Influence is Not Only About Likes: How I used WordPress to change laws and (maybe) save lives.

In Quebec, animals used to be considered “things” by the Civil Code, with the same legal status as a toaster or chair. In discussing this aberration with friends, I suggested we build a website, gather signatures, and start a media campaign to build awareness around the issue. Using a free theme and the Participant Database plugin, we had a site running in a day. Within 24 hours, we’d made headlines in local media and gathered 10,000 signatures. 22 months and 50,000 signatures later, the law changed to recognize non-human animals as sentient beings with biological needs. In this lighning talk, I’ll tell the story of Animals are not objects and give tips on how to use WordPress and the influence we can have online not only to make friends and get likes, but also to make the world a better place.

Speaker