So - I've never been to a Wordcamp - but since I've been developing in Wordpress for a few years now, I thought it was time to check one of these events. My friend and fellow developer John Jacoby was one of the organizers, and the list of presenters was pretty good. Best of all, it was at my alma mater - The U.

The day was stacked with great presentations and workshops, covering a range of topics from content creation, newbie tips and tricks, development and coding, security, and search engine optimization. Some highlights:

• Insight into the upcoming release of Wordpress 3.0 by user experience lead for Wordpress, Jane Wells.
• Tips on making your blog social from Infinidia's Brian Bresin.
• A chat with lead Wordpress developer, Mark Jaquith.
• Business strategy and best practices for client relations, with Tammy Hart, of Tammy Hart Designs.

It's nice to be able to connect live with people developing in a similar platform, and explore new work flows and techniques. I enjoyed learning about the new developments in 3.0, and to see that many developers are using WP as their primary development platform. Big ups to David, John, and Jess for putting together a great event. See you next year.

www.wordcampmiami.com

But Ivan Mladenovic is not scared by the economy. He started up his small business in the past year, during one of the most tumultuous economic times to do it. Mladenovic said Obama's plans could encourage him to hire more and spend.

"Actually the first place that I would spend money on is human capital, and that's something that's been the biggest asset of my business today, said Mladenovic. "So I certainly I think I would spend most of my money in hiring more people, because that's what's given back the most for me."

However the young entrepreneur has had his challenges. He's had difficulty getting small business loans through the banks. That is one of the areas Obama is looking to loosen for companies.

"Having governmental support for that is critical in its success," said Mladenovic. "I think that a lot of businesses will be looking for a loan to expand as well. Not only just to start up, but because a lot of business have been kind of latent for the last couple of years. So they've been anxious to get their hands on additional financing so they can expand."