Boston—love it or hate it, you can’t deny it has a big personality. Boston is a place where Red Sox and Bruins’ lore meets the educational driver of technological innovation, and the country’s largest craft beer manufacturer shares a culture with the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. As a native Texan, I’m no stranger to the concept of pride and Bostonians deserves theirs. The thing is that under a layer of vigor and charm you will find one of the most intelligent yet humble technology communities in the nation. The local WordPress community in Boston is no exception.
Today, in what feels like kismet, I am writing from San Francisco, California where I have recently taken a position with the WP Engine Labs team as a dedicated resource to the WordPress.org Core project. I’ve just returned from my third WordCamp Boston and I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic. Let me explain:
My wife and I made the move to Boston in late 2011 after a state-wide policy change in Florida crippled state-sponsored assistance programs relating to her industry. I was freelancing at the time and she found an attractive position in the greater Boston area, so we packed up the U-Haul and found ourselves in Salem, MA. Having not had lots of luck finding a community in Florida, I decided to make a fresh try landing in Witch City. That’s when Google introduced me to Boston WP, the local Meetup.com group. I remember clicking the “Join Us!” button and watching my profile picture work its way onto the sidebar. I had no idea what a large step I had taken towards a better life!
Before I even attended my first Meetup, this community paved the path for a change in employment through one of the region’s leading WordPress agencies, Oomph Inc. Oomph sponsored the local Meetup group so I decided to submit a resume. In the course of a few months, I went from developing for small businesses in isolation to working for enterprise clients with a top-notch development team. Oomph also happened to be the then-current place of employment for Erick Hitter, that month’s Meetup speaker—and my future mentor.
On the night of that first Meetup I remember sitting after Erick’s talk—trying to figure out how I was going to introduce myself to John James Jacoby. John, the lead developer of the BuddyPress project (or JJJ as many of you may know him), was sitting two seats over, and my last major contract before joining Oomph was working with a social networking startup based on BuddyPress. I found myself struggling to say “Hello, I recognize your gravatar and I would like to meet you” without completely embarrassing myself.
Fast-forward to the following July. It was time for my first WordCamp, WordCamp Boston 2012. Looking back now, it is awe-inspiring to think about the level of success of that event. During the after party that night, two life-changing things occurred. The first was Erick convincing me to try beef bone marrow for the first time (I’m still unsure about how I feel about this experience). The second was Sheri Bigelow of Automattic convincing me to speak at WordCamp the following year.
Public speaking is one of those things that I’ve always found intimidating and for anyone familiar with imposter syndrome, a seemingly good way to get yourself into trouble. “You might be factually incorrect.” “You may not know an answer to a question.” “Why risk it?” Insecurities abound. While I can’t even begin to name everyone, this community helped instill in me a sense of confidence in my craft that enabled me to mature and later share a part of it with others . . . and I did!
Speaking at WordCamp Boston 2013 really opened the floodgates! All of a sudden, I was on the map. I met some of my best professional friends during the conference and wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. It enabled my wife and me to take the next step and pursue our dream of living out west and doing what we love.
Now that I have a little experience under my belt, I do my best to be helpful and encouraging to those that may find themselves in a situation similar to my own. If I have one regret it would be that I didn’t always have the confidence to really put myself out there and speak sooner.
It’s now been another year and I’ve just returned from another amazing year at WordCamp Boston 2014. The experience has found me taking a step back—thinking about how my recent union with WP Engine marks a huge milestone in my career—I’ve made it! I love what I do and I love who I am doing it for. I cannot think of a better way to define a sense of purpose.
While I’m now in Northern California, I can’t help but get nostalgic thinking back east to my Bostonian community and everything they’ve contributed towards helping me wake up this morning with a smile on my face. I wouldn’t be here if it were not for Kurt Eng dedicating his free time to WordPress Boston for the past five years. I would not be here if I had never met Erick and all of the amazing people at places like Oomph and WordPress.com VIP. If Sheri never convinced me to speak that night at WordCamp Boston 2012, or regional community leaders like John Eckman were not present at every single Meetup to help nudge me along, I might have never truly realized the path to my passion.
Thank you WordPress Boston!
Steven Word is a seasoned web developer working with WP Engine as part of the Labs team where he focuses development efforts towards the WordPress open source project. When he’s not swearing at bugs or celebrating a successful product launch, Steven enjoy spicy food, Toyota sports cars, trip-hop, and beer snobbery. Rumor has it that he also plays a pretty mean game of foosball.
Great post, Steven. Congrats on the next chapter! Hope to catch up soon. –CM
Thank you, Chris! Let’s make sure we do that.