Kevin is actively involved with his community as the President of the Grand Ledge Chamber of Commerce and as an officer in the GL Masonic Lodge.
He has two Eagle Scout sons. His hobbies included snowboarding, water skiing, tournament chess, reading, upright bass guitar, and making sushi.
Kevin Skarritt will be presenting “Explode Your WordPress Business!” on Saturday, October 15 at 4:00pm in the Amphitheatre.
Why do use WordPress?
I’ve found there are seldom any good reasons to use any other CMS other than WP. Because I find most of my clients come from the SMB world, I find the WP learning curve is less steep for the average business owner … which leads to a higher happiness factor. How can you beat; fast, easy, powerful AND free?!
When and how did you start using WordPress?
I’ve been using WordPress since its earliest days (roughly 2004) when it was competing with MoveableType. It was just personal blogging back then (I’m not even sure we were using the word blog yet) but later that same year plugins and static pages were added to the mix. The clouds parted and the light shone down upon all of us. I can count the number of NON-wp websites I’ve built since then on one hand.
What would you tell someone to convince them to attend a WordCamp?
Regardless of your level of tech savvy, what facet of development you’re in, whether you’re a developer or a user, there’s SOMETHING there waiting for you to discover it! All you need to do is attend.
Tell us about something awesome you’ve experienced at a WordCamp in the past.
Connecting with awesome new professional peers AND THEN having a forum to bump into them again and again!
Give an example of a cool WordPress project you have worked on recently.
What is your favorite part of WordCamps?
The networking BY FAR! And, although the presentations can’t go suuuper deep, you get to touch on all the latest/greatest ideas from some of the top pros in the biz. The value of that can’t be measured in $$.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to start or grow a WordPress based business?
Talk to as many people as you can. Go to lunch with a new group each day. If there are time slots that have presentations that don’t resonate with you, there’s ALWAYS a brain-explosion going on out in the hallways. LOTS of people miss this opportunity.
Tell us something awesome about yourself that is not WordPress related.
I’m adopted AND a twin! (oops, that’s two things)
Name someone in the WordPress community that inspires you.
Topher DeRosia
How have WordCamps impacted you and your business in the past?
Each one that I’ve attended has grown my pro network substantially. This allows MY company to grow … due to the larger, higher quality of resources.
Fill in the blank for other attendees: “If you ___________ then you should come talk to me at WordCamp.”
… want to grow the size of your business AND remove a lot of the grief that some clients bring to the table (Yeah, you know the ones I’m talking about), then come tap my shoulder…. Or join my group for lunch!
What should someone learn before attending your talk at WordCamp Ann Arbor?
Nothing. Just bring your mind open to LOTS of new possibilities.
What is your favorite WordPress related resource?
too many