Speaker Interview: Tim Sisson

Hope you’ve been enjoying some of the answers that our presenters have been sharing for our Speaker Interview Series. This interview is with Tim Sisson.

Tim is with InMotion Hosting as head of their Customer Community Team. You can learn a little more about Tim in his bio too.

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NILE FLORES: What got you interested in WordPress?

TIM SISSON: In 2009 I took a job with an engineering company managing their internet marketing and they happened to use WordPress for a blog. But the interest didn’t fully take hold until I was writing about it at InMotion Hosting about 5 years ago. There’s where the love of all things WordPress really took shape.

NILE FLORES: What is the most interesting WordPress-related project you’ve worked on?

TIM SISSON: They’ve all been interesting in their own right. I definitely favor projects that expand the boundaries of what WordPress can do. The fact that its such a flexible tool makes it incredibly strong. Lately, moving content from other platforms on a large scale has interested me and proven to be a great challenge.

NILE FLORES: Name 3 WordPress plugins that have always been on your MUST install list, and why.

TIM SISSON: This is such a loaded question! It’s like asking me which child of mine is my favorite… but right now…

Gravity Forms – Small price to pay for an incredibly flexible plugin especially if you have unique needs within your forms. It’s much more these days than contact forms.

Events Manager Pro – This allows us to plan events, have people register, manage the spreadsheets for check-ins. The Pro version is worth it and really has allowed us to expand revenue streams for the non-profit.

W3 Fastest Cache- Caching can make a huge difference in page load performance. We all know what speeding up your page load times does for your user experience. This particular caching plugin is simple to use.

NILE FLORES: What is something interesting about you that the WordPress community doesn’t know?

TIM SISSON: I smoke and cure meats. It’s a neat hobby to learn the science and art of curing meats (without killing folks!). Last year we made some cured hunters sausage and wild goose prosciutto. Cooking in general is a way to step away from a computer screen and interact with my kids. Cooking is a family experience in my house!

NILE FLORES: In regards to new WordPress users, what one or two pieces of advice would you give them that could be very helpful?

TIM SISSON: Take your time and ask for help. There’s plenty of people especially at WordCamps who are experts in their own right. Take advantage of their accessibility and ask them for advice. The great thing about WordPress is it’s been used for so much, someone before you has likely tried what you’re trying to accomplish. I haven’t met a single person in the community that wasn’t willing to offer up advice.

If you have questions for Tim… don’t be shy. Feel free to leave them in the comment section below, or catch him at the event. 🙂