Matt Mullenweg 1:40 am on February 8, 2026

Right now, we discourage product-specific…

Right now, we discourage product-specific talks at meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. or WordCamps. Even though most people use WordPress through these products. However, I think if a company is engaged with the community at the Global Sponsor level, which right now is 180k/yr (but will probably be more in the future), their product should be fair game for meetups and WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. talk topics. If they’re selected as a Global Sponsor, it means they’re in good standing in the community and that their investment reflects their importance to WordPress users. Let’s make sure that the folks screening talk submissions understand this.

Juan Hernando 7:44 am on February 8, 2026

Thanks for starting this conversation, Matt. I think there might be some confusion about what we currently encourage or discourage regarding talks, so I’d like to clarify what’s in our existing guidelines.

Our Meetup Organizer Handbook states: “We do ask that individuals do not schedule meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. in order to sell products or services.”

Our WordCamp Handbook says: “Share > pitch. WordCamps are educational events, not marketing opportunities, so proposing a product pitch will not get you very far with the speaker selection team.”

The approach we’ve traditionally recommended is educational framing rather than product-specific pitches. For example:
✅ “Why translating your site matters and different approaches to do it” (discusses multiple plugins/methods)
❌ “How to use [Product X] to translate your site”
Or:
✅ “What to analyze when choosing hosting for your site” (educational framework)
❌ “Why [Host X] is the best hosting for your site” (sales pitch)

There are definitely cases where product-specific talks make sense, particularly for dominant or unique solutions in their categoryCategory The 'category' taxonomy lets you group posts / content together that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging.. WordPress.tv has hundreds of WooCommerce talks, and we see talks about Elementor, Yoast, Contact Form 7, and others. These work because they’re educational first, teaching people how to accomplish goals rather than selling features.

If we move toward encouraging sponsor-driven product talks, what does that look like in practice? For example, if we have four hosting companies as global sponsors (as in 2025), does that mean a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. could feature four talks about different control panels or hosting-specific features?

I completely understand the need to provide more value to sponsors, they make our events possible. But I worry about the experience for attendees if we shift too far toward product-focused content, especially when those products are chosen based on sponsorship rather than educational value.

Could we explore a middle ground? Perhaps sponsor-led workshops or demos in dedicated spaces/times, while keeping the main speaking tracks focused on educational, approach-based content? That way sponsors get visibility and engagement, but attendees still get the WordPress education they came for.

These are options that organizers already discuss informally and want to experiment with. Maybe now is the time to make these ideas/experiments more visible, document what works, and give organizers more flexibility to try different formats that balance sponsor value with attendee experience?
Francesco Di Candia 11:46 am on February 8, 2026
Thanks for raising this, Matt and Juan, thanks for the clear context on our current guidelines.
I agree the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. principle should remain: educational value first. A talk mentioning a product isn’t inherently problematic if it teaches a workflow or solves a real user problem, whether the speaker works at a Global Sponsor or not. What we discourage is pure pitching, not practical education.
That said, Global Sponsors deserve meaningful visibility for their investment.
Rather than opening main-stage slots to product pitches, could we:
- Offer sponsors dedicated spaces (workshops, demo zones, office hoursOffice Hours Defined times when the Global Community Team are in the #community-events Slack channel. If there is anything you would like to discuss – you do not need to inform them in advance.You are very welcome to drop into any of the Community Team Slack channels at any time.) for product-deep dives, clearly labeled so attendees opt in intentionally
- Train speaker teams to evaluate framing, not brand names: “How to build multilingual sites” vs. “Buy our pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party.”
- Document what works across WordCamps and share proven formats globally
As a Global Lead for WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. 2026, my priority is attendee learning, not turning our event into a trade show.
Sponsors should be honored, but not at the cost of the educational integrity that makes WordCamps unique.
Let’s refine the guardrails, not remove them.
Matt Mullenweg 3:24 am on February 9, 2026

I guess one distinction could be to say people can only talk about what functionality is accessible in the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. directory, i.e free, vs paid upgrades.
- Matt Cromwell 4:15 pm on February 14, 2026
  
  Not sure that’s the best distinction because plugins that have paid versions get negative reviews and get support requests on .org for their paid products. So even though it’s only their free plugins here, they still are liable here for their paid products.
  
  I think if a Global sponsor wants to have a talk at a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. they should be able to talk about their product, but there’s a way to do it that is educational for the whole community without being an outright sales pitch. Perhaps the organizers would have to do a little more scrutiny before the talk.
  
  I think speaker offerings for a talented speaker is a great benefit for Global sponsors that are really shouldering a huge cost of our WordCamps.
Brad Williams 3:21 pm on February 19, 2026

I think it’s a great idea, as long as they are labeled as sponsor presentations. I’ve been to sponsor presentations at other tech events because I was generally interested in learning about the product or service. This is no different, and again as long as they are labeled as a “sponsor presentation” or something similar I think it would be fine. If you don’t want to attend a sponsor presentation, don’t attend!

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