We put 60 tickets online. They were gone in 7 days.
Interesting, right? On most campuses, a small technical program struggles to pull in 10 to 15 students. We were fully booked in a week, and 53 of those 60 registrations were complete newcomers, new to WordPress and new to WordPress events.
On July 25, 2026, WordPress Campus Connect came to the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang. It was a free, one day, on campus event built around a simple idea: students should be able to learn WordPress by building alongside the community, not by watching from a distance.
In this recap, we will walk you through how the day actually went, the numbers behind it, what surprised us, and what we would do differently next time.1
The Numbers Behind the Day
We built the event site about a month before the event. Here is what that month looked like:
- 1,241 views on the event website from 496 visitors
- 60 tickets, sold out in 7 days
- 3 cancellations, all reassigned to new attendees
- 53 of 60 registered participants joined us on the day
- 53 of 60 registrations were first-timers, new to WordPress and new to WordPress events
Our single biggest traffic day was July 25, the event day itself, with 160 views, about 13% of everything the site has ever received.
That first-timer number matters most to us. This was not a room full of people who already knew WordPress and wanted advanced tips. This was a room full of beginners.
The 3 cancellations are worth a mention too. Instead of letting those seats go empty, we passed them on to students who had missed out. Three more people in the room, at no extra cost to anyone.
How the Day Went
The morning started at 09:00 with registration and networking, which turned out to be more useful than we planned for. Students arrived on time and started talking to each other before we said a single word from the stage.
The Dean set the tone
Dato’ Prof. Dr. Shamala K. Subramaniam, Dean of FSKTM, gave the opening remarks.
Her speech did something important. It framed open source not as a hobby, but as a real path for students in computer science. When that message comes from the Dean of the faculty, students listen differently.
Session 1: The WordPress ecosystem and careers
Mainul Kabir Aion (WordPress Community Team Mentor and CPO at Roxnor) opened the sessions with “The WordPress Ecosystem and How It Can Shape Your Career”.
For most of the room, this was the first time anyone had explained what the WordPress ecosystem actually is. Not just the software, but the community behind it, the contribution teams, the events, and the jobs that exist because of all three. Also, the showcase of WordPress amazed the attendees because many famous websites are actively using WordPress!
The point of the session was simple. WordPress is not only a tool you use. It is a community you can join, and joining it early in your studies changes what your options look like after graduation.
Session 2: SEO and WordPress
Leo Koo, Founder of Rev Code Enterprise, took the second session: “SEO & WordPress: How to grow your site’s traffic methodically using tools and systems”.
This one landed well because it was practical. Leo talked about systems, not tricks. For students who had just learned what a website is, seeing how traffic is actually earned gave the whole morning a purpose.
Session 3: The hands-on workshop
Then came the part everyone came for.
Mahidul Islam Mukto, Founder of WP Pro Devs, ran a full hour of “Hands-On Workshop: Vibe Coding a Fully Functional WordPress Website with AI”.
Laptops open. Real builds. This was the session where the first-timers stopped being beginners.
Worth noting, this was Mukto’s first public WordPress session, and he co-organized the entire event as well. Doing both on the same day is not easy.
The panel: careers in software and open source
After lunch, we ran an Industry Panel Discussion: Building Your Career in Software and the Open Source Ecosystem with Leo Koo, Mahidul Islam Mukto, Mainul Kabir Aion, and Bayes Ahmed Shoharto.
Students asked the questions you would expect, and a few you would not. How do you get hired without experience? Does contributing to open source actually help? What do companies look at?
Well, that is exactly the conversation students rarely get to have in a classroom.
The day closed with a Q&A on community opportunities, a group photo, and the closing remarks. Every attendee went home with a certificate and stickers. Small things, but they are the ones students keep.
The Part Nobody Sees
A 60-person event sounds small. The work behind it was not.
The event website. The banners. The ID cards. The stickers. The certificates. The food. Every one of those is a small task that becomes a long night when you are a small organizing team of five people and a volunteer.
We are saying this out loud because we want more people to organize campus events, and it helps to know what you are signing up for. It is a lot of small logistics. It is also completely worth it.
What We Would Do Differently
Here is the honest part.
The hands-on workshop was one hour. With almost the entire room attending for the first time, one hour is tight. Some students were still setting up while others were already building. Next time, we would either extend the workshop or run a short setup session before it starts.
We would also add a clearer “what happens after today” path. Students left excited, but excitement fades in a week without a next step. A follow up meetup, a contribution session, or even a simple checklist would help turn that energy into actual involvement.
Not every part of the day was perfect. That is fine. A first event is supposed to teach the organizers something too.
Thank You
This event happened because a lot of people said yes.
Thank you to the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia and the Student Council for partnering with us and making everything venue related easy. That support is the reason the day ran smoothly.
Thank you to our Gold Sponsors: Automattic, WooCommerce, Hostinger, and Bluehost. Free entry for students is only possible because sponsors make it possible.
Thank you to Leo Koo for a valuable session, to Bayes Ahmed Shoharto for joining the panel, and to Pooja Derashri for the support throughout the event.
The organizing team behind the day:
- Mainul Kabir Aion, Lead Organizer and Budget
- Mahidul Islam Mukto, Co-Lead, Design and Website
- Mohamed Boumlak, Organizer and Graphic Designer
- Yelilan Rajarajan, Organizer, Venue Management
- Md Tauhidur Rahman, Organizer
- Rodziah D, Volunteer
And thank you to every staff member and every student who showed up on a day when they could have been anywhere else.
What Comes Next
WordPress Campus Connect UPM 2026 was the first event of its kind on a Kuala Lumpur campus. We do not want it to be the last.
If you are a student, a lecturer, or a community member at another university in Malaysia and you want something like this on your campus, the WordPress community has the program, the structure, and the people to help you run it. You do not need to be an expert. Most of our team learned how to run this while running it.
Students do not need permission to join open source. They just need someone to show them the door.
Were you at Campus Connect UPM 2026? Tell us what stayed with you, or what you have built since. And if you are thinking about organizing one at your own university, reach out. We would love to hear from you.