Shanta R. Nathwani is a Web Design and Information Architecture Consultant as well as an Instructor in Web Design and CCIT Capstone at Sheridan College, located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada which includes teaching WordPress. The ICCIT program is a joint program with the University of Toronto at Mississauga.
She teaches students and small businesses how to use their websites and social media to increase their online presence leading to increased revenues and improved customer service. She has assisted companies to incorporate social media in the real estate, financial, non-profit, education and technical fields to name a few. She is from Toronto, Ontario, but now lives in Hamilton, Ontario.
Shanta is raising funds for an international WordCamp tour and Pune is one of the planned pit-stops. We had a quick chat with this prolific WordCamp speaker to get more details of her WordCamp Pune 2015 plans.
Why WordCamp Pune?
I did 7 WordCamps last year and my goal this year was to do 10, one of which had to be out of North America. I missed Mumbai, but it’s close enough that I can still see relatives.
What do you plan to do at WordCamp Pune once you get there?
I’ve never actually been to Pune, so I want to see the city! My parents have been, but I haven’t. I want to see the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi at the Aga Khan Palace.
(Left: Shanta in India for the first time!)
Anything about India that excites you?
It ALWAYS excites me! I’ve been to India a number of times, but mostly to Mumbai. I’ve seen the Taj Mahal and much more when I was a child. I spent 2 months there while studying for my Microsoft certification. I’ve always wanted to return.
Do you have a message for our community?
I believe in giving back to the community, regardless of the size. We are fortunate enough that the WordPress community is worldwide. I have given back to my hometowns, to the larger WordPress community in my backyard (being the United States), now I want to give back to the world. My father grew up in India, so this is my way of honouring where I came from in some small way.
We’d love to have Shanta at WordCamp Pune and hope that more people, including you, contribute to her campaign on Tilt.com. The best of luck from all of us here in Pune Shanta; for this and the other WordCamps that you plan to attend.