Meet our Speakers! Round One

We’d like to give a warm welcome to our first round of speakers. Their presentations will focus on everything from navigation design to the business case for accessibility to WordPress security, and more.

• Bet Hannon: “The Business Case for Accessibility”
• David Mark Brown: “Pirate Publishing: Own your audience, Build your brand”
• Erik Wardell: “The Basic SEO Site Audit – Does your site meet SEO best practices?” and “Gathering Actionable Insights from the new Google Search console”
• Gillian Hill: “Content Creation for Websites – How content creators and web developers can work together” and “Wireframing: why you want your content creator to be involved in wire framing”
• Heather Carlson: “How to Share Your Story Across Multiple Digital Platforms” and “Creating an Audience-Focused Digital Strategy”
• Jim Harmer and Ricky Kesler: “Exactly how two average guys build multiple blogs to millions of page views (and dollars)”
• Stacy Clements: “WordPress Security; Beyond the Plugin”
• Stephen Locker: “What to Consider When Designing a Website’s Navigation” and “Using Color to Discuss CSS Variables, WordPress Block (Gutenberg) Editor Color Options, and Inline SVGs”
• Theresa Smith: “How to Make Six-Figure Income and Enjoy Your Career More by Specializing in a Niche”

• Bet Hannon

  

  Bet has worked with businesses and nonprofits for over 10 years, helping them build WordPress websites, integrate other communication channels, and learn how to use digital marketing tools more effectively. She is the CEO of BH Marketing, that designs, builds and maintains accessible sites, including membership and ecommerce sites. Bet is a member of the WP Support Team, and lives in Bend, Oregon, US, and is one of the organizers of the Bend WP Meetup.

• David Mark Brown

  

  David is an authorpreneur determined to discover the natural evolution of digital storytelling through stuff like reader interaction, augmented reality, gamification, collaborative StoryVerses and episodic story structure.

  David is the pioneer of Pirate Publishing and the Captain of the pirate ship StoryShop (a writing platform and community). He invites you to #JoinTheStory via StoryShop.io, StoryShop University, and StoryShop Summit.

  His published works span across all ages and several genres. Mostly, he enjoys exploding things. If you‘ve read for twenty pages and nothing has been blown up or shot, then David must be losing his edge.

• Erik Wardell

  

  I have the privilege or coaching WordPress site owners and freelancers through the SEO process on a daily basis at Pathfinder SEO in Basalt, Colorado. In my role as an SEO coach, I get to take the complex and confusing world of search and make it approachable for ordinary people who know they need to get found in Google, but don’t know where to start. I spend the rest of my time spreading the word about the benefits of guided SEO.

• Gillian Hill

  

  Gillian Hill is a Scottish transplant who has lived in Boise for 4 years. A former real estate attorney, she now writes and edits for a living while wrangling her two small boys and getting them into the Idaho outdoors as much as possible. She regularly creates content for business web pages, and writes articles and blog posts, when she isn’t writing her own novels and short stories.

• Heather Carlson

  

  Heather Carlson is a Boise State University alumna with a B.F.A in graphic design/marketing and a M.A. in communication. She is the associate director of advancement communications at Boise State where she manages the digital presence/graphic identity for University Advancement.

• Jim Harmer

  

  Jim Harmer started his first blog during law school and by the time he graduated, the blog was earning enough that it has become his full-time work for the last several years.  He has built multiple blogs to millions of page views and dollars in revenue.  Jim and his business partner Ricky Kesler are best known for their popular Youtube channel Income School which is followed by nearly 100,000 internet marketing and SEO enthusiasts from around the world.

• Ricky Kesler

  

  Serial entrepreneur Ricky Kesler is a founder of Income School, a business dedicated to helping people improve the income side of the financial equation. He spent his early career as a Chemical Engineer, and then as a Business Management guy at big companies. But his passion for entrepreneurship got the better of him and in 2014, he became a blogger, podcaster, and YouTuber after going into business with his high school friend Jim Harmer. Ricky lives in Meridian, ID with his wife and 4 awesome children.

• Stacy Clements

  

  Stacy Clements is the owner of Milepost 42, a technology partner for small business owners who want to work on their business, not the “techie stuff” needed to support it.

  Before starting her business, Stacy spent 23 years in the United States Air Force, working in communications, cyber operations, and project management. Dubbed “a fixer, a problem solver, and a pitbull”, she now focuses on fixing WordPress sites, solving technical problems for small business owners, and relentlessly promoting cybersecurity practices.

• Stephen Locker

  

  Stephen Locker is a web developer and co-owner of Happy Prime, a strategic web agency. He believes in the power of open source, open science, and sharing. He has more than a decade of web experience working in higher education. As a web professional, Stephen spends his time working on content architecture, front-end development, and design. Outside of work, he enjoys socializing and good food.

• Theresa Smith

  

  Theresa is a Certified StoryBrand Guide and website designer based in Fruitland, Idaho. As a former CrossFit gym owner, she has built a specialty niche focusing on building websites for fitness and nutrition facilities. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies from the University of Maryland and a certificate in graphic and web design from Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts.