About Me
Hi, I'm Jamie Madden
An Australian, living in Vietnam, married to my lovely wife, Yen and our dog Banh Mi. I have worked on and with internet technologies for nearly 30 years.
My main focus has been and continues to be on WordPress, and I possess a wealth of experience in this domain. Recently I have added a focus on machine learning, generative AI and data science.
Having been the founder of WC Vendors Marketplace, a leading open-source plugin designed for WooCommerce and WordPress, has led me to work in all levels of WordPress. I have built multiple plugins over the years, all have been acquired or shut down.
My interests span so many various areas, but I work a lot with no-code tools and open source. Always tinkering and exploring new technologies.
Why Random Adult?
For over 15 years my nickname, internet name, DJ name has been digitalchild. After 10 years it was time for a change and I rebranded to Random Adult.
What is a digitalchild you ask? To me, it’s someone that spends a lot of their time in the digital world, and that’s me. Ever since the days of dialup.
WordPress
I started working with WordPress back in the b2Evolution days when I learned of the WordPress project. I started to build websites with WordPress 1.5 before we had custom post types, plugins were new and themes had just been introduced. Over the years I have solved a range of problems built on WordPress. These include online marketplaces, research platforms, staff training systems, intranets, dedicated apps and more.
I am a contributing member of the WordPress Training team, as a subject-matter expert also contributed to various other training-related activities.
WordPress has led me to speak at numerous events, including WordCamps and local meetups. Additionally, I have co-organized meetups and actively engage with the WordPress community online, especially on Slack channels.
Speaking
I have spoken and three WordCamps around the world and I look forward to participating in more in the future.
WordCamp Brisbane 2015
I gave a technical talk on the WordPress CLI tool WP-CLI.
WordCamp Singapore 2019
My talk in Singapore was on the mistakes marketplaces owners can fall into.
WordCamp Europe 2023
In this workshop, I went through how to automate WordPress with no code and n8n.
Life Outside of Tech
Outside of tech, I have a range of hobbies that I pursue at various times. I love snowboarding and have been doing that for over 20 years. Eight years ago, I qualified as an open water scuba diver. Since then, I have dived around the world in a range of conditions and love diving. I’m a qualified rescue diver, gas blender, master diver, technical extended range side mount diver and more. I continue with my training and exploration of the underwater world.
I have a passion for languages and have a laser focus on learning them. Proficient in Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese, which I started learning at the age of 10. I’m currently studying Spanish and some Portuguese. This doesn’t include the countless computer languages I have learned over the years and continue to learn.
