On November 20, 2025, I’ll be speaking at the EvolveDigital Summit in New York City.

This came about when Alex Dergachev encouraged me again to apply to speak in the comments of one of my WordCamp Canada posts on LinkedIn. He and I always seem to just miss each other in person at various events since we met at the Boston WordPress meetup in (I believe) February. Because I’m based in Massachusetts, he had first suggested I apply to speak at the Boston edition of the event earlier this year. But the dates overlapped with WordCamp Europe, so it did not work out.

I’m really looking forward to this one. This will be my first professional talk given at an event that’s not a WordCamp or WordPress meetup. One of the goals I set for myself on my most recent birthday was to branch out a bit to attend events that are not strictly WordPress-centric. I have been keeping a list of events to keep an eye on. So let me know if you have any that you recommend!

The EvolveDigital Summit event series actually started out as a Drupal event in May of 2023 (EvolveDrupal), but has since expanded to more broadly cover topics to empower leaders shaping our digital world.

There are 7 tracks at this one, which includes higher education, marketing & communications strategy, tech & AI, digital craftsmanship, design & creative, and of course, Drupal and WordPress tracks.

Keeping your WordPress platform secure: Process, practice, and mindset

My talk is a progression of one I’ve given before about security. Though my session is part of the WordPress track, security as a concept applies to everyone and everything we build and use in our increasingly digital society. Too often, security is treated as an afterthought or a one-time task to check off a list. But that approach leaves sites vulnerable and owners frustrated. Here is the abstract:

Every day countless WordPress sites are compromised or hacked leading countless people to ask one question: why is WordPress so insecure? In reality, the exact opposite is true. But security is not a destination. Instead it’s a journey, a process, a practice, and a mindset. How can you practice a security first mindset? Account for security when evaluating new tools or technologies (like AI)? Write secure code? Come learn about how to protect your online assets from the number one threat: ourselves.

While there will always be considerations specific to the platform you’re building on, the foundational concepts and practices of a security-first mindset apply to everyone.

If you’re in the area or interested in attending, there are still early bird tickets available. Let me know if you’ll be attending. I’d love to hear about what you’re working on!