Matt Cromwell will speak on “Kill ‘em with Kindness” and Other Ways to Improve Customer or Client Relations” Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Talladega Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. Matt is generally known for delivering top customer service, except for when it comes to fast cars… In his own words, “I drove a Porsche once for a friend who had his license suspended,” Matt said. “I think that’s the last time we ever spoke…”

Luckily comments such as, “Support like this is so rare in the plugin support space,” are more typical of Matt’s client interactions. In sharing that client review, Matt wanted to make sure readers understood the background. “It’s not to boast, but simply that it highlights how when people get excellent communication, they acknowledge it and are thankful for it and respond to you with loyalty and positive reviews,” he explained. “If you want your agency, freelance business, or product support to get into pole position, become the “Kill ’em with Kindness Expert” and you’ll surge ahead of the rest easily.

Always quick with a smile, Matt remembers fondly his first car, a beige and tan hatchback Ford Escort that he “affectionately called ‘Harrison’ (get it? Harrison… Ford).” His dream car is no car, preferring, “Hyperloop Tube for the win!” Whether it’s what and how you drive or the method by which you handle customer and client relations, Matt has answers.

“Communication drives everything when it comes to any kind of service, whether it’s client work or customer support. Most often HOW you say things is more effective than what you actually say,” Matt stressed. “Unfortunately, many WordPressers are excellent coders and developers, but don’t spend time reflecting on how they communicate with others so its seems like an unspoken need within our WP Community.”

Catch Matt Cromwell LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: “Kill ‘em with Kindness” and Other Ways to Improve Customer or Client Relations
• Time and Date: Saturday, September 30 at 1:30 p.m.
• Room: Talladega Room

Scott Buscemi will speak on “Setting up a CRM you’ll actually use” Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in the Daytona Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. While no one may ever know what type of car Scott first owned (he guards that information closely as it’s a common security question), he currently rides a red Trek bike. His dream car is one that is fully autonomous and helps him avoid the crazy LA heat!

The fastest car Scott has driven is the Tesla Model S. Talking on his experience, Scott reminisced, “They let you floor it with the top performance model and that acceleration pins you to the back of your seat.” Scott is a believer in top performance, which is why he chose his topic for WordCamp Los Angeles.

Sharing a recent experience, Scott said, “A few weeks ago, I emailed several local nutritionists to inquire about their services and pricing. Only one replied. The rest have not contacted me several weeks later.” Scott continued, “Last month, I contacted several violin tutors so I could get back into playing the violin. Only one replied, and she still hasn’t been able to schedule a time with me. I keep having to follow up with her, rather than the other way around.”

Scott recognizes that many business owners aren’t using a CRM and are losing out on opportunities, prosperity, rate increases and workload reduction because their systems keep them from being top performers. Scott believes that proper CRM / lead management systems will help more businesses win and wants to see that happen. “Everyone wants a lead management or CRM system, but most business owners have tried one system and given up after a couple of days,” he explained. “Usually it feels like managing contacts is just increasing your workload, but the ROI (return on investment) is wild and there are automated systems you can use to speed things up.”

Catch Scott Buscemi LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Setting up a CRM you’ll actually use
• Time and Date: Sunday, October 1 at 3:30 p.m.
• Room: Daytona Room

Raquel Landefeld will speak on “Becoming a Community Builder: A WordPress Story” Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the Daytona Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. Raquel’s driving story started off in a white 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier that she paid for with her own hard-earned cash. She was on a search for community and that car helped her find it at Arizona State University. Since then, Raquel has continued to seek out and build community wherever she goes.

“Community building is so important,” Raquel shared. “I still see many who think it’s not for them or ‘let so-and-so take care of that.’ Let me tell you now that people love community. It is what drives attendance or customers. If you build a community around your business, people will notice. Hopefully my story will inspire you to become more of a community builder. Even in a small capacity, freelancers and business owners (even employees) that get this, will indeed see positives.”

It’s this desire to share her story that had Raquel apply to WordCamp Los Angeles. “My story of becoming a community builder directly credits the WordPress community,” she said. “I truly believe my story would benefit many who have been in my position.” Also, Raquel added, “It’s pretty entertaining to hear.”

A Mitsubishi Eclipse, borrowed from a friend, is the fastest car Raquel has driven. She considers driving to be therapeutic and describes her dream car as a German-made 5/6-speed, though admitted a Tesla would be a close second.

Catch Raquel Landefeld LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Becoming a Community Builder: A WordPress Story
• Time and Date: Sunday, October 1 at 2:30 p.m.
• Room: Daytona Room

Josh Pollock will speak on “Discovering The WordPress REST API” Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Daytona Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. He will also be participating in the Beginners Day workshop explaining contact and lead generation forms that perform well. So, no matter what your level of WordPress, chances are you will see Josh!

Not really a fan of driving and definitely not one to drive too fast, Josh’s dream car is to participate in a fleet of autonomous vehicles owned by an autonomous corporation. Specifically his dream is that participant-owned fleets would operate from a centralized network optimized for VC investor ROI.”Blockchain technology is now making these kinds of true sharing economy apps a lot easier to build, especially with Ethereum,” Josh explained. “So I’m really optimistic, but I also assume Google Car will be such a cheap subscription — they can operate it at a loss to gain market share.”

As you can imagine, Josh tracks tech news. Due to that, it will come as no surprise that his first car was a blue 1992 Nissan Maxima, handed down from his parents. According to Josh, this car had lots of buttons, having been built in the era of “It’s the 90s, make it high tech!” The car was even equipped with keyless entry but, by the time Josh drove it, the keypad no longer worked.

The goal of his REST API talk is to “give you the skills to learn the REST API.” Josh hopes to teach attendees the capabilities of the WordPress API, as he considers it a “very exciting feature of WordPress” that needs to be understood. “People often ask me how to learn all of the routes of the WordPress REST API,” Josh said, “And what each endpoint’s arguments and capabilities are.” If that’s a question you’ve been asking, you won’t want to miss this talk!

Catch Josh Pollock LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Discovering The WordPress REST API
• Time and Date: Saturday, September 30 at 1:30 p.m.
• Room: Daytona Room

Jansen Henschel will speak on “So Easy Even a Kid Can Do it: Using WordPress as a Platform for Portfolios” Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Talladega Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. Our next speaker is unique in that the fastest and only car he’s ever driven is a bumper car at Disneyland. Oh, and he’s 11 (eleven) years old.

Needless to say, Jansen doesn’t have a car and can only guess that his dream car might be one that can fly, since he does not drive yet. His preferred mode of transportation is walking. Jansen is excited to attend WordCamp, especially since, as a speaker, he receives free admission.

When asked about his topic for WordCamp LAX, Jansen replied, “I thought of the name of this talk because I was trying to put together a portfolio myself.” He went on to explain how attendees will benefit from attendance. “They’ll know how to make a portfolio to create a proof of work that can be referenced for a job, a grant proposal, or any visual demonstration of ideas,” Jansen said.

Catch Jansen Henschel LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: So Easy Even a Kid Can Do it: Using WordPress as a Platform for Portfolios
• Time and Date: Sunday, October 1 at 1:30 p.m.
• Room: Talladega Room

Andrew Wilder will speak on “Slow Sites Suck! How to Speed Up WordPress without Touching a Line of Code” Sunday afternoon at 11:00 a.m. in the Daytona Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. As someone who has driven his dream car, a Tesla Model S P100D (the fastest production car in the world), Andrew knows a thing or two about speed. So when he says he can improve your site speed, it’s worth a listen.

“I’ll share the tools I use every day on my and my clients’ sites,” Andrew said, “and give you actionable takeaways so you can get your website purring like a Tesla!”

Andrew wasn’t always concerned with speed, as evidenced by his first car, a 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme station wagon. It had three rows of seats, with rear-facing seats in the back and wood-grain panels on the sides. In his words, the car was “just like driving a mattress” and a far cry from driving the Tesla, which had him “trembling for two hours afterwards.” Andrew explained that now that he understands what “Going Plaid” feels like, he can’t wait to do it again!

He wants others to feel that high by empowering them to be successful and the reason he chose this topic. “I have so many clients who don’t understand the basics of speed, and most speed optimizations aren’t actually that complicated,”Andrew acknowledged. “It used to be that ‘Content Was King’ when it came to websites. Now, having great content on your site is ‘just a given,’ and if your site doesn’t start showing it within just two seconds, people will click away. A faster website means happier visitors, better SEO, and a boost to your bottom line.”

Andrew understands that WCLAX is all about speed this year and feels the knowledge his attendees gain will move them to pole position. “You’ll understand speed bottlenecks: How to find them and how to fix them,” he promised.

Catch Andrew Wilder LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Slow Sites Suck! How to Speed Up WordPress without Touching a Line of Code.
• Time and Date: Sunday, October 1 at 11:00 a.m.
• Room: Daytona Room

Ericka Koyama will speak on “Unit Testing for WordPress Plugins with PHPUnit” Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in the Advanced Development Track at WordCamp Los Angeles. Ericka’s first car, a 1997 Acura 2.2CL, is an example of a vehicle that just works. The brand has been tried and tested and is known for quality. That Acura was also the fastest car Ericka has ever driven, showing that there was more under the hood than a car that performed well on tests.

Professionally Ericka has learned the value of testing in WordPress, and believes “unit testing to be the foundation, in a larger set of software testing suites,” for writing “quality, scalable code solutions.” As a result, she wanted to give people a solid introduction to “how to approach unit testing on their own WordPress plugins or themes.”

“I have been fortunate to be part of a development team that requires unit testing during the beginning phases of a project,” Ericka explained. She hopes her experiences help “others who may be unsure where to start with PHPUnit.”

As far as a dream car is concerned, Ericka does not have a definite car in mind (she’d likely need to test them out), but she is partial to a fuel-efficient Audi.

Catch Ericka Koyama LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Designers vs. Developers: The Final Showdown
• Time and Date: Saturday, September 30 at 1:30 p.m.
• Room: Advanced Development Track

Austin Gil will speak on “Designers vs. Developers: The Final Showdown” Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the Talladega Room at WordCamp Los Angeles. Austin prefers a big picture view when it comes to projects and feels that it’s easy to get sidetracked by smaller decisions. According to Austin, his talk will focus on ways “to make the right decisions when it comes to a project and not get caught up in the developer vs. designer war.”

Austin hopes session attendees will gain “a clearer approach to decision making,” an especially helpful skill for keeping team members on the same page. Because, as Austin said, “Ultimately, knowing what determines the right decisions for a project can lead to more successful projects and happier clients.”

Austin had to make plenty of good decisions in college, as a valet at the Downtown Hilton, where he was provided the opportunity to drive some very fast cars. “I’ve driven Ferraris, Audis, BMWs, Corvettes, and more,” Austin shared. Unfortunately all had to be driven under 15 MPH.

His own first car was a red, ’95 Ford Mustang that was given to him because his cousin got a new car. While it was cool, it was not very economical and he doesn’t really have a dream car. According to Austin, “Cars never really did anything for me, but today I drive an ’05 Honda Civic Hybrid that I’ve taken on many road trips and am in love with,” he said. He explained he may be open to considering a Subaru Outback as a different option since Civics are not known for their off-road capabilities.

Catch Austin Gil LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Designers vs. Developers: The Final Showdown
• Time and Date: Saturday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m.
• Room: Talladega Room

Devin Walker will speak on “Using WordPress For Social Good” Sunday morning in the Daytona Room at 10:00 a.m. at WordCamp Los Angeles. As a young driver, Devin stood apart from the crowd in his 1998 white, lifted Toyota Tacoma. Ten years later, in 2009, Devin used WordPress as a tool to lift others throughout the world by developing the GiveWP plugin. His talk is geared to “encourage and spread the word about how WordPress is being used effectively to empower many great causes.”

Devin has big dreams for himself (his dream car is a Bugatti Veyron) and for each attendee’s organization. “If you’re unsure about helping a cause or nonprofit client,” Devin explained, “this will give you many ideas about the various forms of fundraising and how to plan effective campaigns.” Plus, since he’s driven a Turbocharged Tesla Model S, it’s safe to assume, Devin knows a thing or two about speed.

Catch Devin Walker LIVE at WordCamp Los Angeles:

• Topic: Using WordPress For Social Good
• Time and Date: Sunday, October 1 at 10:00 a.m.
• Room: Daytona Room