And now, the news you’ve all been waiting for: our speaker roster! We’re so excited to be featuring such a diverse array of voices and faces within the WordPress community. Some of them are first-time WordCamp speakers, and some are longtime contributors. Regardless, they all have one thing in common: they love WordPress and can’t wait to share their knowledge and experiences with you.

TAMMY HART

Topic: Designing and Building Flexible WordPress Themes

Tammy Hart has been playing on the web since she was a teenager and quickly fell in love with customizing it. WordPress helped her take that love to a whole new level and she has been whipping it into shape for the last 10 years. Her once free-time hobby quickly grew into the career it is today and she is now a Web Designer and Developer at UpTrending, a full service web agency that specializes in medium to large scale projects.

RONALD HUERECA

Topic: Designing Plugins for Release

I began my WordPress journey in 2006. I created several home-grown CMS-type systems, and checked out WordPress on a whim. I was immediately impressed and decided to use that on my website. I developed my own theme from scratch within a week of installing WordPress. I started to write more, and realized there were many features I wanted added to WordPress. I released my first WordPress plugin in 2007 called Feed Styler: https://wordpress.org/plugins/feed-styler/ I began a project with a friend that gave focus to the readers. Somebody commented and e-mailed us saying they would like to edit their comment. I found a few solutions, but nothing elegant. I coded and released Ajax Edit Comments in 2007 as well, and it has been by far my most popular plugin. Since 2007, I have been fairly active in the WordPress community. I released a WordPress book called WordPress and Ajax in 2011. I’ve also released several more plugins. I look forward to keep contributing to WordPress, whether it is through plugins, documentation updates, or speaking at WordCamps.

SETH ALLING

Topic: Using the Editor the Proper Way

Seth Alling is a Detroit-based developer turned designer turned developer, who has been working with WordPress since 2009 and currently works as the Lead Developer for Ranch House Designs. When he’s not developing (or designing), you can find him running, playing soccer or spending time with his wife and sons.

PAT RAMSEY

Topic: Leveling Up With Documentation

Building relationships is key to any successful partnership, be it in business or life in general. At Crowd Favorite, Pat gets to do that every day as Director of Ongoing Client Support, where he leads a team providing development support, consultation, and strategy for enterprise clients. Before Crowd Favorite, Pat has been a development director, an independent WordPress developer, and a freelancer. When he’s not building websites, Pat can be found organizing the Austin WordPress Meetup or helping run the tech networking community, Refresh Austin. He’s been a trainer and advisor for Knowbility’s Accessible Internet Rallies and AccessU, and a founder the WordPress conference “after-after” party, CigarCamp. Pat is a former Navy Reserve sailor, a native Texan, and enjoys cooking large quantities of crawfish.

JOHN D. KENT

Topic: Be Securious – Hack Your Own Site for Better Security

John is the Website Director for the North Texas Information Security Systems Association (ISSA), owner of Mind Machine Media, and an IT Manager providing leadership in the development of web applications, APIs, and native mobile clients at FedEx. He’s been developing software since the early 80’s and implementing networked and embedded systems since 1987 for Fortune 100 companies in the medical diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and transportations industries. John holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a masters in cybersecurity. His active certifications include PMP, CEH, CHFI, and CSSLP. He’s passionate about web application security and helping others learn more about it.

MORGAN ESTES

Topic: Scratching an Itch: Taking the First Step to Becoming a WordPress Contributor

Morgan is currently a Web Engineer with 10up, focusing on creating a great web publishing experience for clients using WordPress. Although he’s been a Core Contributor to the WordPress open source project and a member of the OKC WordPress User Group since 2009, he’s become more active in the past two years after attending his first WordCamp. A proud “computer geek”, Morgan first learned programming in elementary school from source code printed in the back of magazines. He built his first website in 1998, and continued to tinker with computers and Web technology over the next decade. After over a decade in the Navy, he decided to leave the service and study Information Systems in college, eventually earning his degree in Liberal Studies. After college, he took a job managing a 6,000-page website using Dreamweaver. Seeing the futility in this, he started looking for CMSs, finally landing on WordPress, which he’s since used to build sites large and small, from eCommerce and membership sites to nonprofits, community organizations, and blogs. When not delving into code, he likes to visit the zoo with his wife and daughter, take photos he never does anything with, and choke back tears when a companion leaves Doctor Who.

JEREMY GREEN

Topic: The Final 20%

I started building websites back in 1999 and enjoy staying on top of the latest techniques in web design and implementing them into my client’s sites. I spend most of my time building custom themes and plugins, and running a web development shop full time. I also organize the Fort Collins, CO, WordPress meetup and helped organize WordCamp Denver this year.

DAVID BRUMBAUGH

Topic: The CIA Mindset – Planning Your WordPress Site’s Security (For Business Users)

David, a Web Engineer with 10 Up, is a long time software engineering professional and author, who has been involved in Internet development since 1994. Before focusing on WordPress, David wore many hats. He was the Director of IT and Software Engineering for an international health insurance company where he created and maintained a web based health insurance enrollment system. As Chief of South Eastern Operations for an international IT consulting firm, he had to “MacGyver together” a network out of old parts so that his client could locate missing cargo vessels in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In that position, he also provided testimony as an expert witness in Federal court, weighing in on alleged software copyright infringement. David has also worked as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies in the manufacturing and insurance industries. When he repaired a legacy inventory and ordering system for a major greeting card company just before one of their biggest sales days, he became known as, “The Programmer who Saved Mother’s Day”. His professional writing has been published by SitePoint, Microsoft, Dice, C/C++ User’s Journal, PC Techniques and John Wiley & Sons. David has four major game titles to his credit as an artificial intelligence and physics simulation programmer: NFL Full Contact Football, Indy Racing – Road to the Indianapolis 500, Jeff Gordon XS Racing and Centipede 3D. Lest his “Geek Cred” be remotely in doubt, he has also been published in Dragon magazine. During his time as the Web Development Community Guide for DICE, he was impressed with the elegance of WordPress not only as a publishing tool, but as a web application platform. Before joining 10up, David worked as Chief Software Architect for a web services company specializing in SaaS eCommerce, where he created a plugin that integrated his company’s eCommerce services with WordPress.