Paul Clark started making websites in 2006 to pay his way through business classes. It wasn’t long before he found WordPress. “I was super-excited to find a system that would let me hand content management off to clients, instead of getting a call every time some punctuation needed to be changed!”  From using WordPress for side projects he went on to co-found Brainstorm Media, an agency that was acquired by 10up in 2013. Now he’s at 10up where he’s the Director of Recruiting.

Speaking at WordCamps

For his first WordCamp presentation, Paul was thrown in at the deep end. At WordCamp Phoenix he gave a co-presented a day-long WordPress 401 course for advanced programers. It was also at that event that he gave an early version of the talk that he’ll be giving at WordCamp San Francisco.

WordCamp San Francisco

This isn’t Paul’s first WordCamp San Francisco. He attended last year: “My favorite memory was connecting with so many people in the community, of course! I interact with so many WordPress friends online every day; it’s a special treat to see everyone in person!”

This year, he’ll be speaking. In his presentation How WordPress Saves Lives and Moves Governments, Paul talks about how the Free Burma Rangers have used WordPress as part of their relief efforts in Burma. It really shows the power of free and open source software, empowering people to change their lives.

This talk encompasses so much of what I love about the community we have. The opportunities we have to make the world a better place in big ways by putting technology to work for people. It talks about complex medical, political, and human rights problems that received real-world solutions thanks to the openness and accessibility of the WordPress community.

This talk is about making computers work for people, not the other way around. It’s about using our skills to make microphones that amplify the work of others.