Alan Harris

First of all, I have to say the guys and girls at Wordcamp Australia really put on a great event on Saturday.  When I arrived at The Red Box I was warmly greeted by Sam Bauers, one of the organisers, who did a tremendous job of keeping the day on schedule.

The vibe of the event was relaxed and everyone I spoke to really had a passion for Wordpress, whether a developer or a blogger.  Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and lead developer of Wordpress also flew to Australia from the US to talk to us about the release of the new 2.7 version.

James from OM4 was one of the first people I met, followed by Don from Real Surf, Andrew and Robert from Brownbox, Kristarella, Neerav and Scott D.  It was a real pleasure to meet these guys and I look forward to any future contact. (Check your LinkedIn requests guys!)

Having used the Wordpress Shopping Cart by Instinct, I had to meet Dan Milward.  He is a very friendly guy with a heap of passion for what he does.  I have used the famous wp-ecommerce before, but only in it’s infancy, so I will be sure to install the latest release and share my feedback with Dan.

One thing that really interested me was the usability talk by Jane Wells.  They actually used eye tracking software to monitor where a user looks to see if the the upcoming Wordpress 2.7 admin UI (user interface) is up to scratch.

A comment that Matt made in his speech really explained why I have never been a good employee; “I don’t mind being on the Titanic, but I want to be steering it…”  This as well as many other comments have stuck into my head.  I found Matt to be a very switched on individual and I admired his speech delivery as well as his respect for the Wordpress community.

I am looking forward to being part of the Wordcamp Australia Association as I am sure it will be both a rich source of information and a fun place to socialise.  Once again, I thank the organisers and everyone who shared their time with me on Saturday, I really enjoyed it! :)