2025 Conference Videos

Intro Remarks

Speaker: Lydia Chiu

Opening remarks thank the sponsors—Hop Studios (Vancouver), Triple Nerd Score (Doug Black), and Arcustech hosting (global data centers with EE-specific plans). Doug sends love, FOMO, and a nudge to buy his add-ons. Shout-out to the all-volunteer committee—Paul Larson, Greg Mar, Karen Chow, Oliver, and Ben (away this year)—for countless hours of planning. With gratitude to the community and sponsors who make this possible, we hand it over to CEO Tom Jaeger to kick things off.

Fantastic Functions and Where to Find Them

Speaker: Freek Van der Herten

Freek Van der Herten dives into practical PHP and Laravel techniques that boost productivity and code quality. He showcases lessons from building tools like Mailcoach and Flare, sharing real-world patterns developers can use immediately. If you love clean, efficient PHP, this talk is packed with takeaways.

Top 10 Tactics to Boost Your Agency’s Operational Efficiency

Speaker: Tammy Meyers

Tammy Meyers from Hop Studios presents ten proven ways to make teams more efficient—covering communication, documentation, and workflow structure. With insights from managing a distributed B Corp team, she explains how values-driven efficiency leads to happier, more productive teams. Perfect for project leads and studio managers seeking practical, human-centered processes.

Beyond the Basics: Mastering Advanced Template Layouts in EE Dev

Speaker: Gavin Lawrie,Jelle Dijkstra

Jelle (BuroDenG!) and Gavin (JCOGS Design) showcase advanced ExpressionEngine templating techniques. They explore modular layouts, reusability, and performance-minded structure—making sites faster and easier to maintain. See how modern EE template architecture supports both creativity and scalability.

Download Presentation Slides and Example Files

XSSSS: Cross-site Scripting Security, Simplified

Speaker: Travis Smith

Protect your site and visitors from cross-site scripting attacks using XSS filtering, CORS headers, and Content Security Policy implementation. Travis Smith from Hop Studios will demonstrate how these techniques work together as a protective framework, including a demo of the new Hop CSP Header add-on to guard against malicious script injections.

Beyond the CMS

Speaker: Andy Savage

Andy reflects on two decades of CMS development, walking through PHP lessons learned from early custom systems to modern frameworks. He highlights design patterns and coding habits that keep projects stable over time. Using the tongue-in-cheek demo project Dodgy Dave’s Deluxe Diesels, Andy shows how APIs, middleware, and a little creative thinking can add real power to EE -- without taking yourself too seriously. A lively, insightful talk for anyone passionate about clean, maintainable code.

Vibe Coding, Agentic Workflows, and the Art of Context: From Chaos to Clarity with AI

Speaker: Rowan Sentesy

In this session, we'll explore how developers can move from ad-hoc prompting to a structured, context-driven approach. We'll explore "vibe coding" – deliverance or disaster? We’ll show how agentic workflows (using tools like Copilot and Cursor) can enhance every part of your development process—transforming point-form notes and ideas into well-structured output, rapidly building accurate technical specifications, and communicating needs and requirements clearly with your team and stakeholders. Learn how to cut through the noise and unlock the full value of AI—improving your productivity and using your time and experience to its maximum potential.

Rowan's Presentation Slides

Supercharge Your ExpressionEngine Site: Performance Tips and Tricks

Speaker: Geoff Cowan

Learn key strategies for improving front-end and back-end performance — from caching and lazy loading to optimizing database queries and page rendering speed. Geoff Cowan reveals his best practices for supercharging ExpressionEngine performance—from template optimization to smart caching and hosting tweaks. His clear, practical approach helps developers pinpoint bottlenecks and fine-tune efficiency. If speed matters to you, this session delivers actionable strategies to make EE fly.

Getting off the Hamster Wheel - Strategies for Successfully Managing Project Management and Growth

Speaker: Tim Hoppe

Veteran project manager Tim Hoppe shares strategies for escaping the project-management “hamster wheel.” Drawing from 15 years at Creative Arc, he offers proven frameworks for prioritization, client communication, and avoiding burnout. Watch to learn sustainable, sanity-saving habits for managing multiple web projects.

Tim's Presentation Slides

Employing those Little Gray Cells: Solving Tech Support Mysteries

Speaker: Robin Sowell

In London spirit and with a nod to Agatha Christie, Robin Sowell (Packet Tide) explores the detective side of tech support. Debugging is like solving a mystery—examining the crime scene, interrogating unreliable witnesses, and using forensic tools. Master your “little gray cells” to crack cases, fix bugs, and delight clients. Longtime ExpressionEngine developer liaison Robin Sowell reveals the detective work behind solving tough support cases. She shares decades of lessons in debugging, pattern recognition, and the joy of helping others. A must-watch for anyone who loves troubleshooting and the human side of tech.

AI-driven tool for automating developer workflows, Matt Johnson.

Speaker: Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson demos the MCP Server, a new AI-driven tool for automating developer workflows. He explains its architecture, quirks, and potential for ExpressionEngine users. Get a peek into the experimental side of EE development and emerging AI integrations.

Addon and Fieldtype Previews

Speaker: Gavin Lawrie

Gavin shares progress on new ExpressionEngine utilities and add-ons designed to streamline development and boost reliability. His casual, witty presentation highlights practical improvements that make everyday EE work faster and easier. Quick, insightful, and fun—perfect for developers who appreciate clever engineering details.

Keeping Content Fresh: Simple Tool for Smarter Site Editing

Speaker: Travis Smith

Travis’s talk begins with some technical hiccups but evolves into a practical mini-demo for improving site content management in ExpressionEngine. He introduces a lightweight tool designed to help editors track and refresh aging content—particularly useful for large sites with multiple contributors. The feature provides clear visibility into when entries were last updated and by whom, making it easier to prioritize maintenance and ensure freshness. While simple in implementation, Travis highlights how such utility tools can dramatically improve editorial workflow and accountability. His short session encapsulates the Mayhem spirit: informal, useful, and focused on real-world enhancements that help teams manage complex websites more effectively.

Component-based design systems and Brandy Consistency. Nigel Peters.

Speaker: Nigel Peters

Designer-developer Nigel Peters discusses the rise of component-based design systems and their role in brand consistency. He connects design tools like Figma with frameworks such as Tailwind, Vue, and React. See how modern design thinking aligns perfectly with clean, reusable code.

Music Database

Speaker: Paul Larson

Paul Larson showcases a wiki-style music database, an ExpressionEngine-powered archive preserving more than a century of choral history. See how ExpressionEngine brings music, history, and storytelling together in one elegant project.

Keynote Additions

Speaker: Tom Jaeger

Tom shares rapid-fire updates on ExpressionEngine’s upcoming performance upgrades and Cloud Files improvements. Expect faster queries, lower memory use, and smarter integrations. Hear firsthand what’s next for EE from its lead developer.

Closing Remarks

Speaker: Lydia Chiu

Lydia wraps up EEConf 2025 with heartfelt thanks to sponsors, organizers, and attendees. Her closing remarks capture the event’s community spirit and creative energy. An uplifting finale celebrating the people who make ExpressionEngine thrive.