Every year, at WordCamp St. Louis, we have a series dedicated to interviewing our speakers. This is intended to be fun, but allow people to get to know our speakers. First up to bat is Chance Strickland. He’ll be speaking on Senior Career Strategies for Junior Developers.
Interview with Chance Strickland
NILE FLORES: When did you start using WordPress?
CHANCE STRICKLAND: I started hacking together page-builder themes in 2010 and finally started to learn some actual WordPress development skills in 2015.
NILE FLORES: What are a few takeaways that attendees will get from your talk?
CHANCE STRICKLAND: I want attendees to learn some strategies for rapidly advancing their career as a web developer without feeling like they have to rush to become a “senior” engineer.
NILE FLORES: WordPress is turning 15 years old. What would you like to see in the future for WordPress?
CHANCE STRICKLAND: I want to see a continuing commitment to backwards compatibility and accessibility in the face of rapid change, particularly in the JavaScript ecosystem. WordPress should continue to advance but developer should be wary about embracing the most popular frameworks of today inside of core.
NILE FLORES: “And just for funsies”, over the past few years, the WordPress community has seen the rise of the cute Wapuu character? Heard of it? And if so, what’s your favorite Wapuu? (Wapuu Reference: https://wapu.us/ )
CHANCE STRICKLAND: I have to give a shoutout to our local Nashville Wapuu Willie Nelson! https://wapu.us/wapuu/wordcamp-nashville-wapuu-willie-nelson/
NILE FLORES: What is your favorite area of the WordPress admin?
CHANCE STRICKLAND: Settings > Permalinks, because everyone knows you gotta reset those permalinks on the reg.
NILE FLORES: What are the top three WordPress plugins that you believe every WordPress user should have installed?
CHANCE STRICKLAND: SafeSVG, Akismet, and Relevanssi.
Want to see Chance’s talk? Get your ticket today, and come join us at WordCamp St. Louis, which will be May 12th and 13th, at Washington University!