Founders / Organizers

The Providence WordPress Meetup was started by 3 Rhode Islanders in March 2010: a leader at a local web development firm, a member of Brown University’s web team, and a writer / journalist who worked for the Boston Globe before moving to Newport.

Jake Goldman

@jakemgold | 10up

Jake is a web developer and strategist with over a decade of experience. Jake has overseen dozens of customized WordPress implementations, two of which are on the official showcase. His “WordPress Power Tips” articles for Smashing Magazine consistently make the front page of Delicious. Between supporting clients, he has found the time to contribute more than 10 highly rated plug-ins to the community. He was a co-organizer for the first WordCamp Boston, and has spoken at WordCamp’s around the country, including Miami, New York, and Chicago. He recently co-hosted a WordPress Weekly podcast series on commercial WordPress business models.

Suzanne McDonald, Designated Editor

@sue_DesigEditor | designatededitor.com

15 years’ newspaper experience, most recently six years at The Boston Globe. Since 2008, Suzanne’s deep dives include Search Engine Optimization and Social Media; currently dipping into Usability, Mobile & Behavioral. Suzanne’s philosophy — the user experience drives results — was “like being in the choir” at OMMA Behavioral and at South by Southwest Interactive.

Ken DeBlois, Brown University Web Services

LinkedIn | www.brown.edu

Ken has been customizing WordPress to publish new, features, and other great content for mission-driven organizations since version 2.0. He is a communications strategist with a particular interest in online communications, usability, and social impact. Currently his WordPress projects include co-managing the Brown Blog Service and blogging with some friends about good eats.

Andrew Bennett, BenSpark.com

BenSpark.com | Twitter

Andrew “Drew” Bennett aka “BenSpark” became a blogger in 2003. It wasn’t until 2005 that he hit upon his calling, a Photo-A-Day blog capturing his daily life in photos and blog posts. Drew has taken and posted over 2000 consecutive photos over 5 straight years and shows no signs of stopping. Drew is also a Blog and Social Media consultant. In addition to his own blogs also writes for the Blog World Expo blog, Dad-O-Matic, BloggingTips.com and has worked with major brands such as Sears, Philips Norelco, Philips Sonicare, Kodak and Seagate. He can also be heard as one of the co-hosts of Geek Dads Weekly and his weight loss site/podcast Road To Thin. Drew can be seen at WordPress Providence Meetups with more cameras and video cameras and humanly necessary. He does the documentation of each event in photo and video form.