Marcus previously spent 11 years at financial services company holding a variety of roles from customer service, business analysis, project management, product management and user experience. Before leaving he managed a enterprise content management system with team of 10 people 12,000 documents while adhering to legal, compliance and branding requirements. In 2007 he created start-up that leveraged the content management capabilities of the Joomla platform. He has since seen the light and has made the switch to WordPress. He now consults growing businesses achieve extraordinary results using content, analytics, lead gen and social.

Michelle is an independent graphic designer, recently relocated to Minneapolis from Chicago. She was formally schooled in design including print, branding, packaging, etc., with additional education in Psychology and Sociology, all tying together in a love of How To Solve Problems. Lately she has been specializing in WordPress websites, infographics, and high-end presentations for her clients. She loves the WordPress community and speaks/volunteers/organizes at WordCamps and events around the country.

Josh Leuze is a WordPress developer from Minnesota who loves making themes. He is the author of the popular Meteor Slides plugin.

When not building themes and plugins in his basement, Josh can be found doodling with his kids at the kitchen table, digging in the garden, or pedaling his bike around town.

Nick Pelton is partner and technical director at Westwerk, a digitally forward full-service agency specializing in making brands look amazing while being powered by WordPress. He has 10 years of industry experience and extensive knowledge of full-stack web development and design, making him great at bridging the gap between usability and complex software. Nick is also cofounder and UX developer for TrackJS, a popular Javascript Error Logging service. In his spare time he experiments with the internet-of-things, binges on Netflix, and spends quality time with his wife, Jennifer and two children, Amelia and Brodrick.

I didn’t get involved with the WordPress “scene” until version 3.0. My first foray into the WordPress world was from diving in head-first by attending WordCampMSP 2010. Soon after I was contracting with some old work friends at 9seeds.com to do some WordPress projects. After growing to know and love the WordPress framework, I decided to join forces with 9seeds and make a career out of WordPress development.

Skarjune is the lead consultant for Word & Image providing solutions for content publishing and digital workflow for authors, artists, publishers, and organizations including WordPress Managed Hosting, Support, and Training.

As a designer amazed by Photoshop and its limitless possibilities, Travis discovered a similar power in WordPress. His love affair with WordPress began at version 1.5 and since then he’s created countless successful projects for clients around the world. In 2011, Travis joined digital agency Westwerk as a partner and refocused his skills to lead WerkPress, the agency’s WordPress division. Today he is the director of Press75, a WordPress based product division of Westwerk. Travis’ passions outside of all things design and WordPress include his wife Jenna and dog Porter, reading non-fiction, making music, travel and living a healthy, vegetarian lifestyle.

Barbara has her BFA in graphic design with an emphasis on animation & interactive media and has been doing graphic & web design since 1994 (back when 48MB of RAM was a powerhouse!). She started her career working for agencies doing web and multimedia, then in 2003 moved to Minnesota and started her own business. Her specialty is fully custom WordPress websites for small to medium-sized businesses.

i first used wordpress in 2008 and shortly thereafter i began to realize how versatile it could be. i’ve been hacking on, or using wordpress one way or another ever since. the community around wordpress amazes me and i’m honored to be part of it. this year i opened up my own independent, little shop called werpo, where i create wordpress solutions for businesses and non-profits.

my wife karen and i have two kids and we live in shoreview. i’ve got a thing for writing in lower case, even when spelling wordpress. you might have me pegged if you say i have an incurable dependency to classic rock and the likes of zeppelin, black sabbath, and dylan, but i’m making an effort to discover new music. i’m a bit proud that my kids are now the ones telling me to turn that noise down. i’m ev curious and see an electric vehicle in my future. green tea is my thing, no coffee. twins fan, win or lose and lose and lose…. some day i’m going to play more golf!

Dan has been a WordPress developer since 2009, focusing on front-end responsive code and clean admin interfaces. Prior to joining Alley Interactive, he worked on a large multi-site e-commerce WordPress install as an in-house developer at Blue Earth Interactive.

Dan frequently travels and speaks at WordCamps, recently talking on ‘Stop Building Themes and Start Building Solutions’ at WordCamp Phoenix in January 2014. Generally, Dan gives talks on intermediate developer practices, and personal and professional development. Previous talks have included ‘S2members and Monetizing a WordPress / BuddyPress install’ (WordCamp Minneapolis 2013) and ‘Why Custom Post Types are Awesome’ (WordCamp Boston 2013).