There are three WordPress events and two WordCamps coming up you need to know about in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area.
The April 15, 2013, Monday evening meeting of the Portland WordPress Meetup Group will feature “The Power of WordPress’ Roles and Capabilities” looking at user roles and permissions and how to customize and manage them in WordPress for sites with multiple contributors.
The meeting consists of introductions (if the number of attendees and time permits), announcements of WordPress events and activities in the area, and attendees calling out jobs specializing in WordPress expertise and those looking for work with WordPress. The educational part of the evening consists of 20-90 minutes learning about the topic. If time permits, the group breaks up into two or more sections with experts to answer specific questions such as help for beginners, WordPress Plugins, and WordPress Themes.
Portland has one of the largest counts for Automattic employees in the world. Many Happiness Engineers, coders, developers, and testers are found here, so it is a fantastic place to find WordPress help and expertise.
The April 29th meeting of the WordPress Meetup Group in downtown Portland will feature “What’s Coming in WordPress 3.6” as the topic.
The Twenty Thirteen WordPress Theme will be included in the next release of WordPress and showcased at the meeting along with a walk through of the new post format interface and changes to the Custom Menus interface along with other improvements and changes.
This social event is not required but highly recommended to help you keep abreast of the latest developments in WordPress.
The Monday evening events are free and start at 6:30PM in the Pine Room, Lincoln Building, across from the US Bancorp (Pink) tower in downtown Portland. You may RSVP on the Portland WordPress Meetup Group page on Meetup.com.
Hack With Me on WordPress Special Event
The Hack With Me: Unit and Behavioral Tests is a special event for WordPress fans and the WordPress Meetup Group. On Saturday, April 27 from 1-5PM, we will be exploring unit tests in WordPress, understanding why they are valuable and how to write unit tests. The group will spend the time also writing a WordPress Plugin or code in a quick hack-a-thon style and test it.
This is a special event and requires WordPress and coding skills and expertise, though you can come along and absorb the information as well. You will require PHPUnit and other programs installed on your laptop to create a development environment. Check the Portland WordPress Meetup site for more information and details.
WordCamps
WordCamp Seattle 2013 has been announced for June 8, 2013, at the University of Washington.
They are seeking speakers and volunteers (a great way to attend for free, though the event is very cheap for a full day conference with meals) so the information is limited. Get this on your schedule and stay tuned for news from myself and the WordPress Meetup group in Portland about carpools and plans to attend as a group.
WordCamp PDX should be announced soon, usually held in the fall.
WordCamp San Francisco 2013 is considered the “father” (or mother) of all WordCamps. It is the home of the world’s first WordCamp and WordPress Events and WordPress fans from around the world flock to the city every year for this comprehensive event.
Plans are still underway for this multiple day event July 26-28. The inexpensive price includes food and features a diverse collection of WordPress and web publishing experts covering everything WordPress from content to code. Typically, the event is under $100 for the main 2 day conference, with Sunday, July 28th, a free coders event which often turns into a bug squashing and hack-a-thon day where anything goes.
This is the 10th Anniversary of WordPress and the 8th WordCamp in San Francisco, so expect it to be a huge celebration and special event with some surprises.
It’s an exciting chance to learn more about WordPress and meet others in the WordPress Community from around the world. I highly recommend it.
The Portland WordPress Meetup Group will sometimes put together a group deal for those wishing to travel or room together, so stay tuned for additional news.
Learning from Lorelle 
Changes be afoot aye? I have suggestions! I’m sure tons of WordPress users have suggestions. I think many of the free themes available should be removed as they are unattractive and fail to function/render correctly. Also, a few of the plugins available only on the .org side should be made available on the .com side. Ha! Self hosting was a really bad experience for me, I will never do it again.. Sorry for the rant!
LOL! Self-hosting can be painful indeed.
Changes are always in the process of WordPress development. Most are fantastic, some not so much. Themes and Plugins, though, have little to do with WordPress core, which will be the main topic for one of the WordPress meetups. The WordPress Community is always looking for suggestions for improvements. Join your local WordPress group and get involved! It’s easy, and fun.