Back in May 2025, when WordPress Campus Connect (WPCC) launched as an official event series, we intentionally left room for organizers to experiment with format. That exploration was the point: we needed to see what actually worked on campus before locking anything in. I shared a Slack update on this in August, and now that the series has matured, it’s a good moment to revisit what we learned and make sure these events are still serving the purpose they started with.
What we’re seeing is a shift worth naming: some WPCC events have started operating more like mini WordCamps on campus, heavy on seminars and presentations, than like the hands-on, “here’s WordPress in your hands” experience the program was built around. Both formats have value, but they’re not the same thing, and WPCC needs to stay the latter.
So here’s the ask: when you’re organizing a WordPress Campus Connect event, build it around tangible outcomes for students, not just talks about WordPress. That could look like:
- Creating their WordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ account (the entry point into the community)
- Creating their first WordPress website (hands-on, not hypothetical)
- Making a contribution (their first taste of being part of something bigger than the classroom)
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s the bar: students should leave having done something, not just heard about it.
We’ve updated the Event Formats & Standards and Program Content & Delivery handbook pages to make this guidance more clear, so those are the best place to check as you plan.
And if your event concept genuinely can’t meet these requirements, that’s okay. It just probably means WPCC isn’t the right container for it, and we’d love to help you think through a different type of WordPress education event that fits what you’re going for.
What’s next: we’ll be keeping an eye on how new event proposals line up with this guidance, and leaning on the Event Supporters’ day-to-day vetting to catch mismatches early. The goal isn’t to make organizing harder, it’s to protect what makes WordPress Campus Connect valuable in the first place: putting WordPress directly into students’ hands.
Please feel free to comment with any questions below!
