PressNomics is the conference for the business side of WordPress. The fourth edition, PressNomics 4, took place March 3 and 4, 2016, at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel in Tempe, Arizona, just outside Phoenix. Our founder, Brian Messenlehner, was there with the agency owners, product founders and hosting leaders who make up the WordPress economy.
A conference about building companies
Joshua Strebel of Pagely started PressNomics in 2012 to focus on the economics of WordPress: software as a service, commercial themes and plugins, and development agencies. The PressNomics 4 lineup included Cory Miller of iThemes, Carl Hancock of Gravity Forms, Japh Thomson, Tracy Levesque of Yikes Inc on workplace diversity and culture, and Jeff Walters on the private equity funding process, among others.
Gravity Forms was the title sponsor, and the event was a not just for profit gathering. PressNomics 4 raised $10,000 for CureSearch and Ben's Bells.
The hallway is the point
Three evening receptions ran from the night before the conference through its closing night, and that is where a lot of the real value of PressNomics happens. A fellow attendee captured some of that week in a photo collage shared a few days later, with Brian tagged among the group. Small, senior events like this are where agency owners compare notes honestly on pricing, hiring, hosting and where WordPress is heading.
What we took home
Years of conversations at events like PressNomics shaped how AlphaWeb works today:
- Build on proven tools. Gravity Forms, the PN4 title sponsor, is one of the plugins we specialize in for intake, approval and payment workflows. Read our guide to advanced Gravity Forms workflows.
- Own the whole lifecycle. Development, hosting and support from one accountable team.
- Extend WordPress to mobile. Brian co-founded AppPresser to turn WordPress sites into iOS and Android apps.
- Think long term. A website is a business asset, so plan for maintenance and growth from day one.
Brian went back to PressNomics in later years, including PressNomics 6 in Tucson in 2019.
Work with a team that knows the business of WordPress
If you want a partner who understands both the code and the economics behind it, our WordPress development team is ready to help.
At a glance
- Event: PressNomics 4
- Dates: March 3 and 4, 2016
- Venue: Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe, Arizona
- Focus: the economics and business of WordPress
- Brian's role: attendee
Have a question about this event or a project like the ones mentioned here? Reach out to AlphaWeb and Brian will be glad to talk it through. We are always happy to compare notes on WordPress, mobile apps and migrations.
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