Let me tell you a little something about my city friends.

Technology is Victoria’s #1 industry
Victoria is dubbed as Canada’s Social Media capital, hosting the country’s largest social media conference (this year in May).

And so naturally, Victoria is also host to YYJ Word Camp, a one day conference about the ins and outs of blogging, social media and, centrally, wordpress.

This was my second year attending and while last year it was my version of Alt, this year it acted as a warmup to the big blogging conference kahuna in Salt Lake City.

The most amazing thing about this wordpress conference, aside from the wealth of knowledge, is the wide demographic. The people who blog in this city range drastically in age, sex and interests. I always love when a single event brings in all sorts of people who would normally never interact. And when you’re all in one place to learn the same thing, you at least have one thing in common and have something to chat about. (Take note people nervous about Alt!)

And so, whether you’re sprucing up your blog in preparation for alt or because you want to make it a better place, here are some facts and tips I learned from yesterday’s conference:

The ‘zoom & pinch’ bit is key. I get so annoyed when I’m on a website via my iphone and have to scroll all over the place and zoom in and out to find the information I’m looking for. Yes, Squirrelly Minds is guilty of not having a mobile version. This is on my to do list.

I was a little nervous including the above quote as, especially in the design blogging world, copying/stealing is (obviously) a HUGE no, and we will work together to fight anyone who intentionally rips anyone else off. But this quote from Pablo Picasso does not take the words ‘copy‘ and ‘steal‘ at face value. Rather he is explaining that there is no such thing as an original idea. Everything is influenced from something, and elaborated and expanded on and improved. That’s what makes good art. Check out this opinion for a fantastic explanation of the quote.

Want more tips? Here are some tips and tools designed to improve your blog (and make your life easier):

Tips

• Unless your demographic is all under 25, a newsletter is key to getting information out to those who use e-mail regularly
• “80% of what gets pinned is already on Pinterest.” Don’t wait for someone else to pin your stuff, do it yourself to get the ball rolling
• The Twenty Twelve WordPress theme is basic and neat. Any website should use its code as a base line

Tools

• Sessioncam records a screencast of visitors on your site. It allows you to see how people view your site and what they do once they’re on it.
• Flickr allows you to search for commercially allowable images.
• sxc.hu carries stock images
• Photo Plugins: Simply Instagram, Easy Instagram, OmniGallery.
• Other Plugins: Tweet Old Post

A huge thank you to everyone involved with YYJ WordCamp, all the knowledgeable presenters, and Paul Holmes for putting together another wonderful day of learning!