We ran a Community Booth at 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. Asia 2026, a staple at past flagship events that hadn’t been present at WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event. 2025 or WCA 2026 until now. A huge thank you to everyone who showed up and staffed it: @gomp, @kel-dc, @karenalma, @clk87, @marutim, @sumitsingh, @raitissevelis, @chetan200891, @webtechpooja. 💙 Thank you as well to the WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. Events Team and WCA Organizing Team for helping make the booth an on-the-ground reality.

This post summarizes the team’s collective experience and feedback, with an eye toward making the booth stronger at upcoming flagships.

What Went Well

Despite setup and visibility challenges (more on those below), the booth delivered real moments of connection across every shift.

Contributor and program onboarding:

• Kel brought contributors Sumit and Dilip to the booth during Maciej’s WordPress Credits slot. Sumit was already a mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues.; Dilip signed up as a new one on the spot.
• Sumit used his booth time to introduce several new folks to the Training Team and helped a contributor from the MiniOrange team get started with Polyglots support.
• Kel also used her scheduled time to talk about the contributor dashboard and made several new contacts.

MeetupMeetup 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. and community growth conversations:

• Chetan had four visitors during his slot, each with distinct community-building questions: one wanted to start a meetup chapter in Tanzania, another in Indore, India, a third wanted to revive the inactive WordPress Delhi Meetup by becoming an organizer, and a fourth was looking for tips on sourcing speakers and venues (including free vs. paid options). All four walked away with guidance on starting chapters and applying as organizers.
• Maruti spoke with a member from the Ahmedabad community about joining the WP Mentorship Program and is following up with them on next steps.
• Maruti also had conversations with new attendees who weren’t familiar with what the community booth was — which turned into meaningful discussions about what the WordPress community is, how to contribute, and why staying engaged and attending more WordCamps matters.

Education and Campus Connect:

• Raitis had two students come to the booth specifically to learn more about education initiatives — he guided them to the org site and pointed them toward the community panel.
• Pooja connected with several attendees who showed genuine interest in Campus Connect and WordPress Credits, followed up with them on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/ afterward, and started ongoing conversations. 🌟
• Cheyne had a hallway conversation with someone who wanted to run a WordPress Campus Connect event and lit up when they heard the program existed.

Handling community inquiries:

• Cheyne helped an attendee check on their pending Meetup application (now vetted ✅), directed someone whose 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. was flagged to the right Make WordPress Slack channel, and connected a sponsor-curious attendee to the global community sponsorship handbook.
• The booth also served as a natural networking touchpoint, with LinkedIn connections made across multiple shifts and Automattic job inquiries fielded.

Challenges

Booth Setup and Physical Layout

The booth’s physical setup was a consistent limiting factor:

• It was configured like a counter with a single chair, which is suitable for a sponsor’s quick pitch, but not for the open, two-way conversations the Community Booth is meant to host.
• The booth was small and positioned at the end of a row, making it easy to miss and somewhat isolated from the flow of foot traffic. Maruti noted that being in a corner made it particularly hard for people to find.
• A photo backdrop wall sat behind the booth, but unlike WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. 2025 Basel, where the Community Booth was centrally placed in the hall with a shared table, seating, and photo wall, WCA’s layout didn’t allow for the same open, integrated feel.
• Showing content on a laptop from across the counter wasn’t practical; people ended up huddling on the booth side to see anything.
• The booth appeared well-lit in photos but was noticeably darker in person.

Signage and Awareness

• The booth was labeled simply “Community Booth”, but many attendees didn’t know what it meant or what they could get from stopping by.
• There was no visible schedule or topic guide to help attendees know when to visit or what conversations were happening at any given time. Cheyne’s session focused on contributing to learn.wordpress.orgWordPress.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/, but without signage, no one engaged with the topic at the booth.
• A few visitors came by while strolling the venue out of curiosity, but without context to convert that interest into a real conversation.

Staffing Gaps

• Not every hour in the booth schedule was filled, and the booth was unattended at times, including on the second day and during high-footfall periods like breaks and post-talk windows.
• Several staffers reported little to no engagement during their shifts, in part due to low visibility.
• Maruti noted that on at least one occasion, multiple attendees came by at the same time, making it difficult to manage conversations alone; this is a case for having more than one person present during peak hours.

No Swag or Materials

• The booth had no physical materials, screens, or printed resources for people to browse or take away.
• There was no WordPress swag or stickers, and this was felt. Raitis observed that people visibly showed disappointment when they saw an empty table, and that even basic items like Wapuu stickers or pins would have served as conversation starters and a reason to linger.
• At WCEU 2025 Basel, the community booth had exclusive swag drawn from the general event swag budget, which created real incentive to visit. Remaining items were passed to local organizers afterward.
• Karen noted that the Career Corner used framed info sheets with QR codes to good effect and a format worth replicating.

Recommendations for Future Booths

The consensus is clear: the Community Booth is absolutely worth continuing — it just needs better planning and a more intentional setup. Here’s what we’d like to see for future flagship WordCamps.

1. Redesign the physical space. Move away from a counter-style setup toward a table with seating on both sides, creating a space that invites conversation. Placement should be central and high-traffic, not at the end of a row or in a corner.
2. Ensure consistent, overlapping staffing. Keep someone at the booth at all times, especially during breaks and between talks. Karen’s suggestion: staff people in 2 to 3 hour stretches as a baseline, with topic-specific guests layered on for highlighted sessions. Maruti echoes this, recommending two or three people at the booth simultaneously to handle multiple conversations without leaving anyone unattended. Pooja also recommends implementing a volunteer shift system to ensure there’s always someone present to engage with attendees.
3. Add clear signage. Display a schedule of topics and who’s staffing the booth at each time slot (e.g., WordPress Credits, Campus Connect, Contributor Dashboard, Mentorship). Promote the schedule on social media and event signage in advance so attendees know when to come by.
4. Bring materials. Framed info sheets with QR codes pointing to key programs (Campus Connect, WordPress Credits, contributor pathways, etc.) would give people something to engage with even when booth staff are mid-conversation.
5. Bring swag. Even something small and exclusive to the booth drives foot traffic. Raitis suggests exploring a Wapuu sticker or pin exchange which is a simple, on-brand, and a natural conversation starter. Exclusive booth swag drawn from the general event budget has worked well before.

In conclusion

The Community Booth is a valuable community-building and direct-engagement tool; one that clearly resonates when the conditions are right. Nearly every staffer had at least one meaningful conversation: a new mentor signed up, a new Polyglots contributor onboarded, four meetup chapters set in motion, Campus Connect connections made.

With better visibility, consistent staffing, and a few engagement elements, this booth can be a genuine highlight of any WordPress event. Let’s make that happen. 👏 🙏

Get Involved

The plan is to continue Community Booth presence at future flagship events.

1. To help make planning and execution better, I’ve drafted a Community Booth Planning Checklist that we’d love community feedback on!
2. If you’re interested in staffing a future booth or have ideas on how to improve the experience, share your thoughts in the comments below.