Part one of Geekend Jan 2010 was attending WordCamp Atlanta. Let me first start off by saying thank you to @tessa, @sheatsb and @cdharrison for putting on an amazing conference. Incredible turn out and incredible support for the local community.

Now, #wcatl had three main tracks: Design, Development, and Content. I attended at least one session in each track and had several very interesting discussion about each. And the message from each track seemed just about the same from all the people I talked to.

Design = Confidence

WordPress is a very stable platform. There are a lot of people who attended the conference who are monitoring their use of WordPress via consulting/freelancing/etc. The main message I received from sessions and people about this track was have the confidence to ask what you are worth. You have invested the time and effort to develop a very unique skill. Now it’s time to get an ROI.

Development = Community

Whether it was from the keynote by @janeforshort talking about 3.0 or by the volume of people who attend, one thing was clear. Community is what sets WordPress apart from other platforms. And it’s that community that will drive the future success of the WordPress platform. A huge reemphasis of that community is a commitment of @automatic and the other leaders of the #wordpress community.

Content = Consistency

Simple concept, yet very hard for many to execute. Whether you’re just getting started or building brand loyalty, you have to be consistent in the content that you’re generating otherwise you’re not contributing to the community. And communities don’t like dead weight.

There will be more news/notes/stories from #wcatl in the coming days/weeks. Stay tuned.