MikeDemo
Former MousePlanet MouseStation Podcast co-host Mike “Demo” Demopoulos is a lover of open source first, specific tools later. Because of this, he speaks at Ignite! Conferences, Meetups, WordCamps, Joomla! Events, and more. Mike volunteers with The Joomla! Project as the former treasurer of Open Source Matters (the not for profit organization for Joomla!) as well as serving on the Joomla! board.
Mike Demopoulos has spoken on various open source topics including WordPress and Joomla! in addition to marketing related talks which include A/B testing content.
Before coming to BoldGrid as a community evangelist, Mike spent years building a strong client base in the financial and insurance industries. He believes in sharing his business acumen and marketing insight as it fits within his main goal of building community.
When he’s not spending time with his wife Kayla, you may find Demo at a Disney Theme park, collecting artwork, or hanging out with his dog B’Elanna.
Be sure to say hi to Mike Demopoulos on Twitter at @MPMike.
Karen Swyszcz
Karen Swyszcz is the founder and owner of Makinthebacon. It began as a blog in 2012. She has partnered with brands such as Meridian Credit Union, minted.com, Camp Tech and Supperworks for influencer marketing campaigns. In 2017, Makinthebacon evolved into a consulting/auditing/training services company for blogging, WordPress, and social media.
She has facilitated numerous business blogging strategy workshops within the Greater Toronto Area.
Karen is also a part-time instructor at Sheridan College for their Blogging For Fun & Profit Course and Their Effective Strategies For Social Media Courses.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading and teaching group fitness classes several times a week.
Michelle Ames
Marketing is a passion for Michelle which is why she completed her MBA from the University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business. Michelle has over twenty years of experience in higher education; ten years owning a web design and marketing company; and currently serves as the Head of Customer Success for GiveWP.com
Michelle is a veteran of public speaking. She’s been an instructor for a wide variety of topics including Using Quantitative Data Analysis Software, Meditative Drawing, Intro to WordPress, and Marketing for Massage Therapy. Michelle speaks at conferences all over North America. You can find many of them recorded on WordPress.tv including “Little Things That Make a Big Difference” and “Hidden Features of WordPress Revealed,” as well as panel discussions on marketing and women in technology.
When Michelle isn’t organizing events, she’s attending them, exploring photography, and mentoring people in her local community.
Michelle is the author “A Good Firm Handshake (and other essential business tips)” available on Amazon.com.
Say hi to Michelle on Twitter at @michelleames and check out her website at clickhappydesigns.com.
Ashleigh Low
Currently a Physiotherapist in Hamilton, prior to this I was a sponsored ski athlete living in Whistler, BC. I sustained a trauma skiing in 2013 while training for a competition, which led me to my career as a physiotherapist helping others get back to the activities and sports they are passionate about.
Meagan Hanes
Meagan Hanes is a designer of digital things, fine artist, open-source girl and general life wanderer, with a long and successful career in web development. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Meagan travels across Canada, the USA, and the world sharing WordPress knowledge at WordCamps and Meetups, mentoring WordCamps, and teaching others to code. When not busy managing projects at WebDevStudios and keeping sites secure with Maintainn, you’ll often find her with a musical instrument in hand.
Shanta R. Nathwani (TantienHime)
Shanta has spoken at more than 30 WordCamps, mostly in beginner and content architecture talks. She was a professor in Web Design and Development at Sheridan College for 5 years before joining Weever Apps Inc. in Hamilton, Ontario a year ago as the Customer Service Co-ordinator. She is now the Quality Assurance Supervisor, overseeing the QA Department.
She blogs at shanta.ca and can be found on Twitter @ShantaDotCa
Richard Rudy
Purveyor of fine websites and BBQ. I’m a type-obsessed graphic designer/developer helping clients make the best use of the digital properties. In my down-time I have been know to travel 2000km to wait in line for 4 hours for one meal.
Paul Thompson
Often called a geek translator by his clients, Paul specialises in helping website owners and creators transform the buzzwords of web marketing into business results for bloggers and small/medium businesses as well as enterprise clients.
As an SEO and web marketing consultant at Buzzwords to Business https://www.buzzwordstobusiness.com, Thompson focuses on optimising existing sites into powerful marketing platforms. Using his extensive expertise in technical SEO as a basis, he incorporates audits, custom analytics, content marketing, conversion optimisation, email marketing, and paid search (ah, the buzzwords!), depending on the client’s needs. Thompson also provides one-on-one coaching and training in these areas.
He’s been managing and optimising sites for over 15 years, including stints managing the websites and web marketing programs for Banff Lake Louise Tourism and Travel Alberta, and has been working with WordPress for over a decade now. He’s recently moved from the mountains of the west to the Ottawa Valley. When he’s not at the keyboard, he’s likely on his bike or cross-country skis, or wandering around with his camera and tripod over his shoulder.
Thiago Loureiro
Thiago Loureiro is a freelance full stack developer based in Toronto. He’s been hacking and developing for WordPress since 2010. He’s worked on a number of marketing campaigns for high profile clients and made a core commit in version 4.6.
Nick Adams
I live in Rochester, New York. I’m the Chief Operations Buff at WP Buffs. I’ve been an organizer for WordCamp Rochester since 2017.
Ben Dunkle
Ben Dunkle is a teacher, designer, and artist. He actively works on the WordPress open source project, and has designed thousands of icons for WordPress, including the Dashicons that we see in the wp-admin. Ben has organized and spoken at numerous WordCamps and runs a monthly WordPress users Meetup group.
Matt Graham
Matt is a jack of all technical trades – development, devops, and he has a wire for pretty much anything. His day-to-day includes working on a start-up, troubleshooting WordPress sites and managing more servers than he thought he ever would. Helping people is what gets him up in the morning, and he uses his knowledge to help others reach their technology-related goals.
Jessica St. Peter
Jessica is a graphic designer and web designer/developer with over 12 years of experience who is passionate about creating unique brands and WordPress websites for entrepreneurs who want to look pro on- and offline. She works closely with her clients to help them navigate the task of creating an original brand identity that truly represents their business and attracts their ideal customers. She also teaches small business owners how to create their own branded materials and WordPress websites through tutorials and workshops. Jessica runs her own design business and teaches introductory web languages, User Centered Design and SEO at Niagara College.