10 Takeaways from WordCamp Omaha

WordCamp Omaha 2017 was well organized, enjoyable, and fun. I always learn things at WordCamp, and Omaha was no exception. Here are 10 things you might not already know:

1. Dusty Davidson reminded us that WordPress now powers 28% of the internet.  You might know that already, but did you know that the next most popular CMS — Joomla — accounts for just 3%? That’s an astonishing gap.
2. Andrew Tuzson was articulate and witty about team culture, and encouraged us to get uncomfortable and then look for the silver lining. This new filter for viewing life, he suggests, pushes us toward growth. No, that wasn’t about WordPress, but it was an uplifting moment.
3. Josh Collinsworth was adamant and entertaining about the importance of small passwords. “If everyone you’ve ever known could work together for 24 hours and hack your password,” he told us, “it’s not strong enough.”
4. Josh also said we shouldn’t think that our content isn’t exciting enough to tempt hackers. “They want bandwidth,” he explained, “not your content.” If you usually avoid security talks because they’re dull, check this one out on WordPress TV.
5. Josepha Haden spoke on the digital divide. She reminded us that October 18-24 is Digital Citizenship Week this year. How will you celebrate it?
6. Stacy Carlson made me believe that we can all develop efficient systems and workflows in 10 minutes a day! Again, not about WordPress, but uplifting.
7. Jim Wolf gave me a renewed appreciation for WooCommerce Attributes. I also want to share with you his excellent advice about getting started with ecommerce, because we’ve seen first hand what happens when people choose another path. “Do your future self a favor,” he said, “and get organized before you start.”
8. Chloe Markham shared a lot of tools. We’ll be trying some out for Tool Tryout Tuesdays.
9. Chloe also pointed out that an accessible website isn’t just about sensory issues like limited vision. Building navigation and CTA buttons with hand tremors in mind can be a big help.
10. Patricia Haden wasn’t physically present, but joined in a conversation on social media with these wise words: “And we always remember to give a shout out to the content people because beautiful and interactive and robust and scalable and boring and stupid is still boring and stupid.“