WP Campus Connect, an initiative led by Anand Upadhyay and Pooja Derashri, and driven by a vision to introduce WordPress to college students and nurture local community growth, has now earned its place as an official WordPress event after a highly successful inaugural program.
The inaugural session was held in October 2024 across four colleges in Ajmer, Rajasthan, and featured interactive workshops and seminars.
The Goal of the Initiative
The core mission of WP Campus Connect is to help college students gain practical WordPress skills and knowledge. The initiative also provides an opportunity where students can explore the diverse career opportunities within the WordPress community. By bridging the gap between educational institutions and the WordPress ecosystem, WP Campus Connect seeks to inspire and support the next generation of innovators in the WordPress space.
The Event Structure, Approach, and Organizing Team
Anand Upadhyay offered a detailed account of how the event got its name and how the format for the inaugural edition was shaped.
As for how the event was named, he explained it as, “ When we decided to organize a WordPress event exclusively for students, the big question was: How do we gather interested students, and where? Instead of asking them to come to us, we chose to meet them where they are—on their campuses. That’s how the event got its name: WP Campus Connect.”
As stated earlier, the inaugural event saw the participation of four colleges, and the format included four seminars and four workshops. But things weren’t all smooth sailing at the start, as getting colleges to sign up was challenging, given the limited familiarity with WordPress in the area, as stated by Anand, “However, WordPress awareness in our region was low, and convincing colleges wasn’t easy.”
Once the partner colleges were on board, the next challenge for the organizers was that most of the students were not familiar with WordPress, and conducting a workshop directly would bear no results. This was tackled by hosting an introductory session ahead of the main workshop. These talks laid the groundwork, offering a glimpse into the opportunities in the WordPress ecosystem and its global impact.
Attendance was limited to 100 students per campus to ensure an impactful experience. Altogether, the program reached 400 students, and the organizing team for the inaugural event consisted of 10 members.
A Quick Recap of Event Day and the Challenges Faced
A typical day of the event was a culmination of weeks of planning and teamwork. Students were welcomed with 90-minute introductory sessions designed to spark interest and curiosity, and these were followed by in-depth, guided sessions where they learned to create their own first WordPress websites from scratch.
The significant challenges faced by the team included varying college infrastructure, with some colleges using large computer labs while others had to split workshops across multiple rooms, as Anand highlighted, “ In other colleges, the workshops were split across multiple rooms. To maintain consistency, we conducted an internal team session before the event to ensure every facilitator was aligned on the workshop structure and delivery.”
Also, while they encouraged students to bring their own laptops, many relied on the on-campus devices, which in some colleges had outdated systems or lacked the necessary configurations. This was resolved by using InstaWP, as he stated, “ While students were encouraged to bring their own laptops, many relied on college computer labs. At some colleges, outdated systems and missing configurations made it difficult to install the necessary software. To overcome this, we used InstaWP to spin up temporary WordPress sites, allowing students to work seamlessly without delays.”
During the workshop, students gained hands-on experience in creating their first WordPress sites. They were guided through the setup process, including configuring themes, adding plugins, and organizing content. By the end of the session, participants had created a homepage, started a blog, and incorporated a contact form.
The Future Roadmap
The plans for the future, as stated, include organizing larger student events, creating WordPress clubs on campuses, and facilitating mentorship opportunities.
To make the above a reality, the volunteers identified several steps that need to be taken, such as the development of a volunteer handbook, GatherPress Integration, recruiting volunteers, creating a landing page to describe what the event is all about, and the formation of student groups.
The call for designers is now open, and community designers can take part in creating the official logo for WordPress Campus Connect. Interested community members can also join the #campusconnect Make Slack channel.