridge Brewing (215 N 4th St, Columbus) at 7:00 pm. Food and drinks aplenty will be on offer!

And of course, on Friday we’ll continue our WCPUB baseball tradition with an outing to see the Columbus Clippers of the AAA International League take on the Buffalo Bisons. Even if you’re not a big sports fan, it’ll be a fun night out with the community and your ticket is included with your WCPUB registration. The Clippers game is at Huntington Park (330 Huntington Park Ln, Columbus).

Anything else?

Check out the schedule which has all the great sessions, workshops, and social events in store for you this week! If you signed up for the conference, you should have also received a link to join our Slack.

Got questions? Please free to reach out to the organizing team at publishers@wordcamp.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Thanks to our Silver sponsors!

A big thanks goes out to our Silver sponsors for supporting us this year!

GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is an independently owned and operated hosting provider.

Our specially engineered platform offers WordPress users web hosting that is designed for the fastest, most secure and scalable hosting available in multiple data centers. Our WordPress hosting makes deploying and managing WordPress websites easy with automatic 1-click install, managed updates, real-time security protection, SSD RAID-10 storage arrays, PowerCacher and expert 24/7 support to make for the best web hosting experience.

Since our launch in 2008, GreenGeeks has been the industry’s leading eco-friendly web hosting provider putting back 3 times the power we consume into the grid in the form of renewable energy. We are based out of Los Angeles, California with a global workforce that provides a better web hosting experience to customers from over 150 countries.

GreenGeeks is actively engaged within the WordPress community and is a proud sponsor to various WordCamps around the world.


GoDaddy

GoDaddy

GoDaddy Pro offers a robust suite of free tools to web developers & designers to help them save time managing all their clients and sites. With GoDaddy Pro, you can easily shop for your client, monitor their sites, and manage all their WordPress websites from one place. Exclusive time-saving tools let you update WordPress core, plugins and themes with one click, as well as automate WordPress backups, cloning and migrations. Get real-time performance, security and uptime monitoring across all your websites. Additionally, your free membership includes advanced 24/7 technical support.

When you pair GoDaddy Pro with GoDaddy hosting products, the benefits are even greater.

Check out the Free Tools


HubSpot

HubSpot

HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) is a leading growth platform. Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 56,500 customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Comprised of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and a powerful free CRM, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better. Learn more about HubSpot for WordPress.

BigBite

Big Bite is an enterprise WordPress agency specialising in complex digital solutions for global organisations, including innovative websites and apps built on the platform which powers over 32% of the web.

Since 2011, Big Bite has pushed the boundaries of complex WordPress development for clients including NewsCorp, Penske Media Corporation and The Times. As a WordPress VIP Partner, the team are trusted by the world’s biggest enterprise content platform to deliver cutting edge technology to clients worldwide across all sectors and industries.

With vast experience in building large scale, digital solutions on the WordPress platform, as well as innovative apps in React and React Native, Big Bite’s team of industry experts work alongside some of the world’s biggest brands to help them achieve their goals and transform the way they work.

Thanks to our Gold sponsors!

A huge thanks goes out to our Gold sponsors without whom this event would not be possible!

Liquid Web

Liquid Web

For over 20 years, Liquid Web has been delivering products, services and support designed specifically for mission-critical sites, stores and applications. Known for our high-performance services and exceptional customer support, we own and manage our own core data centers and provide a diverse range of fully managed hosting offerings, including Managed WordPress, and Managed WooCommerce Hosting. Our recent acquisition of iThemes continues to evolve our service offerings to meet the ever-changing needs of our web-reliant, professional customers.

Liquid Web has a dedicated team of WordPress professionals who have been actively involved in the community for years. Beyond contributing code to the WordPress project, they’ve also been speaking at WordCamps, participating in WordPress-related groups and meetups, and creating open-sourced plugins that are used by WordPress users around the globe.

As an industry leader in customer loyalty, we’re known for our secure, reliable, fast, hassle-free hosting, backed by the Most Helpful Humans in Hosting™ (24x7x365 by phone, chat or ticket). At Liquid Web, we power content, commerce and potential for SMB entrepreneurs and the designers, developers and digital agencies who create for them. Everything we do is about being that partner you can trust.

For more information, please visit www.liquidweb.com,, or subscribe to our Blog at www.liquidweb.com/blog.


WooCommerce

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform built on WordPress.
Sell anything online with the flexibility and freedom of the world’s most popular CMS.

Whether you’re selling a few handcrafted items to a niche market, taking an existing business online, or going global with an enterprise-level eCommerce business WooCommerce gets you set up and selling fast, scaling securely as you grow.

Your content is forever yours and customizable down to the button color. Plus you’re joining a supportive, global community of developers and store owners.

Developed and supported by a distributed team, WooCommerce is powered by Automattic, the creators of Jetpack and WordPress.com.


Jetpack

Jetpack

Transform how you work with your WordPress sites:Jetpack connects your site to the global services, community, and support provided by WordPress.com. Focus on the substance of your site, not the software.

Jetpack security tools automatically shield your site from spammers, hackers, and malware, while real-time syncing and backup means never worrying about data loss. Traffic-building tools like easy social sharing help you attract readers and search engines, and pages delivered from a high-speed, global content delivery network mean those readers never bounce because of a slow-loading site.

Jetpack’s Affiliate program gives you 20% every time you sell Jetpack to a customer or client — with unlimited referrals, the sky’s the limit!

Whether you’re one person with a website or an agency with a dozen clients, Jetpack helps you grow. Make your site work for you at Jetpack.com


Bluehost

Bluehost

Bluehost has been a WordPress partner since 2005 and powers over 1 million WordPress sites worldwide. Their objective is to help customers, whether novice or pro, create a thriving online presence at an affordable price. With a team of in-house tech experts available 24/7, Bluehost dedicates time and resources to providing the best support and services in the industry. Join millions of other site owners and see what Bluehost can do for you and your online presence.


WordPress.com VIP

WordPress.com VIP

WordPress.com VIP offers a scalable and secure managed platform, expert support, and end-to-end guidance on running content applications at scale. We provide hosting and support throughout the digital media landscape, from focused outlets like Mother Jones, FiveThirtyEight, and Foreign Policy to some of the biggest publishing groups, like News Corp, Meredith, PMC, Digital First Media, and Abril.

We’re proud to support the intersection of journalism and open source technology all over the world and participate in communities and events like ONA, Poynter, WAN-IFRA, and SRCCON. We love WordCamp for Publishers and have returned to sponsor and participate every year since the inaugural event in 2017.


rtCamp

rtCamp

rtCamp is an enterprise WordPress VIP agency based in the USA and India.

Founded in 2009 — over a decade — rtCamp has served large publishers and e-commerce businesses across five continents.

Some notable clients include Facebook, NewsUK, Penske Media Corporation, NJ Advance Media and LaterPay.

rtCamp’s 60+ strong team offers design, development, analytics, ad-revenue optimization, paywalls, subscriptions to help publisher succeed.

Get in touch with rtCamp for your next project


Alley

Alley

Sometimes, you need an outside perspective. You know best what your organization needs to be successful, but you might be looking for help with how to make your ideas a reality. You need to entrust your product to a competent and experienced team, one that not only knows the technology cold, but also knows your industry cold. That’s where we come in. We bring your vision to life with elegance, reliability, and measurable success.

We are strategists, researchers, designers, and developers who craft custom digital experiences for publishers, nonprofit institutions, museums, and brands.


Setka

Setka

At Setka, we believe that every piece of content deserves to be beautiful. When a great story is combined with high-quality design, its true potential is unlocked. But after years of working in a complex digital publishing environment, we know how hard this can be day after day, story after story. 

So, we created the Setka Editor (and its WordPress plugin) to empower editorial teams to unlock the true potential of digital design. It brings the elements we all love about print design into the interactive environment of the screens we use today. It allows for creativity in the hands of editors and designers, helping you create beautiful features every day without much extra effort or cost. It seamlessly integrates into both editorial processes and scaling technical infrastructures to keep everyone and everything moving efficiently. 

We love WordPress users because you value design, too—that’s why we’ve worked hard to become a WordPress VIP technology partner and making sure Setka Editor is Gutenberg ready (and since we know you value speed, it’s AMP ready, too). We are honored to support WordCamp for Publishers in Chicago this year and be a part of this community. 

Transportation within Columbus

If you’re flying in, you’re most likely landing at John Glenn International Airport, KCMH, formerly known as Port Columbus International Airport. The airport’s own ground-transportation guide is posted on their website.

To get from the airport to our recommended hotel, you have a couple of options:

  • Take the COTA AirConnect bus from the Ground Transportation level of the airport to the COTA Transit Terminal on Main Street. Step across Main Street, take a few steps south on High Street, and you’ll be at the front door of the Westin. Cost: $2.75
  • You can take a taxi, Lyft, or Uber from the airport. Cost: $25-40

To get from the Westin to our venue this year, the Vue, you can:

  • Walk three blocks south and one block west, then from Front Street walk west on Liberty Street. It’s a half-mile walk. Keep an eye out for construction traffic at the intersection of Front and Liberty. 🚧
  • Ride the COTA 5, 8, or CBUS lines. From the stop at South High Street and West Main Street, ride the bus south for two stops, getting off at South High Street and West Blenkner Street. Walk one block west on Blenker Street, turn south on Front Street for half a block, then walk west on Liberty Street. Cost: Free if you take the CBUS, $2 if you take the 5 or 8
  • Ride a CoGo bike from the dock at South High Street and West Mound Street to the dock at West Beck Street and South Front Street, then walk the rest of the way. Cost: $8 for a one-day pass, or $18 for a three-day pass
  • Ride a dockless scooter. At last count, Columbus has Lyft, Bird, Spin and Lime scooters. Cost: Varies
  • Take a taxi, Lyft, or Uber. Cost: $10

To get from the Vue to Two Dollar Radio Club at 1124 Parsons Ave, the location of our Wednesday evening activity, there are a few options:

  • Walk, bicycle, or scoot south on Front Street to East Deshler Avenue, then west on East Deshler Avenue to Parsons Avenue. Two Collar Radio Club is just north of Deshler, at the intersection of Parsons Avenue and Cline Street. Cost: Varies
  • Walk to back to the Westin at South High Street and Mound Street, then take the COTA bus lines 4 or 8 to Parsons Avenue and Thurman Avenue. Walk a couple blocks north to the intersection of Parsons Avenue and Cline Street. Cost: $2
  • Taxi, Lyft, or Uber works, too. Cost: $10

To get from the Vue to Wolf’s Ridge Brewing at 215 N 4th Street, the location of the Thursday evening afterparty:

  • Walk about 1.5 miles, following your preferred mapping app’s best guidance. Depending on routing, you may pass by Columbus Commons, the Ohio Theatre, the Ohio statehouse, and many eateries and entertainment venues.
  • Take the Cota 8, 7, 11, or CBUS routes, depending on timing and walking distance desired. Consult your preferred mapping app. Cost: $2
  • Bicyclists and scooters will want to take 4th Street for as much of the route as possible; it has a reserved lane for northbound cyclists. Southbound cyclists must take Summit Street or 3rd Street. Cost: Varies
  • Taxi, Lyft, or Uber works, too. Cost: $10

Parking at the Vue

Park at the Grange Parking Garage at 600 South Front Street. Walk north on Front Street to West Beck Street and cross Front Street at Beck Street. Then continue north on Front Street to Liberty Street, and turn west on Liberty Street.

Park at the Grange Parking Garage, 600 S. Front St. Columbus, OH 43215

  • Bring your parking garage ticket to the conference. You can get a sticker that validates your parking, giving you a discount. Upon leaving the garage, insert your discounted ticket into the box. You will not receive discounted parking without Vue’s sticker on your ticket.
  • If you require onsite parking for accessibility reasons, there are a very limited number of spaces available in the front driveway at the Vue. Please contact us ahead of time if you need one of these spaces.

Parking at the Grange Parking Garage:

  1. Please take a ticket upon entry from the ticket box
  2. Park in any open, numbered space. (most public availability begins on the 3rd level of the garage)
  3. The garage closes at 7pm. You must retrieve your vehicle before 7 p.m.

Walking directions to the Vue:

  1. Exit garage using stairs on the Front St. side of Garage (west)
  2. Exit through glass doors on ground level and turn right (north) on Front Street to head towards the Vue.
  3. Please use the crosswalk at Beck Street to cross Front Street (about half a block from the garage)
  4. Turn left (west) onto Liberty Street and Vue will will be half a block down on your left, at 95 Liberty Street.

Thanks to our scholarship sponsor, Pantheon!

In-person events like WordCamp for Publishers are a great way to build skills and connect with people who truly understand the projects and problems you’re working on every day. But we know that conference travel costs can be a burden, particularly for people just starting out in publishing or working for an organization where training dollars are scarce.

Thanks to Pantheon for sponsoring our travel scholarships again this year. Because of their generosity, seven people are now able to attend the conference for whom it otherwise would have been difficult or impossible. They’re able to use the funds to cover whatever helps them the most: ticket and registration, lodging, meals, airfare and transit, or any other travel costs.

About Pantheon

Our mission is to make the web a first-class platform that delivers results. We’re building the world’s best WebOps Platform — one that empowers marketing and development teams to take control of their websites, while giving them the agility to win in the dynamic world of digital marketing. With Pantheon, marketers and developers deliver results by iterating quickly, learning, and experimenting with their websites in the same way they do with virtually every other tool in their martech and development stacks.

Pantheon powers over 300,000 sites and is trusted by thousands of marketing and development teams around the world. We’re just getting started.