WordCamp Fayetteville, the city’s first bootcamp for bloggers, is scheduled for May 29-30 in downtown Fayetteville. The two-day conference is designed to teach anyone the basics of blogging and online publishing, along with more detailed programming instruction for WordPress developers.

The event includes a full day of food and instruction Saturday at the Fayetteville Town Center. The conference moves to the New Design School Sunday for a “Guru Gallery” where blogging professionals and WordPress developers will be on hand to talk one-on-one with conference attendees.

The cost of the conference is $30 and is limited to 80 people because of space constraints.

“Our goal for WordCamp Fayetteville is to get more people communicating online, blogging about their communities and findings ways to make a living do so,” said event organizer Christopher Spencer, publisher of the online news site Ozarks Unbound.

“As traditional media contracts during these tough financial times, it’s up to residents to step forward and try to cover the small school board meetings and less high profile community events that people want to know about,” he said. “WordPress is free, open-source software that helps that happen.”

The conference is divided into content geared towards developers and bloggers.

Blogger content includes: Unlocking Government: Understanding the Freedom of Information Act by State Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, Toward a Free Press: Publishing Online With WordPress by Christopher Spencer, Understanding Analytics – Why Google Analytics Matters by Anna Miller and Crafting a Beautiful Blog: Principles of Visual Design by Sonia Davis Gutierrez.

Full information including developer content is detailed on the website.

There will be a moderated panel Saturday night titled “The Transparent Blogger: How Much Disclosure is Enough”. Panelists will discuss the new FCC regulations requiring disclosure by bloggers of potential conflicts of interest. Panelists include Terri Chadick of Life Plus Kids and Jon Schleuss of NWAOnline.com.

WordCamp Fayetteville is a two-day conference designed to enhance our region’s blogger and WordPress developer community. WordCamps are international events organized on the local level. WordCamp Fayetteville was made possible through the generosity of Paze Interactive, Automattic, Blue Zoo Websites, the New Design School, Ozarks Unbound and other sponsors.