Kyle Maurer is the lead developer and co-owner of Real Big Marketing which is a full service marketing firm based in Jackson, Michigan.
He is passionate about web development, WordPress as a development platform and creating new plugins. He’s released 8 free plugins on wordpress.org so far and is just barely getting started. In addition, he appears weekly on a WordPress focused live hangout at wproundtable.com.
He’s also in a band. What more do you need to know?
Kyle will be presenting Don’t Fear the Code and Theme Customization Best Practices.
Interview
Why do you use WordPress?
For so many reasons. The biggest would probably be because it is the one system I’ve found where I can deliver anything I or my clients dream up. There are virtually no limitations. And I hate limitations.
When and how did you start using WordPress?
A few years back I took some some online class as an elective in college and learned about HTML and Dreamweaver. That knowledge alone was enough to get me a decent job and I continued making crappy HTML sites with Flash and other such nonsense until some hero introduced me to WordPress. Around that time, WP began to extend beyond a blogging platform and it quickly became my go-to solution.
The poetic version of my story can be found here.
What tips or resources would you recommend to a new WordPress user?
Your local meetup will be hard to beat. Also attend every WordCamp you can.
The web is bursting with WP resources as well. So if you like…use the Internet and stuff…you’ll be ok.
What advice would you give someone who’s building a business around WordPress design or development?
Networking will help more than you might think. Most everyone in the WP community is highly collaborative.
Also, don’t be afraid to learn a little code. It empowers you and brings clarity.
How do you stay informed about WordPress (news, tips, etc.)?
There’s a load of sites that I like to visit frequently:
Shoot, that list could get long. I also like Twitter.
What’s a cool WordPress-based site you’ve seen recently?
Gosh, I’ve seen tons.
I like what my friends ay wpmovingexperts.com are doing.
I love hotchkissconsulting.com and many other agency websites. 10up.com is great.
Ask me this in a few months! We are working on some WAY cool projects right now.
What do you like most about WordCamps?
I’ll try and keep it brief…
I absolutely love meeting my heroes. I was using WordPress for quite a while before I attended my first WordCamp and it was SO cool to me to meet the people behind all the great themes and plugins I loved to use as well as people who contribute to WordPress itself. I still geek out at WordCamps today when I get to meet all the people that have to date just been a name and gravatar.
Meeting new WP users is also exciting. I always get inspired by them and have a blast helping people out because I know EXACTLY what it is like to be in their spot and have someone shine the light.
They are also darn good times. After parties, speaker dinners, etc. are always a complete blast.
Where can we find you online?
Twitter is a great start: @MrKyleMaurer
realbigmarketing.com
kyleblog.net
plus.google.com/+KyleMaurerRBM
wproundtable.com
I’m all over the place. Anything that says BrashRebel is also me.