Topic: 10 Strategies To Teach Yourself Before Taking a Development Class
Dave Ryan is an Interdisciplinary WordPress Developer at Bluehost, where he focuses on contributing to WordPress. In the past Dave has worked for large publishers and universities scaling high-traffic WordPress sites, blending his skills in information design, journalism and web development. Dave lives in Phoenix, loves a good taco and will like every photo of your dog on Instagram.
How did you get involved in WordPress?
I started using WordPress to publish journalism projects. I was working as an entry-level remote developer when I met another WordPress Developer in a Phoenix coffeeshop, who invited me to join the Arizona WordPress Group.
What do you do with WordPress?
I started a new position at Bluehost in May as a WordPress Contributor and Evangelist, spending 80 percent of my time contributing to the WordPress project and community and my remaining time bringing things I learned outside the company into internal projects. Before joining Bluehost, I was working on publishing tools and WordPress sites at Time Inc.
What has your experience with the WordPress community been like?
I’m pretty active in the Arizona WordPress Group, which has four monthly Meetups and a thriving Slack community. I ended up organizing WordCamp Phoenix before ever attending a WordCamp, have since attended a half-dozen US-based camps and organized two more. I love the inclusive, warm and brilliant people WordCamps attract.
Why did you want to speak at WordCamp DFW?
I’ve got a good friend who lives in the Dallas area, so I’ve visited a few times in the past few years.
Why did you decide to speak on your topic?
Becoming a web developer is a career-long commitment to learning new code languages and tools. For folks who succeed in a school setting, code bootcamps and online courses can be a great step in their learning journey, but I’ve always learned best guiding myself through concepts and materials. I’ve been fortunate to have some incredible teachers, coaching coworkers and wise friends who’ve helped me find my own path to success and confidence with code.
What do you hope the audience gets from your talk?
I hope someone who attends my talk leaves with some ideas for self-guided learning, resources and the confidence that if they wisely invest their time, there’s nothing they can’t learn or learn deeper.