WordCamp For The Win – Savannah 2010

By bretwp | Published: August 27, 2010
Wordcamp Savannah 2010

Wordcamp Savannah 2010

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Savannah.

“WordCamps are low-key community conferences that celebrate all things WordPress and bring together local WordPress users, developers and fans.”

To read more about this particular WordCamp, visit WordCamp in Savannah GA.

Before I talk about the actual event itself, let me drop a little bit of background on my history with WordPress.

How Did I Find WordPress?

I’ve been working with web development as well as programming in different languages since I was a teen. There is just something about submitting and retrieving data using code and a database tickles my fancy.

For extra cash, as well as the stimulation of programming itself, I was developing websites for friends of mine.  While doing this I was also creating my own Content Management System to enable my clients to log into their websites and make changes on their own.

Little did I know how important this kind of action would become in the next couple of years.

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Time Management, What Is Working For You?

By bretwp | Published: August 3, 2010

stopwatchWhen I first decided to take the plunge into running my own businesses, I really had no idea the amount of work that it takes.

Sure I have skill sets that I can utilize to make some money, but there is way more to it than that. While I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I would be doing most everything myself, I thought for sure it would be easier.

One of my biggest struggles has always been finding the time to get everything done.

At first I was trying to dabble in several ventures at one time, which ultimately lead to me not putting in enough time and effort on any of them.  Once I decided to let go of the ones that were taking up more of my time, and making me less money, I saw a great increase in my productivity.

That said, it was still not enough.  Clearing my plate of extra work definitely opened up some free time for me to tackle some other objectives in my main venture, currently web presence development, but still felt overwhelmed at times. Read More »

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Rocking Optimized WordPress Posts – How to Write Them and Plugins that Help

By bretwp | Published: July 20, 2010

wordpress-seoOn Wednesday July 21st I am going to be presenting on best practices for Search Engine Optimization(SEO) using the WordPress platform.

This event is being hosted by the Atlanta WordPress on meetup.com at the Urban Oasis and is called “Rocking Optimized WordPress Posts: How to Write Them and Plugins that Help“.

Search Engine Optimization is something that I have been working with and researching for a few years now. Over time I have had some great success by testing the waters and seeing what does and does not work. I am really looking forward to sharing some of that knowledge with this group and also hope to learn some new things myself.

Using the WordPress platform is a great way to make your SEO life easier. During this presentation I will be showing everyone exactly where and how to optimize their website pages and posts, as well throwing out a few simple tips and tricks to help your chances of ranking high in the search engines.

These concepts that I will be going over are easy for anyone to pick up on, so people on all levels are welcome to come and learn.

If you are a SEO expert on your own, I would love to talk with you and share some ideas on methods, strategy, and whatever other interesting things we can talk about. Come out and “meet up”.

This event is open to everyone and will be a great networking evening for Atlanta business people.

RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/wordpress-atlanta/calendar/13947621/

If you have any questions let me know.

See you then!

Posted in Web Development | 2 Comments

Hijacking Music Festival 2010 @ Lenny’s in Atlanta – Saturday July 17th

By bretwp | Published: July 14, 2010

HJM_FEST_2010_FLYER

If you havn’t heard me talking about my upcoming music festival, then I suppose I have not be talking loud enough!

Coming up this Saturday, July 17th, at Lenny’s in Atlanta, I am throwing my very first Music and Art FESTIVAL. That’s right…a FESTIVAL!

For a long time now, I have wanted to set up a music and art event that would bring together people from different scenes, outlooks, view points, etc. My personal music collection is broad, there is no one style of music that I listen to, I listen to all styles. I listen to GOOD music.

Good music is surely a personal taste thing, but being a musician, and understanding not only the fundamentals, but also theory, song writing, structure, and more, I know when music is unappealing on a musical level.

The thing is, I do not think I am alone in this.  I am pretty confident that many people who really enjoy music for what it is, really enjoy good music.  The problem is filtering through all the mediocre and terrible crap in order to find the really good stuff…and there is sooooo much music so I can see why people just give up and listen to whatever is on the radio, it’s easy.

The Hijacking Music Collective is some what of a filter for quality music here in Atlanta. The Hijacking Music Festival is taking that another step farther and bringing in other types of artists such as painters, photographers, dancers, and some other entertainers as well.

We want people that spend any amount of time at this event to be constantly bombarded with high quality visual and audible artwork that is stimulating, thoughtful, and creative. We want people to come out of their comfort zones and embrace something new that might change the way they view things in the future for the better.

Really, when it all boils down, we want to open some minds.

This is easily the largest event I have ever coordinated and put on and I am really looking forward to it and would LOVE to have your support.

Please come out and support an amazing local music and art scene here in Atlanta and party with us!

For more information about the Hijacking Music Festival, or to download a FREE Digital CD Sampler including all bands performing at the festival, visit: http://hijackingmusic.com/hijacking-music-festival-2010

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Gardening, Fun in the Sun

By bretwp | Published: July 8, 2010

This year I attempted to start a little garden in my yard. It is nothing fancy, and definitely took me longer than it should have to actually get plants into the ground…but it has finally happened!

This particular spot in the yard was chosen because it gets quite a bit of sun during the day.  We even did just a little limb hacking on some trees to open up the suns space a little more.  One would think this is prime real estate if you were a “6+ hour sun light” plant.

Behind the garden is a bench. This bench was creatively covered in ’semi transparent’ deck stain…a few too many times and is now very white.  I will say it definitely keeps the water out.

Just behind that is our fire pit. It is pretty large and in charge, but we can not use it until October =/

As you can see here, I have two 4 ft x 8 ft raised beds. They were a bit overgrown from not being tended to for about a month, so we had to do some weeding before we could even get some plants in there. Super High Quality photo images brought to you by blackberry storm.

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I had thought about just tilling up a big section of the yard right there, but I figured using the beds would look a little cleaner, and also offer a little assistance in keeping critters out if/when I install some chicken wire fence around them…yes, chicken wire.

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Posted in Everything | Tagged | 4 Comments