BoldGrid’s MikeDemo Celebrates His Birthday at WordCamp Orlando

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November 29, 2017 by Guest Contributor

MikeDemo had the pleasure of heading almost directly from WordCamp Riverside (in California) to WordCamp Orlando in Florida. WordCamp Orlando also just happened to land on the same weekend as his birthday. So, for a Disney-lover like Mike, WordCamp Orlando could not have given him a better gift than an excuse to hang out near one of his favorite theme parks.

In keeping with his professional demeanor, Mike plays down this fact, noting: “I have a habit of attending Open Source events during my birthday. Last year was the same thing, although different events.” Before the speaker and sponsor dinner on Friday night, MikeDemo checked out Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival. Later that evening he went to Ice Bar Orlando for the WordCamp Orlando VIP event. Curiously, the domain orlandoicebar.com belongs to another venue called the Minus5 Ice Bar Orlando. And yes, our intrepid Brand Evangelist ended up at the wrong location. After overcoming the understandable confusion, MikeDemo described the event as “pretty chill” (pun intended). MikeDemo got to show off his cold weather acclimation to all of the local weather wimps by not having to zip his coat or wear gloves. He also ate his ice glass. Since the glass cost $16 he really wanted to get his money’s worth. Think MikeDemo needed even more fun times on Friday? He did, too. So, following Ice Bar, he and a number of other WordCamp Orlando VIPs went to Trader Sam’s to watch the fireworks and get an “Uh Oa!” Saturday brought the first day of the Camp, which took place at the UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management. The camp took advantage of the university’s beautiful campus, setting up sponsor tables outside. Unfortunately, the strong winds started to blow everybody’s booths away, so the organizers moved the sponsors inside. Despite the windy conditions, the day turned out great, and MikeDemo and Boldie, the BoldGrid Banshee, got to connect with a lot of people. They particularly enjoyed getting to show off BoldGrid’s powerful new features following its recent update. https://twitter.com/boldgrid/status/929395942842880000 As this was MikeDemo’s birthday weekend, he also got to speak on his favorite topic: DUCKS! Following the success of this year’s talk, called “Which Way Does Your Duck Face?” MikeDemo has decided to do a new presentation for next year called “What the Duck?” After the successes of Saturday (despite the wind), Sunday turned out great, as well. MikeDemo got to speak with a number of other interested event attendees, then joined a panel discussion at the end of the day. But, even though WordCamp Orlando had concluded, the day was still young and MikeDemo still had plenty of birthday celebration left in him. So, he went to the new Sunset Seasons Greetings and Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He watched all of the festivities from a patio seat of the Hollywood Brown Derby. MikeDemo said, “This was one of my favorite WordCamps, and even more so since last year I became friends with so many of the organizers. I can’t wait until next year!”