Rowena Bellamy
Who am I and what do I do for a living?
My name is Rowena Bellamy and I am a Digital Consultant at October24
Where can you find me on the internet?
Twitter: @october24_ltd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowenabellamy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowena.bellamy
Question time!
If you could interview anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
Am I allowed more than one? I'd say David Attenborough and Freddie Mercury. Both have lived / are living the most incredible lives and I'd love to sit with a glass of red wine and just listen to their stories.
What hobbies do you have?
I live in the Peak District in the UK, and being out exploring the hills with my partner, our dog and campervan is just the best thing in the world. I also love getting out in my garden and growing beautiful plants, it's a gorgeous haven when I've been sat in front of screens all day!
What's your favourite book?
Recently loved the Salt Path by Raynor Quinn
What's your favourite movie?
I'm hopeless at films, can't sit still long enough!
If you are in to music, what are you currently listening to?
Music is always on in my house, I can't wait for the new release from Public Service Broadcasting and have just bought tickets to see the Glass Animals in the autumn (though... the first album was the greatest!).
If you are currently learning something, what is it?
A friend is determined I'm going to learn to ski. At least you can still code with broken legs, right?
Umbraco related questions
What first interested you in using Umbraco CMS?
I inherited it's use on a project I started over a year ago now; it was well embedded in the organisation and there was no compelling reason to change. I was, thankfully, pretty happy with the way that turned out, it's now (rather obviously since I'm here) my CMS of choice.
How long have you been using Umbraco CMS?
Only around 14 months now in earnest, though I used to host and support a few sites in Umbraco about 15 years ago!
If you could change one thing in Umbraco, what would it be?
That's an interesting question. Being able to preview previous rollback versions would also be rather nice, oh and being able to track who's sent content changes up from other environments!
Do you use any other CMS? How does it compare to Umbraco CMS?
I built one!... back in the day - it was CMS:X at the time and started life in Classic ASP (making myself sound old here) and I believe there is still an open source version of it out there somewhere under a different name. I also work regularly with e-commerce platforms from Shopify to Commerce Cloud, and occasionally am subjected to WordPress!
What packages do you use regularly?
My friend and colleague Paul Seal wrote a great Google Analytics Events plugin which I'm using, and CMSImport solved me a particularly tricky content problem.
Do you build packages? If so, which ones?
Not quite got that far just yet :)
Anything you would like to share with the Umbraco Community?
I originally started out as a web developer longer ago then I'd like to share (IE5 anyone?), I now typically work as a consultant (or as a Project / Programme manager or BA), specialising in e-commerce and with a passion for Accessibility. I've had the opportunity to work with some fantastic clients in my career, and in the past year have recently re-rolled up my coding sleeves, and have loved it. I can honestly say the Umbraco community has been a joy to become part of. I've worked across a lot of platforms and I don't think I've ever met a friendlier, more helpful bunch of folks. From Umbraco's own support (I use Cloud regularly) to folks in the forum and on Slack, it's really lovely to feel like there's always someone to reach out to when you get stuck. I've made some good friends along the way as well.
Published on: 21 May 2021