As I celebrate my own birthday today, many more than 20, I am reflecting on the years WordPress has been there for me. Oddly, I’m not sure where to begin except the beginning. And if I was to write a post to publish on the 20th anniversary of WordPress, it’s gotta be done here on BobWP.
Also, there lies the fact that I just returned from WordCamp Lisboa where I gave a talk on 20 Years of WordPress community. So it’s a bit on my mind.
George Clooney was named People’s sexiest man alive and I discovered WordPress
These two events have nothing more in common than it was the same year, 2016. I can’t say I think George deserved it, but I had other things on my mind. In fact two things.
First this was the year I became a bit intrigued with blogging. Nothing that had me gasping at the thought of writing posts, but simply a curiosity. At the same time I was trying to step into the world of web design as we had been running a marketing and design company for 13 years. And as much as building a site thrilled me, which was equal to having my hand smashed in a door, I figured there had to be a better way than html and flash.
Time drifted by. Judy had started a blog on Typepad and didn’t give a crap where it was. She just wanted to write. As I eased into the next year, WordPress slipped into my consciousness more and more. It seemed apparent that this thing called WordPress was going to become part of my life one way or another. Seriously though, I didn’t have a clue to what extent.
For the next few years, up to 2010, bit and pieces fell together. I found a theme on a fairly new site called iThemes. The concept of these seemed to be luring me into creating a site for our business that didn’t look like shit. And that’s exactly what WordPress and the Corporate theme from iThemes did for me. Without any freaking code!
The BobWP brand rises out of the ruins of ancient web design
Now I am avoiding going through my 16 years of WordPress history, simply for the reason that I cannot afford to lose you through my years of pivots, twists and turns. It may make you dizzy and I don’t want you vomiting before I wrap this up.
But 2010 was the pivotal moment in my WordPress Story. Why? Well, I had been doing some blogging workshops the two years prior to that year. I was getting my feel for where I need to go with WordPress. I was starting to explore the community more and more from that day in 2006. And I liked what I saw.
So the time came to make the transition from our marketing and design firm, Cat’s Eye Marketing, to something that would let me do my WordPressy thing, whatever that meant and wherever it led.
I got rid of all our our “print” clients or the last few that we were hanging onto. Mentally I told myself I’m going all in on WordPress. Design, training and whatever else would come my way. And it was time to rebrand. Not the business, per se, but myself. I was going to be the brand. So after some contemplation, possible consumption of alcohol and severe mumbling to myself, I came up with BobWP.
Mmmmmmm. It was short and sweet. And the domain was available, go figure. But would people get it? Would someone that doesn’t know what I do, and doesn’t know WordPress find it to be puzzling? Would people say my business is Bobwup?
Honestly, those concerns and questions did not weigh heavily on me. Nor did the fact that I was tying myself into a personal brand, that, well, would likely die with me. I bought the domain, and made it happen.
And you may know the rest, the rest is history.
I’m a WordPresser at heart
I really do love the community. And at this point I’m here to stay. Right now I’m doing what motivates me the most. Connecting people. Raising voices. And meetings some of the coolest people I have ever known, both in these last 16 years and moving forward.
So as much as I find it kind of weird singing Happy Birthday to my dashboard, my computer or any part of the software, or thinking that WordPress could be my grandchild, I will say this.
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