Author: Sarah Rowe

What is a Happiness Bar? A place to get a drink? A place to practice karaoke? At WordCamp Rochester 2018, I learned that the Happiness Bar is staffed by local WordPress pros and they are there to lend a helping hand and answer questions. They helped me figure out a plug-in issue I had and even wrote a quick bit of custom CSS to get a button on my site looking a bit more stylish. Speaking of style, what do you think of my clothes? More on that next time! Catch ya’ at the WordCamp Rochester 2019 Happiness Bar!

As a WordPress newbie I was surprised at some of the things I learned at WordCamp last year. I started that morning thinking hashtags might be a type of potato; that Akismet was an insect of some kind; that a dashboard was a type of surfboard – and I’d never surfed, much less been near a lake or an ocean!

I was also surprised to learn that a footer was not a type of running shoe, that the visual editor was not another name for an optometrist. Heck, I thought that tag referred to a kid’s game and that JQuery was the name of one of the speakers!

Luckily I found a lot of friendly help with all of these concerns and more during lunch, in the afternoon, at snack time, from the presenters, other participants, and at the Happiness Bar. I had all kinds of ideas about what a Happiness Bar might be, but more on that next time.

At 23 days old I attended my first WordCamp and I was hooked! There were plenty of other beginners, business owners, and website designers and developers. I appreciated the easy way people shared and answered questions. By the end of a day full of presentations, a hearty lunch, swag and the After Party I developed a picture of the Rochester WordPress community and in a word it was – welcoming.

Later I learned that since 2006, WordCamps have been connecting the WordPress community. And they happen all around the world! I was so excited that last year I told everyone, “This is sooo cool that I can spend a whole day with other people in Rochester who love WordPress!” And, at $20, the price is sooo right!

Hi! I’m Brownie and I’m almost one year old. I was discovered by James Tryon, and inspired by Michelle Frechette Ames, another photography lover and local WordPress motivator, leader and gatherer, to attend my very first WordCamp Rochester last year. I wasn’t even a month old at the time. I’ve since been adopted as WordCamp Rochester’s mascot and cheerleader – I can’t wait to reconnect with everyone and make some new friends too!

I’m a member of the Wapuu. My first family member was born at an After Party some years back. One thing led to another and the first Wapuu was born – you can read all about my family origins at https://wapu.us/wapuu-history-origin/.

Look for lots more blog posts from me!