This time next week, I’ll be making my way down to Chicago to attend WordCamp Chicago. As of last week, it is a sold out event topping out at a total of 200 attendees. I’m jazzed about it and really looking forward to meeting everyone and listening to the great line up of speakers we have lined up:

• Matt Mullenweg, founder of our favorite blog/CMS platform, WordPress
• Jeremy Wright, CEO of one of the largest global new media blog networks, b5media
• Jim Turner, business and social media blogging consultant at One By One Media
• Erin Blaskie, CEO of global internet marketing strategy consultancy, Business Services, ETC
• David Dalka, marketing and digital technology coach and founder of, Search Engine Marketing Strategy
• Liz Strauss, online business strategist and owner of Successful Blog and SOB Con
• Micah Baldwin, VP of business development of search-powered web application, Lijit
• Tim Frick, who creates design-driven communication solutions with his company, Mightybytes
• Doug Hanna, head honcho of running the day-to-day operations of the WordPress showcase
• Kevin Palmer, social media expert consultant and talent behind Social Media Answers

This is the first time I’ve ever organized an event this big – with the exception of my wedding, but that’s a different animal altogether! My husband, Chris, and my assistant Lindsey were extremely helpful in helping me organize details with sponsors, equipment, venues, catering, etc. Brian Gardner was the guy in charge of getting the speakers lined up – and he did a phenomenal job of gathering a great group of folks that will make the weekend a very educational and informative one. Brian is also the official WordCamp Chicago Emcee.

I will be posting a bit more over at the WordCamp Chicago site on some further details that everyone should know before they attend – - look for that over the weekend.

Also want to thank the sponsors of WordCamp Chicago – for without them, this event would have never been realized: Dummies.com/Wiley Publishing, StudioPress, ServerBeach, Skype, WebDevStudios, Margaret Roach and of course my own companies E.Webscapes and Blogs About Hosting

I will be on the WordPress Weekly radio show this evening with Brian Gardner, discussing the upcoming WordCamp Chicago – it’s at 8pm EST, join us if you can!