Last month, I was invited to attend the GoDaddy Pro Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. GoDaddy leaders and web professionals were meeting to share thoughts about GoDaddy Pro Program. It was a true exchange of information and ideas and was the best web conference format I have experienced. The presentations included Q&As and created a free flow of ideas from everyone. It was magic!
GoDaddy focuses on products to make being a web designer/developer easier. In doing so, they actively listen to the Pros and engage customers as they develop new products and solutions. I have been involved in testing these changes since November 2016.
Day one of the GoDaddy Pro Summit – Call Center in Mesa
We started our arrival day with a shuttle to a call center in Mesa, Arizona. I have to say; it was the coolest office setup! We had a “meet and greet” social with the CEO and various VIPs from the company. GoDaddy Evangelist Mendel Kurland took us on a tour that included go-carting and a giant slide. It was great to meet Mendel in person for the first time. I also spoke with Andy McIlwain, who interviewed me for the GoDaddy Garage last spring.
Dinner after a day out – view from the Westin
After our meet and greet, we headed back to the Westin to regroup and have dinner. There were about 20 of us at dinner, led by our organizer, Rachel Makool. Learning about each other’s business models and discussing our day was fun. I did feel for the east coasters that had traveled for hours.
WebCami meets Vladimir Prelovac, Tony Perez, Nemanja Aleksic, and fellow WP Elevator, Victor Ramirez
The next morning was the Pro Summit. We hopped on our shuttle and headed to the company headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ. Again, several GoDaddy leaders were in attendance and there to share new ideas with us. I met several of my WordPress heroes – including Vladimir Prelovac, founder of ManageWP; Nemanja Aleksic, also from ManageWP. And Tony Perez, CEO/Co-Founder of Sucuri. Many GoDaddy VIPs that I had only met prior on conference calls included Judd Jacobs, who first asked me to be on a customer council last year, and Gabe Mays. Every GoDaddy leader I met was warm and friendly.
Kicked off by CEO Blake Irving, a great day of presentations and round tables
A huge bonus was meeting the fellow designers/developers that were invited. Victor Ramirez, a fellow member of WP Elevation, and I enjoyed meeting for the first time. Foster Coburn of Graphics Unleashed, Alex Sirota of New Path Consulting, author Lisa Stambaugh– the Web Diva, and Cyndie Shaffstall of Spider Trainers all participated in a panel discussion about running their businesses.
Customer Panel at GoDaddy Pro Summit
I have to give a special thank you to Lisa. She and I met online in July this year, and Lisa recommended me for the customer council I’m currently involved in. She and I met in person for the first time in September at WordCamp Sacramento, and it was so nice to see her again to thank her in person. Her book is a great read, too.
Web Diva and WebCami Unite!
Thank you, GoDaddy, for being such an invaluable tool for my web design business. I’m excited about what’s to come for both of us!
