WordPress has always been built around its community, and local meetups are a huge part of it.

To encourage even more in-person connection, we’re happy to let you know that you can now host your WordPress meetup for free on WordPress.com and access all of the benefits of our popular Creator plan. You’ll get a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth, and the web’s best spam and security protection so you can focus on the real magic of WordPress: the community. 

At WordCamp Europe 2024 yesterday, Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the WordPress project, gave a keynote where he talked about 11 important opinions to keep in mind while working on WordPress. Unsurprisingly, most of these opinions revolve around the craving for human connection. So when Matteo Spirandelli, co-organizer of WordPress Meetup Milano, asked in the Q&A whether their meetup could have a complimentary WordPress.com site, my answer was an emphatic “Yes!”

Connecting with your local WordPress community is a great way to foster those connections, and WordPress.com wants to help by offering free websites on our Creator plan for local WordPress meetups.

If you are an organizer of an existing WordPress meetup, here’s how you can redeem your complimentary website:

1. Create a free account and site on WordPress.com (if you don’t have one already).
2. Send an email to help@wordpress.com and mention that you’d like a free Creator plan for your WordPress meetup. Please include the following information:
   1. The email address for your WordPress.com account.
   2. The city and state where you hold your local meetup.
   3. The link to your current meetup website (if you already have one).
   4. Whether you’d like help migrating your existing site (if you have one).

Ready to get involved with your local WordPress meetup?

Ready to join your local WordPress community? Find a WordPress meetup in your area to connect with other writers, business owners, developers, and folks from all walks of life. Here are a few of the upcoming events around the globe:

The WordPress project also has a great guide to starting your own WordPress meetup.

It was truly a pleasure to connect with so many of you at WordCamp Europe 2024. We’ll see you at WordCamp US in Portland, Oregon in September!