--- title: "WordCamp Miami: Connections Old & New" description: "So I just got back from WordCamp Miami, held the past weekend at Florida International University. It was one of the best, most well organized WordCamps I've ever attended. Kudos, to a new friend..." url: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/blog/wordcamp-miami-connections-old-new/ date: 2015-06-02 modified: 2025-01-22 author: "InMotion Hosting" categories: ["Events", "News"] type: post lang: en --- # WordCamp Miami: Connections Old & New [![wcmia-header](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wcmia-header.png)](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/wcmia-header.png) So I just got back from WordCamp Miami, held the past weekend at Florida International University. It was one of the best, most well organized WordCamps I’ve ever attended. Kudos, to a new friend David Bisset for organizing such a good event. We arrived in town on Thursday. Unfortunately, layovers pushed my flight back enough that I missed the South Florida Meetup social event. I was more than disappointed that I couldn’t make it. If it was anything like the actual WordCamp, I’m sure it was amazing. Friday night at the speaker/sponsor dinner which was held at BJ’s Brewhouse, we caught up with some old friends like Nikhil. At 15, he’s really a bright up and coming star in the WordPress community. You should watch for big things from this kid. We also met up with Syed from WPBeginner. While he’s been a friend of InMotion for some time, I’ve never met him until now. He’s a super nice guy. We also caught up with Rami from WebDev Studios. I got introduced to him at WordCamp Lancaster. I was surprised he remembered my name to be honest. It was impressive and speaks to the type of guy he is. I caught up with a dear friend, Michele Butcher. If you haven’t heard, she’s one of our WordPress Evangelists for events like WordCamps. > Got to hang with some awesome folks tonight! [@ramiabraham](https://twitter.com/ramiabraham) [@IMH_Affiliate](https://twitter.com/IMH_Affiliate) [@Michele_Butcher](https://twitter.com/Michele_Butcher) [@zyvo](https://twitter.com/zyvo) [#wcmia](https://twitter.com/hashtag/wcmia?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/b7LR8rUV1w](https://t.co/b7LR8rUV1w) > — Tim Sisson (@VA_SEO_Labs) [May 30, 2015](https://twitter.com/VA_SEO_Labs/status/604482390199812098) We called it a night after I grabbed my swag for speaking. As usual, WordCamp Miami didn’t disappoint with a computer tote, a watch (yes! a watch), some snacks, and the coolest deck of playing cards. The playing cards all had WordPress functions on them with an example. Someone spent some time planning those out! > [@wordcampmiami](https://twitter.com/wordcampmiami) [#swag](https://twitter.com/hashtag/swag?src=hash) from the speaker sponsor dinner [#wcmia](https://twitter.com/hashtag/wcmia?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/G7saK2njOY](https://t.co/G7saK2njOY) > — Tim Sisson (@VA_SEO_Labs) [May 30, 2015](https://twitter.com/VA_SEO_Labs/status/604476516416819200) Saturday Morning arrived early. I have to admit South Florida is beautiful in the morning (at least before it becomes sweltering hot and sauna-like). We headed over to the campus and got set up. Mike, Jason, and I spent the day talking to some really great people at our booth. We had some of the coolest swag too. Where else can you get a USB hub and post-it holder? Of course, from us! > [#inmotionhosting](https://twitter.com/hashtag/inmotionhosting?src=hash) excited to be at [#wcmia](https://twitter.com/hashtag/wcmia?src=hash) 2015! Come by our booth for an awesome USB/phone holder/post it gadget 😉 [pic.twitter.com/vjxt2VRn75](https://t.co/vjxt2VRn75) > — InMotion Hosting (@inmotionhosting) [May 30, 2015](https://twitter.com/inmotionhosting/status/604627569451888640) Lunch was chicken and ribs with all the sides. It was pretty tasty. The most impressive feat was they fed all the attendees (somewhere around 800) without too many hiccups. I know from years of catering, feeding 800 people is no small task. Off to the afterparty at Dave and Busters. We didn’t stay long, and after some great conversation and a few games of pool we called it a night. After all, my team mates were flying out in the morning and I had to still wrap up some preparations for my talk “Growing your Non-Profit with WordPress”. If you want the slides for my talk they’re here. [WordCamp Miami “Growing your Non-Profit with WordPress”](https://TimSisson.com/wordcamps/miami) Part of my talk is about Give, a donation plugin. I use it and actually really like it. It’s easy to use and the developers who built it, Matt and Devin are easily accessible. I got to meet both of them on Saturday. I’m glad too. I was able to use them as an example when I speak. Where else could you have access to the developers of a plugin so easily? > [@VA_SEO_Labs](https://twitter.com/VA_SEO_Labs) of [@inmotionhosting](https://twitter.com/inmotionhosting) highlighting some really great features of Give for non-profits [#wcmia](https://twitter.com/hashtag/wcmia?src=hash) [#WordPress](https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/1cIti03XuJ](https://t.co/1cIti03XuJ) > — Give (@givewp) [May 31, 2015](https://twitter.com/givewp/status/605079604496375808) After my talk wrapped up, I was quite surprised by the amount of questions I received. I’m hoping I was able to help some of the non-profit community with my 30 minute talk. It’s awesome to know I am a part of the WordPress community which is one of the most close knit groups I’ve ever encountered within techonology. Oh did I mention, I have my own trading card too! How freaking cool is that?! It’s uber nerd status as quoting my friend Scott. [![WCMIA Trading Card](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/trading-card2.png)](https://www.inmotionhosting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/trading-card2.png) I have to say, thanks to the WordCamp Miami organizers for putting on another amazing event. Thanks to all the new people I met and the old ones I got to catch up with. This won’t be an event I soon forget! > See ya later [#WCMIA](https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCMIA?src=hash) so much fun hanging out doing [#WordPress](https://twitter.com/hashtag/WordPress?src=hash) stuff see you next year! > — InMotion Hosting (@inmotionhosting) [May 31, 2015](https://twitter.com/inmotionhosting/status/605131950110703616)