You may notice Todd Huish of 9seeds at WordCamps because of his hair. However, if you get the opportunity to speak with him about WordPress, you remember him for what he has to say. Be sure to check out the development panel at the end of the day featuring Aaron Campbell. Matt McInvale and Todd.
With that said, here’s another Speaker Spotlight:
How long have you been working with WordPress and what first attracted you to it?
I’ve been working with WordPress for about two years. I went to my very first WordCamp (WordCamp Las Vegas) in January of 2009 and up until that point had rolled my own blog software for my own blog just as a hobby. What made me switch was realizing the sheer amount of plugins available for the platform, not to mention the huge community behind it.
What are your thoughts on the WordPress community as a whole, including WordCamps?
I’m a huge fan of the community as a whole. WordCamp is what got me into WordPress, and the people I met there are what made me want to go another one. The speakers, the conference organizers and the developers that show up to all these events make it so worth it.
Who in the WordPress community inspires you? Who do you follow?
There’s tons of insanely great people in the community but I’m going to admit this publicly, I’m a Team Joseph guy. Joseph Scott has done some of the geekiest, coolest stuff in the codebase and a 10 minute conversation with him just makes your whole day. On top of that, he’s a heck of a nice guy. People like him are -precisely- why I’m a fan of the community.
What is the most exciting feature/addition/improvement to WordPress that you have noticed in the last year?
This is going to sound weird but until 3.2 there weren’t a whole lot of big changes in the last year and I’m quite happy with that. I’m a developer and I LOVE new features but I also know that if you don’t just smooth out what you have from time to time it becomes a problem. I love it that every release isn’t a gigantic list of new and barely tested features. Also, have you seen the updated blue admin theme? Do yourself a favor and switch to it. Your eyes will thank you.
Where do you see WordPress 2 years from now?
I like the pace WordPress has set. I want it to continue adding features and remaining stable with a kick ass community. Every release is a little better and no worse and that puts it a head and shoulders above a whole lot of other projects. Well, also, whitehouse.gov. Someone is going to realize the mistake they’ve made and switch to WordPress and that will begin as a harbinger of peace and unity which will spread across the land like wildfire…but mostly the continuing to add features and stuff. Peace and unity is more of a byproduct.
