WordCamp Chicago 2009
I decided that taking on a little project wasn’t enough in my life, so I decided to throw a bone out to a few of my friends to see if they’d want to toss a local WordPress party here in Chicago some time in the spring of 2009.
I am proud to announce that WordCamp is hopefully coming to Chicago in April 2009 - as long as we have enough interest in the event, we’ll put it on. A few weeks ago, I decided to email my friends Lisa Sabin-Wilson and Wendy Piersall to see if they’d have any interest in co-organizing the event. I wasn’t sure what they’d say, since both of them are extremely busy these days…
You may know Lisa from her book, WordPress for Dummies, or her quality design studio called E.Webscapes. As for Wendy, formerly known for her site eMomsatHome, she is now the brainchild of Sparkplugging, which is a Work-at-Home Resource and Community for the Web.
I also contacted my best friend, and founder of iThemes, Cory Miller to see if he wanted to help organize things as well.
To my surprise, and hopefully to your benefit, all of them embraced the invitation with open arms, and we’re all ready to get things cracking. Before we spent too much time planning, I wanted to write a quick post to see how many people would be interested in attending. Feel free to let me know by leaving a comment below.
Follow WordCamp Chicago on Twitter, and you can check out the early stages of the official WordCamp Chicago site, developed by Lisa…
WordCamp Chicago - +1
I’m in.
Hey Grant, I take it that means you’ll plan to attend?
we’ll have to see how things go…but no one in my family of 3 has ever been out to that part of the country. Sounds like it could be fun
Chicago is a great place, and lots to do. Not to mention we hope to have some really good speakers!
Sounds like a blast.
If I can arrange the travel details I’ll try to be there.
Looking forward to it.
Take care.
Stu
Thanks Stu, for letting me know. More than likely it will occur, as we feel the Chicagoland area/Midwest should produce enough interest.
I’m in.
Oh, you already knew that.
Wendy, yeah - that was kind of assumed!
I already have it scheduled… oh, wait, we don’t have a date yet. Well, whenever it is - I’ll be there
Lisa, yes, we’ll need to establish dates once we know there is a general interest.
I’ll be there.
DGreport.com (Downers Grove, IL news blog) is in. We’re in ‘Chicagoland’, so that makes it easy.
WordCamp would definitely be worth a trip into Chicago. Count me in.
Great idea, I like the idea of co-organizing. The Chicago date is on my calender.
Chris, Craig, Ryan & Jack - thanks for letting us know about your interest. It certainly looks as though this will happen, as the response has been overwhelming so far!
Oh yay! I’ve SO been hoping there would be a WordCamp Chicago one of these days!
Amy, glad to hear it. First things first, Thesis users are not allowed…
That was a joke. Guess you’ll have an event to attend next year then!
I would attend for sure! I hope it all works out.
…Would be miles away from the UK wouldn’t it?!
LOL
hmmm … roadtrip perhaps. Sounds good.
I know it would be something I would love to attend, I wish I could say it was definite but really depends on my father’s health at that time since I am his caregiver, but if it something I could swing and talk my hubby into, I’m in. It would be a great opportunity and a great learning experience for me, I think!
If I’m still in the Minneapolis area at that time I’m of course in.
Sounds great! I’m interested in attending. I’ve been wanting to revisit the Windy City for quite a few years now. This gives me a great reason!
I’m in Des Moines, Iowa so consider me a hopefully.
I’ve been hoping a WordCamp would come to the midwest, so this is GREAT news!
Hey all, thanks so much for the feedback so far - we are thrilled with the amount of people posting positive feedback on the idea, and look forward to planning it!
Chicago is definitely closer to me than any of the other Wordcamps have been. I wish someone would organize a NorthEast one!
Count me in, Brian!
I’ll definitely plan to be there. I am from Chicago and still have family there. Thanks for taking this on!
If my schedule allows, I’ll be there. I’m just two hours south of Chicago and it’d be great to have an event in our neck of the woods!
Brian, the wonders never cease. I will start planning now to attend this event. I know it is going to be awesome!
More thanks to those who’ve commented - we are currently trying to nail down a date, as there are many blog/website conferences in the spring. Hang tight!
Brian,
We are planning to bring a group of 3-4 from Canada, Ottawa to be specific. I told you about my Chicago connection. This will be a homecoming and we all are hoping to catch you for an hour or so for a coffee to share your “rekindling” story
But, the caveat being, we cannot come back without an inperson meeting.
Thanks a lot for doing this. Much appreciated.
SF
I’d definitely be interested in attending.
That sounds great Brian, but like Mark - we’re both in UK and will follow it all with a lot of interest but from a distance. Good Luck, I’m sure it will be well worth the effort!
John O’York
This sounds awesome! I will try to make it if I can. Wife is pregnant with twins and not sure how we will be handling that.
Twins Jeff? Don’t you already have 7 kids?
Can I come? lol.
Brian,
Your Revolution themes have brought me back to Wordpress as a powerful site development tool. In the past I’ve dabbled but am know very excited. Looking forward to your new site and will follow the Wordcamp Chicago from Scotland.
Well done.
Andy
Count me in too, along with a few other friends from the Rockford area.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is any way I can help.
Brian, I was going to run this by you tomorrow but there is a Chicago group talking about a spring event.
Maybe we can see if it makes sense to come together to some degree.
http://newmediacampchicago.ning.com/
Im down and glad its in my hometown.
I’m really excited about this. I’m from Rockford and have been waiting for a WordCamp in Chicago. Hopefully some of the Wordpress dev. team can show up and speak (even though this isn’t official).
Count me in too. It will be great to meet you Brian, take in all I can about Wordpress and enjoy the city of Chicago all wrapped in one neat package with a huge bow on top!
Looking forward to April
‘09