The journey to the WordCamp US coin
Anyone that has talked to me about work for more than a minute knows why I do what I do. GoDaddy has been on a massive journey towards brand and product awesomeness. We’ve been working on some really cool things that are having a profound impact on both the tech industry and the WordPress world.
- GoDaddy Pro Program hits next milestone
- GoDaddy 2015 gender diversity and salary stats
- Hot 100 WordPress plugins and themes
- Introducing the GoDaddy Plugin Partner Program for WordPress
- Here’s to the freelancers who made us better this year
- 219 WordPress Articles
Here’s the thing, though. Without our small business customers, and the people that create websites for them (probably you if you’re reading this), there wouldn’t be anyone to come to work to solve problems for. It’s literally because of designers, developers, freelancers, and businesspeople that a huge portion of sites on the internet exist. It’s because of GoDaddy and other technology companies that sites have a place to live. And, it’s because I love making life easier for web creators, that I have a job.
There was a lot to celebrate at WordCamp US
There’s a lot to celebrate in the WordPress world these days. The platform runs around 25% of the internet, the community is robust and maturing, and the ecosystem supports freelance professionals focused on small businesses, and digital services firms focused on enterprise. It’s a great time to celebrate. And for those reasons (just scratching the surface), we thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the people that make the internet, and commemorate the awesomeness of which we are all a part. After all, community is what drives open source, the internet, hell… humanity.
[Tweet “community is what drives open source, the internet, hell… humanity.”]
In the spirit of community, we created commemorative coins for WordCamp US that were made by the community, for the community. Michelle Schulp (please please please tweet at her /w congrats) made the design, and came up with a killer idea to add Latin inscriptions to each coin. We agreed on the words, translations, and designs (it didn’t take much convincing), and Sara shipped the designs to our coin producer to create 180lbs of coins to be delivered in two densely packed boxes. Yes, they were heavy. Yes, FedEx hated us. Yes, it seemed absurd that I could only pick up one box at a time (given how small they were). And yes, the coins turned out awesome.
[Tweet “Thanks to @marktimemedia for designing and @saraborland for creating awesome #WCUS wapuu coins!”]
Here’s what the inscriptions mean
Black nickel
- Libertates – “Freedom.”
- E Pluribus Unum Codicem – “From many, one codex.”
[Tweet “E Pluribus Unum Codicem – “From many, one codex.””]
Shiny Gold
- Libertatem transvertere – “Freedom to transform/change.”
[Tweet “Libertatem transvertere – “Freedom to transform/change.””]
Shiny Nickel
- Libertatem communicare – “Freedom to communicate.”
[Tweet “Libertatem communicare – “Freedom to communicate.””]
Antique Brass
- Libertatem explorare – “Freedom to explore/examine.”
[Tweet “Libertatem explorare – “Freedom to explore/examine.””]
Back of coin
- Nihil obstat – “Nothing stands in the way.”
[Tweet “Nihil obstat – “Nothing stands in the way.””]
Oh and by the way, there’s a game in play now. Read the rules. It will serve you well.