Organisers

Simon Carter hates talking about himself in the third person, though if he were asked to do so he would tell you the following things:

He’s been working on software and hardware projects for the better part of twenty years but is too modest to name drop or disclose where the bodies are buried

He loves lean and embraces the philosophy of eliminating waste, encouraging flow and producing a deliverable that the customer loves

He doesn’t get the opportunity to blog as often as he likes, but when he does it’s wordpress all the way

He has an undisclosed number of whiteboards and kanban boards in his house, possibly more than is strictly necessary

In reality Simon is an experienced project manager and is familiar with the many sides of the methodology fence. Simon works with and encourages teams to find the tools that work for them whilst always maintaining their focus on delivery.

Simon Carter is also old enough to know better.

Hugo does keep a WordPress blog at hflf.co.uk, he takes photo’s, runs events, he works for an IT company, he is technically their people person (aka Project support and development manager). He volunteers for charities and is good at finance, strategic planning, employment issues and Trustee legislation.

Hugo is Quaker, likes the odd walk, he drinks good white wine (he has a bias towards Riesling), he enjoys cooking and he also plays board games. He believes strongly that good design should include good usability, one of the reasons he likes WordPress. Hugo trained as a technical author, but quickly moved into usability testing, followed by looking at usability on higher educational websites while completing a M.Ed at the University of Manchester.

He can often be found on Twitter at @hflf complaining about the use of mobiles on silent coaches.

Claire is a Front end developer from Greater Manchester who currently works with small businesses and non-profit organisations. In addition to helping them with websites, social media and digital training, Claire also writes the WorthyOnTheWeb blog which aims to teach small business owners the basics of being online, without them having to become digital experts.

Claire graduated from MMU as a mature student in 2013 and is a Code Club volunteer as well as the Treasurer & general web monkey for a small charity in Stockport.

Michael is the Managing Director of Contrado Digital who works with ambitious organisations and tech startups to boost revenue online through effective digital marketing and website development. Working at a strategic level with business owners and directors, he bridges the gap between what businesses need next to fulfill their ambitions and the finer technical implementations of how this is going to be achieved.

Michael has a wide background working with large brands and organisations helping them grow internationally all the way down to helping startup businesses make the right decisions early on. Being heavily involved with the WordPress community he is a strong believer of utilising open source technologies within business to help them succeed. Key specialties include website development, SEO, PPC and Google Analytics.

He can be found on Twitter @Contrado Digital / @MickCropper, LinkedIn at /MichaelCropper86 and regularly publishing useful resources on digital topics for businesses over on the company blog.

Rhys Wynne is a WordPress Plugin developer, author and speaker. In 2013 he penned bbPress Complete (ISBN-13: 978-1782167242) and has written plugins that have been downloaded over 100,000 times.

Rhys has a keen interest in commercial WordPress development, SEO, security and open source technologies, and enjoys the community that has surrounded open source technologies. Rhys spoke at WordCamp Manchester 2014 and this year joined the organising committee.

He can be found on Twitter at @rhyswynne and plugins, themes and articles on WordPress written by Rhys can be found on his site – Winwar Media.