The first time I met Bridget Willard, I opened up my chrome browser and joined an episode of WP BLAB. I said hello to Jason Tucker. He introduced me to Bridget. A friendship was born. I had heard a little bit about this amazing woman. She did all the social media stuff for WordCamp Los Angeles. She had started working for my friends over at WordImpress. We interacted in Twitter a few times. I probably came off as a jerk a time or two. Once the episode began, we hunkered down and that’s when Bridget and I really became friends.
WP BLAB with Bridget
As the show began, we rolled through introductions and introduced our credentials. We dove into the topic and I started teaching Bridget. Once you get me talking about WordPress, I transform into this other person. My developer hat comes out and I start dropping knowledge. Bridget’s brain shut down. I hit her with a ton of facts. At the end of the show, Bridget, Jason and I talked for another hour. We talked off the air. We shared stories about our first WordCamp experiences. We really bonded.
The next time I joined the WP Blab show, I was welcomed with a smile. Every time I join the show, I get excited. I know Bridget, Jason and I are going to have a great show.
BridgetCamp
I finally got to meet this amazing woman at WordCamp San Diego 2016. We hung out for a bit during the camp and passed by each other from time to time. We talked for a long time during the after party. We sat at a table and we talked a lot about life and how WordPress fits in. I really got a sense of who she is as a person. I became a fan of Bridget. Bridget had a ton of questions and I answered them as best I could. This would happen many more times.
The best conversation I’ve ever had with Bridget happened at WordCamp Orange County 2016. After day two of the camp, Bridget and I had a conversation about why I tell people to Google their question. We got into a hot debate. I made a point and she rebutted. She told me how she feels and I fired back. I learn a lot from Bridget. This conversation has helped me write many articles and prep for WordCamp Talks.
Without Bridget, I would have never come up with some of these topics. I thank her every time I see her online or in person. I’m grateful she is my friend. I’m grateful she’s in the WordPress community. Go check out her stuff, you’ll be impressed too.