Category: community

My rubric when asking for additional user permissions

A WordPress contributor told me recently that he was feeling anxious about asking for a new level of user permissions for problem-solving reasons, and in the process of advising him, I realized I have a fairly reliable rubric for making those requests. Maybe it’s even useful outside of WordPress? Here it is, regardless! Hey (person),…… Continue reading My rubric when asking for additional user permissions

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Doing business in WordPress: missed opportunities

Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com

If you’re new to WordPress-based business, welcome! There’s never been a better time to help people achieve their goals with WordPress. The ecosystem is vast, and we’re a welcoming community. Don’t we look welcoming? Here I am at WordCamp US 2016, with fellow WordPress enthusiasts Cory Miller (left) and Bob Dunn (right). I’m can’t quite…… Continue reading Doing business in WordPress: missed opportunities

What happens when you won’t admit (or don’t realize) you’re a leader

Hello, my name is Andrea, and I’m a recovering leader-in-denial. I’ve spent much of my life stepping (usually reluctantly) into leadership roles, while also eagerly looking for someone else who could lead better than me — so I could stop being in charge! And that rarely happened, much to my surprise and chagrin, but only…… Continue reading What happens when you won’t admit (or don’t realize) you’re a leader

The lost city of Bayocean

If you enjoy watching short documentaries, and you’re interested in learning more about Oregon, you might check out the Oregon Public Broadcasting show called Oregon Field Guide. Tonight I watched a really interesting and very sad episode about the lost city of Bayocean, Oregon. Apparently in 1907, a family of real estate developers founded a…… Continue reading The lost city of Bayocean

Dancing with production

I always enjoy the excellent podcast Hurry Slowly (hat tip Josepha Haden Chomphosy for the recommendation), and a recent episode called “Are you Satisfiable?” really resonated with me this week. The episode centers on the ideas of writer, facilitator, and activist adrienne maree brown, who recently published the book Pleasure Activism. The whole interview is…… Continue reading Dancing with production

Innovation and Empathy for Loss

In reading Megan Risdal’s excellent article, Reflections on Stack Overflow: Building Successful Communities, I was struck by a particular passage: Have empathy. Loss aversion is a very real thing. Even if simplifying something is the best thing for users by all other accounts, taking something away still hurts. And this impacts not just end users,…… Continue reading Innovation and Empathy for Loss

Talking leadership, events, and open source with Cory Miller

I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with my friend Cory Miller about leadership, event organizing, and open source today. Check out that conversation if you’d like to hear about the three epiphanies that have changed the way I think about my work! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jVMxNhPKpM Cory has a ton of great content on his Youtube channel,…… Continue reading Talking leadership, events, and open source with Cory Miller

Successful Givers

My job is all about helping people:  I help WordPress volunteer community organizers make great events for their local WordPress community members. I’ve done this work for over 4 years. There’s been wonderful and difficult times for me in that time, and I am still passionate about what in-person events do for the WordPress open…… Continue reading Successful Givers