Speaker Spotlight: Pete Schuster

Pete is a Front End Web Developer working at O3 World in Philadelphia. Before coming to O3, he worked as a Web Developer at Inverse Paradox in Feasterville. In addition to working full time, he also freelance as a WordPress Developer where he develop sites for Curious and Company and others. Pete has been using WordPress for 3 years, and has developed dozens of sites using WordPress as a CMS.

Pete will be giving a presentation in the Power User Track titled: The Power of the Loop: Using Custom Post Types to Create a CMS based Portfolio Site

What are you speaking about at WordCamp Philly?
At WordCamp I will be speaking about using custom posts to create a portfolio website. I’m going to try and focus more on the loop and functions like query_posts and WP_Query, as well as WordPress’s theme hierarchy. I feel that if you can understand the loop really well, and use proper themeing conventions, you can really build any website. I find that trying something new is always best when you have something concrete to practice on, and what better way than to spruce up your own portfolio site? I’ll try and show examples of both frontend, backend, and admin UI of some powerful sites I’ve produced that I think are really easy to use and maintain.

What is your favorite thing about the city of Philadelphia?
My favorite thing about Philadelphia is that people have so much pride for the city. Most of the people that live in the city have lived here all their lives, and have deep rooted traditions. Whether its from sports, history, or food, everyone can connect with each other because they all share the same memories. Our city of brotherly/sisterly love is truly a great place to be a part of.

Why do you love WordPress?
I love WordPress for the same reasons I love Philadelphia. The community that surrounds this great platform is unmatched. So many people, like me, got their start from trying to customize their free WordPress theme, back when it was just considered a blogging platform. Now with WordPress 3+, our devotion to this powerful blogging platform has transformed into a full-fledged powerhouse CMS, and has been the basis for many careers. It’s exciting to be a part of something that’s so accessible, and popular, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for WordPress.