getting to WORDCAMP…and making money!

Good news, guerrilla camping went well, and I even woke and wrote at 3:15 (the experiment must go on!) But when I hit the road in the morning, somehow I ended up in Hollister, a sleepy town near Pinnacles National Monument. A quick jog had me back on the 101 N, but behind by a good 30 minutes.

Driving in SF–no make that NAVIGATING  in SF–is challenging. Even early on a Saturday morning. Thanks to the directional help from my friend Kathy back home via cell phone and her internet (driving and searching for a hotspot proved to dangerous even for me!), I eventually found my way to 1675 Owens and the Mission Bay Conference Center (where you can’t see the Bay), parked ($24!!somehow I missed the morning validation call…no signs!) and figured out that I was in the developer part of the conference, not the user part (again no signs?)

Between my various snafus,  I missed two sessions of interest “Education and WordPress” (and as someone who taught 30 college students to blog about environmental issues in an English class this was of interest) and “SEO Mistakes Most Bloggers Make” –SEO being Search Engine O? peration?–definitely of interest as someone with less of a year of blogging under my belt. Hopefully, I will get some of the key points from someone else here! And pass them on…

Now I’m sitting in a sea of Apples at a session by redmonk? aka Stephen O’Grady called “Open Source Business Models” the topic of which I barely grasp, but the catch is how to make money and creative commons and other licenses. I did hear lots of muttering at the tail end of the SEO Mistakes that most of it went over the heads of the audience. I figure I’ll get what I get. He seems to be talking about creative commons licenses and different kinds, but obviously I’m not paying that much attention as I am writing this post…

Now he’s talking about making money–and I get it. Here’s the important question: am I making money with this blog/software/whatever, or because of this?? What matters in terms of the big picture? This is such a great perspective to remember. I often tell people that while I’m not making money off my blog, that’s ok–that’s not why I blog. But BECAUSE I blog, certain opportunities are coming my way. My whole life in fact is changing (see the series of posts “looking for work.”

I am not drinking coffee. They are offering Peet’s, my favorite, but Mr Peet, my scotch loving former employer, must be rolling over in his grave. It is the worst Peet’s coffee imaginable. And it’s served with creamer. Fortunately, they offer hot water, and Peet’s teas (in the bag! HORRORS, sorry to report that Mr. Peet). Lots of carbs available too for snacking on (I have a bagel and cream cheese) and gobs of stickers to gather up.

Next up: “Secrets of Virality” from the LOL cats guy, WP power user tips (hmmn, am I a power user?), upgrades, words from Matt WP founder & CEO, and misc mumbo jumbo to fill the day. To see more about the event, go here