Speakers & Panelists

The organizing committee has lined-up a great group of speakers and panelists for WordCamp 2014. We’re in the middle of the day’s schedule. But we will be slowly announcing full topics and the full roster of panelists shortly.

But in the meantime, if you’re interested in being a coder panelist, please send us a note at calgary@wordcamp.org.


Aleah Dunfield

aleah Aleah is on the Building Themes For Clients: What You Need To Know When Handing Over The Keys To End Users panel, learn more about the panel here.

Aleah Dunfield founded the Creative Patch in 2010 designing mainly iphone and ipad designs. After Aleah received her BFA from Emily Carr University in Vancouver she set out to travel the world living in Bali, Indonesia and traveling extensively throughout South East Asia and Western Europe. Inspired by the beauty of culture, colour and rich foods she came back to Canada armed with new ideas for design, photography and the like. Aleah volunteers extensively as a local community leader and mentor in web design, photography, marketing, advertising and UI design. Aleah believes that regardless of the size or location of a business or individual there is no reason for them not to have access to beautiful design.

Website: http://thecreativepatch.com/ | Twitter: @AleahDunfield

Andrew Forbes

andrewAndrew Forbes is on the Building Themes For Clients: What You Need To Know When Handing Over The Keys To End Users., learn more about the panel here

After earning concurrent Business Administration (International Business) and Arts (Music) Bachelor Degrees at Bishop’s University, Andrew Forbes decided to venture out West. Upon landing in Calgary in 2009, he co-founded Indie403, an Arts Management company, to help musicians with the business side of their art. This led to diving into the world of social media marketing, visual promotions, photography, education, and web development (primarily with WordPress). He has worked with not-for-profit arts organizations and small businesses, plays the piano, hikes/skis in the mountains and volunteers for many cultural festivals. Andrew likes being in positions to help tell people’s stories in the most comfortable way for them.

Website: andrewdforbes.com | Twitter: @forbesandrewd

Dan Stephenson

danDan Stephenson is on the Building Themes For Clients: What You Need To Know When Handing Over The Keys To End Users., learn more about the panel here

Dan Stephenson wears many hats as an Instructor with the New Media Production & Design program at SAIT Polytechnic, entrepreneur, maker, and web developer.

Since first getting online in 1997, Dan realized the power of the Internet, and hasn’t looked back since. Working in the digital media industry in Calgary since 2000, and has enjoyed keeping up with the ever changing digital landscape since. Dan has been a passionate WordPress developer since he first discovered the project back in version 2.0 (Duke).

Dan specializes in back-end web development, and is an advocate for training and empowering business owners to take charge of their own digital media and marketing efforts.

Twitter: @DGStephenson

David Luecke

davidluekeDave Luecke is speaking about Advanced Theming with HTML5 Read more about their talk here

After launching several WordPress and eCommerce sites about 7 years ago, David soon found his calling in building large scale JavaScript applications. He currently works as a JavaScript consultant for Bitovi, maintaining several open source projects and helping companies like Walmart and Mindjet bring their frontend to the next level. David is a co-organizer of Pixels and Pints and YYCJS where you can find him regularly talking about the latest web technologies.

Website: https://github.com/daffl | Twitter: @daffl

Erin Rosar

erinErin is on the Generating Success from your WordPress site, How To Get Exposure In a Crowded Online Market panel, learn more about the panel here

As the Director of Retail and Customer Experience, for Willow Park Wines & Spirits, Erin is continuing to open up and grow the conversation with customers, by utilizing new web-based technologies to go outside-the-box and take the sharing of information to a whole new level with true “wow factor” that results in solid financial returns through loyal and happy customers.

One of Western Canada’s favourite sommeliers Erin, is a sought after speaker, instructor and writer. With over 20 years of experience she has made it her mission to take the intimating and sometimes “snotty” world of wine and turn it into an approachable, interesting and most of all fun topic for people to engage and learn about through a mix of media channels.

Ernest Barbaric

ernestErnest Barbaric is speaking about Finding Your Voice – Learnings From 6 years of Failure, learn more about the session here

Ernest is an artist, professional speaker, writer, maker, motorcycle rider and marketing strategist. His unique ability is simplifying complex problems, strategizing and charting a way forward. His work has been featured in Mashable, Forbes, GOOD, Social Media Today, Non-profit Quarterly and The Financial Post.

In 2010 Ernest founded a Social Media for Business certificate program at Mount Royal University, and he is developing a Digital Marketing certificate for the Canadian Marketing Association. He loves working with motivated marketers and entrepreneurs, and even more so in a mentorship or coaching capacity.

He currently resides in a quiet neighbourhood in Calgary, with his wife and puppy, Jazz 🙂

Website: http://ernestbarbaric.com/ | Twitter: @ebarbaric

Irene Seto

ireneIrene Seto is on the Generating Success from your WordPress site, How To Get Exposure In a Crowded Online Market panel, learn more about the panel here

They say that good things come in small packages and Irene is no exception. What she lacks in stature, she more than makes up for in personality and laughter. A born-and-bred Calgarian, this Western girl takes the adage of “work hard, play hard” to heart, always on-the-go and finding the most awesome stories to share with CalgaryisAwesome.com readers. As Managing Editor, she acts as a jill-of-all-trades juggling a variety of responsibilities including writing, editing, social media and more. In her (little) spare time, you can find Irene stocking up on more shoes for her closet, enjoying a pint (or two) with friends and cycling around on her love, Minty the bicycle. If you give her mini donuts or kettle corn, she will be your friend for life.

Website: http://www.ireneseto.ca/ | Twitter: @HeySeto

Jeff Archibald

jeffarchibaldJeff Archibald is speaking about Inside the Black Box of Web Design Pricing Read more about their talk here

Jeff Archibald is a passionate graphic & web designer who spends too much time on the internet. He’s also co-founder of Paper Leaf (paper-leaf.com), a small but mighty Edmonton-based design firm that specializes in creating outstanding visual identity systems and websites for small and medium-sized businesses. When not wielding his (figurative) design sword, Jeff often talks at events and sits on design panels to share his knowledge with the community – his thoughts on design & business have also been published in FastCoDesign, Business Insider, and Lifehacker. Outside of the design & business world, he’s usually partaking in one of his other loves: coffee, whisky, beer, the mountains, the NBA & the NFL.

Website: http://paper-leaf.com/ | Twitter: @jeff_archibald

Kurt Archer

Kurt ArcherKurt Archer is speaking about WordPress 3.9.1 Walkthrough Read more about their talk here

Kurt has been doing front-end development for over 15 years, mostly as a hobby. He is a faithful companion to WordPress and sees the web as the world’s largest experiment in true democracy. As a Political Science Graduate, Kurt has focused most of his career on social development issues and has founded two non-profit organizations devoted to sustainability literacy and youth leadership training, with a reach in 5 countries. Kurt teamed up with GOOD Company in 2013 to do web development. Working for great organizations doing good things makes getting up in the morning really easy. Although, tea also helps.

Twitter: @damukurt

Michael C. Breuer

mikebreuerMichael Beuer is speaking about Pro Level Workflow Read more about their talk here

Naturally creative, with demonstrated talents in web development, illustration and writing, Michael found a passion in problem solving and delivering innovative solutions, so logically, he became a WordPress Developer. He has worked for agencies in Vancouver and Calgary, working extensively with WordPress and other open source web technologies.

Website: http://michaelcbreuer.com/ | Twitter: @michabre

Mike Tighe

Mike TigheMichael Tighe is speaking about Designing Your WordPress Site With Intent Read more about their talk here

I am the founder of Solid, a Calgary digital agency. I have a strong background in front end development, design, and planning. Central to our work at Solid is making lasting and functional products, from being early adopters to responsive mobile design, through to ensuring what we build for our clients is easy to use & hard to break.

I enjoy presenting and have had the good fortune of doing so at Startup Calgary, DemoCamp Calgary, as well as many informal Lunch & Learn sessions at Critical Mass.

Website: http://asolidsite.com | Twitter: @miketighe

Nicolas Beique

nicolas Nicolas Beique is speaking about e-Commerce and WordPress. Read more about their talk here

Nicolas is the co-founder of Helcim Inc., a Calgary-based credit card processor. A tech-enthusiast from an early age, Nicolas worked with friends and colleagues on numerous projects including web design, software development and 3D modeling and animation. Nicolas graduated from DeVry University with a bachelor’s degree in business operations. After working at one of Canada’s leading payroll services provider, Nicolas discovered a passion for improving the way businesses operate using web-based software-as-a-service. He co-founded Helcim in 2006 to provide unique payment solutions to Canadian business owners. When not working, Nicolas enjoys the great Alberta outdoors by snow showing, hiking and snowboarding.

Website: http://www.helcim.com/

Sean Goresht

scottSean Gorbescht is speaking about Reclaiming The Editor Read more about their talk here

Sean is a front-end web developer, passionate about all things tech and CMS. Sean found an immediate interest in CMS solutions, starting with Joomla, and later, found interest in similar CMS like WordPress. A recent graduate, Sean has over 4 years of working in the web development community, and has spoken at many local events, including YYCJs. Sean currently works as a web developer for a CRM system at Axiom Mortgage Solutions.

Website: http://seangoresht.com/ | Twitter: @SGoresht

Tony Tighe

tonyTony Tighe is on the Generating Success from your WordPress site, How To Get Exposure In a Crowded Online Market panel, learn more about the panel here

Tony Tighe is Calgary’s most experienced consumer reporter. He has been covering and investigating consumer issues in Calgary for 20 years. Tony has been in broadcasting 35 years, working in radio and television in Ontario, B.C. and Calgary. Tony brings his experience to our afternoon panel focusing on helping bring an understanding of how to communicate with the media, and how to know if you have something that is media-worthy.

Website: Global TV Profile | Twitter: @TTighe