WordCamps are known for a lot of things: great people, interesting lectures, tasty beer. One thing that they are probably less known for are babies.

That being said, I know that two people had a little more fun than the rest of us at WordCamp Whistler that weekend, so much so that a good friend of mine became pregnant. Jump ahead nine months or so, and the world has been blessed with a new baby boy.

So, on behalf of WordCamp Whistler and all the people involved in it, I want to welcome Aiden into the world. May your life be filled with loving parents, happy friends, and all the WordPress blogs you could ever want.

Welcome to the world, Aiden.

If you have a question for any of today’s speakers, leave a comment on this post and we’ll use that to pass the questions on during their respective sessions. Be sure to note in your comment who your question is for.

Welcome to WordCamp Whistler 2009!

This will be a collaborative post that we will update through this morning to bring all the details for today’s conference. If you need today’s schedule, you get get it here.

If you can’t make it today, check out the live stream of toady’s WordCamp, brought to you by the fine folks at Fearless City.

Some blog posts that we’re seeing from people here on the ground.

• All of Rebecca’s posts on Miss604.com tagged with wcw09
• Dale Mugford’s post on being here for WordCamp
• Cathy Tibbles has discovered some sweet plugins while attending WordCamp
• Raul has a fleet of posts and provides some great coverage of the whole day
• Kris Krug is being a Flip ninja and posting video interviews like mad on YouTube
• Twitter hashtag: #wcw09 or #wcwhistler09
• Flickr tag: wcw09, wcwhistler09

And for real live coverage, check out Rebecca’s post here

Speaker’s summaries in their own words:

• Keynote Speaker Lorelle VanFossen: WordPress Power Tips Slide Show
• Dale Mugford: Notes on his talk over at bravenewcode.com
• John Biehler: My WordCamp Whistler 2009 Session Notes
• Morten Rand-Hendriksen: Using Conditional Custom Fields for Advanced Layouts
• Tris Hussey: My WordCamp Whistler Talk: How to build a website with WordPress, for normal people

Podcast: Download (duration: 10:17 — 6.4MB)

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WordCamp Whistler is upon us! People are filtering into the city, twittering their travels, and getting excited just like we are. And honestly, seeing everyone else get excited really gets me pumped for tomorrow.

On the way up on the Friday afternoon before this WordCamp kicks off, Duane Storey drives his car with his partner, Dale Mugford, from BraveNewCode with Rebecca and I, from sixty4media, in the backseat, in route to Whistler for the WordCamp event. Breaking out the recording equipment, we give a brief preview to what’s going on tomorrow, the speakers, festivities, and other introspective thoughts on the event.

Kept it short, so give it a quick listen even if you have a little time before the day kicks off at 10AM.

• WordCamp Whistler 2009 Schedule and Map

I was sitting at my local “we have mailboxes, staplers, photocopiers and giant paper machete” shop just down the street making copies of the WordCamp Whistler handout and as each sheet cascaded onto the holding tray I started to feel really bad about using all that paper.

I know when I get press kits or handouts I’m always left wishing I had a digital copy instead, so I’m going to share the WordCamp Whistler handout right here, right now, and I will also have hard copies available tomorrow morning at the registration table.

Click the link to save your own copy of the handout

This way people can print out their own if they like (and I won’t have to make wasteful copies that may not be used) and they can gather the information ahead of time.

On behalf of Duane, John and myself, I’d like to say that we’re absolutely excited about tomorrow and can’t wait to see you all at the Fairmont for a coffee first thing in the morning.

We’re actually only about 24 hours away from the very first WordCamp Whistler, and to say everyone is excited would be an understatement. Lorelle, the keynote speaker, arrived in Vancouver this morning, and is currently on a train heading up to Whistler. I’m sitting in Chilliwack right now, waiting for Dale Mugford, one of the WordCamp speakers, to arrive from Hamilton, Ontario. Once I grab him from the airport, we’re off to Vancouver to grab Rebecca and John Bollwitt, and head up the sea to sky highway towards Whistler. On the way, we’ll be recording the second WordCamp Whistler podcast, so look for that maybe later tonight.

Registration opens at around 9:30am 9:00am tomorrow, with the opening remarks at 9:55am. I also want to encourage everyone to start using the WordCamp Whistler social media tags, starting now. If you’re doing a tweet, please add “#wcwhistler09″ to it. If you’re posting a Flickr photo or a YouTube/Blip.TV video, please tag it with “wcwhistler09″. We’d really love to catch not only the event on the Internet, but also the process of getting to and leaving Whistler. Here’s an RSS feed from Twitter incorporating all the WordCamp Whistler tweets.

There will hopefully be a live stream of the festivities this weekend, or at the very least, delayed versions of some of the events. So check this website periodically, or head over to FearlessCity.

It’s been a whirlwind getting everything set up for this event, and we’re definitely looking forward to finally seeing it come to fruition. Thanks to all our sponsors for their support, and for everyone who is coming. See you up on the slopes tomorrow morning!

We’re pleased to announce another sponsor for WordCamp Whistler: MovieSet.com.

MovieSet brings the authentic behind the scenes experience of working on a film set directly online to fans in exciting new ways. Follow the creation of movies from development through production, right up to their release and beyond. Keep track of the latest movie news, watch exclusive video and read blogs from the movie’s creators.

Feel free to head on over to their website at MovieSet.com and check it out. Thanks for the support, MovieSet.

We want to also thank another recent sponsor of ours, The Citizen’s Media.

THE CITIZENS MEDIA (CM) is an Online Publishing System, a Content Management System, a Social Networking Tool and a Blog

In a time when engagement is the key to success – gimmick free, easy to manage, control and translate, THE CITIZENS MEDIA makes creating a community based, interactive online presence a breeze.

What makes CM unique?

While incorporating the interactive technology associated with todays world of Web 2.0, CM’s unique Multisite Publishing System presents powerful new potential to the way we share and promote information today.

Whether you’ve got an interactive site already or no web presence at all – it’s time to connect with CM.

Keep it Simple.

To learn more, please visit www.thecitizensmedia.com, or email caroline@thecitizensmedia.com today.

Thanks for the support!

We’re pleased to announce yet another sponsor for the very first WordCamp Whistler – the BC Liberal Party. Given the positive effect that social media has on both businesses and individuals, it’s great that the BC Liberal Party is a supporter of social media, and WordCamp Whistler:

The BC Liberal Party is pleased to be a sponsor of WordCamp Whistler, the first Canadian WordCamp of 2009.

Our Party recognizes the contribution that web 2.0 and blogs bring to discussions on a wide variety of topics, including politics, and we are pleased to support your efforts.

Over the last few years, the BC Liberal Team under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell has been making great strides to reach out to those who use online technologies to hear about your ideas and your goals to make British Columbia the best place it can be.

Today, we’re proud of the fact we’re the first political party in Canada to launch a consultative online process to receive input and ideas for our election platform. Visit Open Platform at www.openplatformbc.ca and submit your views on how we can keep B.C. strong.

Never before has there been this level of engagement with citizens, not just political party members, regarding the formation of an election platform.

We hope you enjoy the conference, and if you’re interested in learning more about the BC Liberal Party and our online efforts, visit us online at www.bcliberals.com.

We’re happy to have the BC Liberal Party as a supporter of this event, and we thank them for helping to make it even more successful.

Sponsorship spots are still open, so if anyone else is looking to become a sponsor and be a part of this event, please visit the sponsorship page.

Since we closed ticket sales the other day, we’ve received quite a few emails from people who really want to attend, but can’t because the tickets are no longer on sale. We spent part of today trying to find a way to accommodate those individuals, and I’m happy to announce that tickets are once again on sale until Friday afternoon. Since it’s unlikely we’ll obtain any more sponsors this close to the event, we’re forced to raise the ticket prices such that we can recoup the full costs of each person’s ticket without any additional sponsorship funds.

Included in the price of each ticket is:

• A full day of WordPress related talks
• Access to an informal social event on Saturday at the Longhorn, plus a complimentary drink
• Lunch and multiple coffee breaks
• A one-of-a-kind piece of WordPress scwhag

If you’d like to get a ticket, please head over to our EventBrite page. Hope to see everyone up on the hill!

With only a few days left before the WordPress-inclined head to Whistler, BC for our great one-day WordCamp we are happy to announce that it’s a sell out. Here’s a quick schedule and guide to what you can expect at WordCamp Whistler 2009.

Socials
Unofficial social, brought to us by Reachd and Ubertor
Friday night “Beer with Bloggers” from 7:00pm until 9:00pm (RSVP required)

WordCamp Whistler Apres Social at the Longhorn Saloon, sponsored by Molson
Saturday night from 8:00pm (open to all attendees)

Schedule

We will be having two coffee breaks and lunch will be provided. When you arrive in the morning coffee will be ready while you register, wake up, get set, and take your places in the conference room.

Social Media Extras
Fearless City will be providing streaming video throughout the weekend.

WordCamp Whistler Twitter: @WCWhistler
Hashtag: #wcwhistler09
Flickr tag: wordcampwhistler09

Feel free to give us a shout should you have any questions, we look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort.