Yesterday I attended the most professionally-enriching workshop of my life. The not-for-profit group Ladies Learning Code provided a one-day WordPress event, led by web designer/developer Wes Bos at the Centre for Social Innovation near Bloor & Bathurst in Toronto.
Getting a seat at this thing was like scoring a ticket to a Justin Bieber concert. Sold out within minutes. Thanks to Lorena Barrera for grabbing those.
The workshop itself ran from 9 to about 5:30, included a perfectly satisfactory lunch, and was attended by about 80 women whose median age looked to be about 25. I was one of the grannies in the crowd for sure. Time marches on.
The Agenda
I am self-taught on WordPress, and am well aware that I’ve probably missed a thing or two along the way. This event pulled it all together for me in a way that I dared not even dream. Wes led us through local server installation, template installation and customization, and most valuable for me, had us getting our hands dirty with php.
Open Wes’ slick online slide show (new window).
They billed this as a no-previous-experience-required event, but Wes sure didn’t aim low, and I was very glad to have some of the lingo down going in.
Tech Support
The tech-support ratio was a superb one for every three attendees. Thanks to Ibrahim Mohammad, the tech at our table, for his quiet and capable support. You know a workshop is good when more than two dozen volunteers from all walks of techy life give up their Saturday to help out. One could insert a crack here about a room full of pretty girls eager to learn code, but fact is, close to half the volunteers were women. One put in a word for web developing from home as an ideal career for new moms.
Two Thumbs Up
The energy and the learning were huge. I give this workshop an enthusiastic 9 out of 10 and heartily endorse both LLC and Wes. An unbelievable deal for $40.
I am so very excited to apply my newly souped-up skills to the sites I am developing, and I’m pleased to count myself a new member of this like-minded community.
LLC only launched in October, and this was their fifth event. Upcoming events include mobile and design. I see the momentum continuing to build.
~Tamsen Tillson
