Yoast Care fund: An interview with José Freitas

Let’s get to know José Freitas, who was nominated for the Yoast Care fund by Pedro Mendonça. José is from Portugal and the founder of Kaksi media. He’s a big fan of the WordPress community and it shows! Let’s get to know more about José and his contributions.

What do you do?
I’m a communication strategist. I help companies and entrepreneurs to communicate better and in a more effective way to do better businesses. At the heart of all, there is a website that is typically powered by WordPress.

How did you know about WordPress?
In my ‘previous life’ I was a journalist. I worked in broadcasting radio and for a small newspaper. I always had a ‘thing’ for the internet stuff, so when it was time to renew the old and static site for the newspaper, I offered to do some research. A friend told me about something new and great called WordPress. “It’s easy and quick to publish, just as you need”. I went to WordPress dot org, read some stuff and the 5-minute installation guide. “I can do this”. Little did I know that I didn’t quite understand the question of creating the database. I went back and forth with that for about 1 hour until I got everything ready. It was a mishap that made me want to know more about that “WordPress thing”. I was hooked. It was in 2008. Since then I left journalism, after 25 years of news.

Why WordPress?
WordPress means fun. It’s a wonderful publishing platform. You can have something on your site at 9 AM and 5 minutes later have something different without having to move the world. It’s possible to create a beautiful website even if you’re not a developer and no technical skills. Above all, it’s supported by an impressive community where it is easy to find someone who knows the answer to your problem and can help you to solve it.

Why did you start contributing? Share with us the first time you contribute?
As far as I can remember, I started contributing to WordPress in 2013. I read about a WordPress Meetup nearby and decided to go, despite the fact that I’m an introvert. At the time, I was writing – with two friends – for a blog about tablets and smartphones (doesn’t exist anymore). Just for the fun of it and because we are geeks. It was on a cold Saturday afternoon in March. There were four talks on the schedule. In the end, one of the WordPress Portuguese Community founders, Zé Fontainhas, challenged the Porto people to organize the first WordCamp at Porto (there were already 2 in Lisbon).
Marco Pereirinha, the meetup organizer, was ‘pushed’ to lead the mission of organizing the first WordCamp Porto. At the end of the meetup, I went to him and offered to help. That’s how the first WordCamp Porto was born. It took place in November of that year. Since then I helped all Porto and Lisbon WordCamps and Porto WordPress Meetup. We’re on our way to the sixth year of monthly meetups.

Who is your WordPress hero?
Tough one. I don’t want to avoid the question, and I can point some people as my WordPress hero. Nevertheless, I think WordPress lives and breathes from a great hero. A collective hero: the Community. If one day WordPress loses the Community, it’s on its way to the end. I don’t want that to happen. So my hero is the whole WordPress community: all the people that spend time improving the software, spreading the word about it, teaching other people how to use it.

What contribution or moment are you most proud of?
Can I pick two moments? The first WordCamp Porto and helping Porto to host WordCamp Europe 2020.

What would you love to do in the future?
Teach more people on how to communicate better through their website, to speak clearly to their audience.
WordPress related? Help to grow the Community and involving more people in the WordPress events.

Where can people find you? Online, WordCamps, other meetups?
They can find me at kaksimedia.com (only in Portuguese, sorry), Twitter (@josefreitas), WordCamps in Portugal and at some other places and Porto WordPress Meetup

Do you know someone like José Freitas and do you want to nominate that person? Visit the Yoast Care fund page to find out how!