Recently, I was at the Northern Voice conference in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, where I was able to meet up with people from a variety of different backgrounds. It got me wondering about how each conference brings in different groups of people, and how the best conferences are the ones that have a blurry line between different groups and specialties.

At Northern Voice there were people that ranged from just starting out with blogging all the way up to blogging as a full time job. Some didn’t know what tagging was, and others couldn’t stand software that didn’t allow them to use WordPress’ native tagging.

It reminded me that the gap between those that are just starting out and those that understand every nook and cranny of the growing industry that is online media. I think far too many of us are concentrating on talking about the end result, instead of teaching others how to gracefully enter the different arenas they are interested in.

If you want to capture some attention online, some of the biggest questions at the event were:

• How do I change themes in WordPress? This includes changing header graphics, and sidebar items.
• How can I learn to theme WordPress?
• What are the best tools to monetize my blog?
• How do I use tools like Flickr, Stumble Upon, Youtube to improve my blog?
• I know PHP, but how do I make this into a WordPress plugin?
• Should I start a blog, or is it too late?

As a developer, designer and blogger, these different questions could make great posts that would appeal to the growing group of new bloggers looking to make their mark on the world. If we take a step back, and take the time to answer these questions, we could quickly become the resource used by bloggers looking to answer these questions.

Bringing large groups of people together, from a variety of skill sets and backgrounds was interesting, but I think it is the knowledge shared between everyone that was the most amazing part of the event.

What conferences have you attended, and what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments below.