Shanta Nathwani – Featured Speaker

Shanta is one of our local speakers. She is speaking Saturday morning at 10:05am in Rm 129. Her topic is on her experiences while exploring options for learning code. Let’s get to know her…

My profile on #WCTO is not everything I am, though this will be my 5th time speaking at WordCamp Toronto!

In my spare time, I practice martial arts. Namely, Tai Chi, Karate and Ancient Weaponry. I’ve been studying the arts for 15 years. I’ve been a teacher for most of my life, starting at the age of 12 when I taught my Grade 6 class about India. My teacher never lifted a finger.

I’m also a Meetup junkie. I sometimes attend upwards of 5 or 6 meetups a week, sometimes multiple ones on the same day. Some of my favourites are DevTO, HackerNest, and, of course, WordPress Toronto!

One of the largest trends these days is learning code, regardless of the language. The number of programs out there, whether teaching children or adults is immense! Where do you start? Is coding for you? What is the best method for me? What should I be learning? The best question that will help to answer that is: What is your goal? I hope to help guide you through my own experience at BrainStation Toronto, in a 10-week, 400-hour, full- time web development course, which is the path I chose, and maybe give you an inside look at one of those options. This is a talk for all levels. I hope to give insight to a new trend going on all over North America. These are a huge investment in many cases, so before you decide to go to code camp, either as a part time course, a full-time course or a workshop, you’ll have an inside look from someone who took the course and wanted to start a new career.

I grew up in Toronto. I’ve gone to school, worked and lived in this city and it’s one of the best in the world. I enjoy going to a Blue Jays game and walking around Chinatown and Kensington Market. It is such a diverse city, apparently the most diverse in the world! You can find a section of the city for almost everyone, including Greek Town, the Indian Village, Little Italy, Little Portugal, and two Chinatowns. Truly something for everyone.

I’ve been to WordCamps all over the world. I’ve spoken at 25 of the 29 that I’ve attended thus far. One of the most interesting was going to Mumbai last year! I got to see relatives as well as meet new friends. Whether it’s across the world or across the border, I always love meeting new people and the WordPress community is the best. Last fall, I went on a WordCamp tour and visited friends of mine from the community in different parts of the US before landing in Rochester for their WordCamp. I drove from Hamilton to Ohio, to Tennessee, to West Virginia and still made it in time for the speaker’s dinner on Friday.

Connect with Shanta through her speaker profile.


Make sure you have your ticket to #WCTO before they sell out!

WordCamp Toronto 2017 is over. Check out the next edition!