Learn to Level Up Your Game with Our Keynote Speaker Rachel Cherry

Who is Rachel Cherry?

Rachel Cherry is a freelance software engineer and consultant with with over ten years experience in back and front-end web development and digital design. Her main areas of focus include accessibility, higher education, and WordPress.

Previously, Rachel was a Senior Software Engineer for Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and helped build a variety of Disney websites on various platforms, including shopdisney.com. Before Disney, she spent over nine years working in higher education and is the Director of WPCampus, a community and conferences focused on using WordPress in the world of higher education.

We are thrilled to have Rachel joining us this weekend as our keynote speaker and recently we had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about why she loves WordPress and what she’ll be sharing with everyone at WordCamp Asheville 2018. Here are her answers:

How and why did you first start using WordPress?

I first started using WordPress in early 2011, when I accepted a job at The University of Alabama. While familiar with content management systems, I had never used WordPress before. I setup a large multisite network, complete with custom plugins, parent and child themes and launched in 6 months. All by myself. I always joke that “It wasn’t pretty but it worked. Pretty came later”. I was definitely thrown in the deep end, but I enjoyed every minute and I continue to love using WordPress over 7 years later.

Why do you think WordPress is such a valuable platform?

The beauty of WordPress truly lies in its community and its extendability, i.e. its ability to easily customize with actions and filters. The platform has tons of amazing, smart people working together, writing and sharing code, supporting each other. And, when that isn’t enough, you have the power to fix the problem yourself through hooks. It’s a powerful combination.

What are you going to share with us at WordCamp Asheville?

I’m excited to take on the game theme for the weekend and talk about “how to level up” as a human of the web. My talk will cover professional aspects, like how to improve your skills, and personal areas, like how to foster your own community. Overall, I hope it will inspire attendees to up their game and be a better player on the web.