About WordCamp Calgary

Scheduled for May 23rd at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, this year’s conference will bring a variety of recognized experts within the Calgary WordPress Community to share their expertise on the power of WordPress.

We have organized a variety of sessions, panels and work shops to push your WordPress web site to the best it can be. Network and learn from others within the local Calgary WordPress during this jam packed one day event that is sure to make you a better WordPress user by the day’s end.


Meet the Organizers

Connor Turner

As a UX Designer, front-end developer, WordPress guru, and social media expert; Connor has over ten years within the web design and start-up industry. He has worked with clients on a variety of projects in Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa,Toronto, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Austin, TX. He has also been featured as an online expert for Metro Calgary, Global Calgary, CBC Alberta and was a speaker at SXSW 2010. Connor is avid WordPress Designer and Developer through his company Armadillo Studios Inc.. Connor is also known as the founder of yycApps, the creator of The AlbertaTweets Project and the founder of the Calgary ProBono Lounge. He also still dislikes Helevetica, but is warming up to it a bit more.

John Smiley

John is equal parts analyst and idea man, and strives always to uncover the easiest successful path. He seeks to find fit among pieces that often don’t appear from the same puzzle on first blush. With curiosity as his most key motivator, John is most often an asker-of-unasked-questions, wondering why things are done the way they are, and is usually certain there’s a different, more interesting, and probably simpler path up any given mountain. John does his very best to avoid doing things that aren’t fun and hates writing about himself in third person.

Michael Tighe

Mike is the founder of Solid (asolidsite.com). His background is in front end web development & design, and his current focus is in UX, web strategy, content creation, and inbound marketing.

Mike is focused on making lasting and functional products, was an early adopter to responsive mobile design, and thinks that user experience design matters just as much for the admin panel as it does for the site.

Rae Carlson

As a life-long entrepreneur, Rae Carlson started their first business in grade 7, reselling hosting accounts and building websites for small businesses using FrontPage. Needless to say, they’ve evolved their approach a lot since then. As the owner of Abtek Web Design, Rae is committed to “Building Beautiful Websites for Better Businesses”. Abtek’s Calgary-based team has over 16 years of combined WordPress development experience and serves clients all over the globe.

In addition to helping organize WordCamp YYC 2015, Rae is a contributor to The Calgary WordPress Meetup Group, getting their energy from French-pressed coffee, Star Trek soundtracks and dub-steppy mashups.

Tony Grimes

Business owner, artist and technology therapist with 14 years experience in software development and online strategy. His company, Siteline Solutions, is a web and software developer specializing in web/software development and online marketing strategy.

In 2009 Tony founded Pixels and Pints, a monthly networking series for graphic designers and web developers. The group of almost 500 members meets every second Tuesday of the month in the Beltline area. The group expanded into barcamp and code sprint events in 2011