Simon Pollard, a long-time WordPress developer around Bristol, joined Nathan Wrigley on the Jukebox Podcast to reflect on how local WordPress meetups and events have changed since COVID and what it will take to rebuild them.

From pub chats to a thriving Meetup
Simon’s entry into WordPress was gradual—moving through roles in Devon, Cheltenham, Cardiff and finally Bristol. What started as informal pub conversations among a few developers grew into a formal Meetup. The group organised with simple tools and guidance from the wider WordPress community, secured sponsorship and official backing, and turned into a well-run monthly event with catering, a bank account and a team of organisers. In late 2019 and early 2020 the Bristol Meetup regularly attracted 30–40 people and became known for being warm and welcoming to newcomers and speakers.

The pandemic pause and shifting priorities
When COVID hit, the Meetup stopped. The group didn’t immediately pivot to online: organisers lacked the appetite, equipment and time, and the social chemistry that made the meetings special didn’t translate to video calls. For Simon the pause coincided with major life changes—having a baby and later joining Illustrate Digital—so his priorities shifted. He also found social connection through music, joining a local band of developers and creatives, which helped fill some of the gap left by in-person Meetups.

Attempts to hand over leadership
During the hiatus Simon tried to hand the Meetup on to new organisers. A couple of people attempted to run it but couldn’t sustain momentum, and activity faded. More recently some original team members have begun reviving events. Simon attended a recent gathering and found fewer attendees but the same friendly, familiar atmosphere among those who returned.

A fractured online ecosystem
A key issue Simon highlighted is how the online landscape has splintered. Before COVID, Twitter and Facebook were reliable places to announce events, recruit speakers and keep community ties alive. Since then many people left those platforms or migrated to different apps; there is no single “town square” replacement. That makes it harder to reconnect with past attendees and to reach newcomers. Simon now spends most of his time on LinkedIn, unsure where the old network lives and where to find new people who might join local events.

Why in-person still matters
Both hosts emphasised the unique value of face-to-face interaction. Meetups and WordCamps build relationships, encourage first-time speakers and create opportunities for serendipitous collaboration. In-person conversations match people with complementary skills, help solve technical problems quickly, and generate the informal chats that rarely happen on calls or through AI-driven searches. The friendly, non-competitive culture at WordPress events makes them particularly good at welcoming beginners and fostering cross-company connections.

New challenges: AI and changing attention
Two broader trends complicate rebuilding communities. First, AI now answers many technical questions instantly, reducing the friction that used to drive people to ask peers or join forums. AI may solve problems quickly, but it doesn’t build personal connections or credit the human who helped. Second, attention and leisure habits have shifted: streaming services, short-form video and platform-native content reduce incentives to create personal websites or tinker with web tech—the pathways that historically led people into WordPress development. Younger people who grew up during the pandemic may never have felt that itch to experiment with the web.

Practical ideas to re-engage people
Simon and Nathan discussed several practical steps to revive attendance and broaden appeal:
– Broader programming: Blend WordPress talks with related topics like design, animation, creativity and soft skills to attract a wider audience and spark cross-disciplinary conversations.
– Welcoming practice: Keep dedicated host teams who greet newcomers, hand out name badges and introduce people to others with shared interests to encourage repeat visits.
– Social elements: Preserve post-talk socials, developer days and informal gatherings—those social moments often drive attendance as much as the talks themselves.
– Creative hybrids: Combine arts and tech—small concerts, screenings or live creative demos—to make events feel like social outings rather than just lectures.
– Scale expectations: Accept that Meetups and WordCamps may be smaller for now; single-track or condensed WordCamps can still deliver value without the pressure of big crowds.
– Purposeful outreach: Use the platforms where local people actually are—LinkedIn, community Slack, email lists—and rebuild contact lists deliberately instead of relying on a single social feed.

Opportunities and local examples
Simon recalled non-WordPress speakers who brought fresh perspectives—creatives from animation studios and other fields whose talks were very well received. He also noted that local networks often overlap with creative communities—many WordPress folks play in bands, make art or run side projects—so blending interests can create compelling events. Simple, achievable goals, like a one-off gig in a pub after a Meetup, can be a gentle way to rebuild momentum.

Where Simon is now
Simon works at Illustrate Digital and is reconnecting with peers via LinkedIn. He’s open to ideas for formats and platforms that could help re-knit the local community and is interested in helping events that feel inviting and practical.

Conclusion
COVID fractured many local WordPress communities and removed the familiar digital town squares that once kept them lively. Yet the core value of in-person connection—warmth, mentorship and serendipity—remains. Rebuilding will be gradual and local: experimenting with mixed programming, strong welcome practices, social moments and creative crossovers can help draw people back and introduce new participants to the benefits of being part of the WordPress community.

Nathan Wrigley recently spoke with Simon Pollard on the Jukebox Podcast about how WordPress Meetups and community life changed since COVID and what rebuilding them might look like.

Who Simon is
Simon Pollard is a long-time WordPress developer in Bristol who’s worked at Illustrate Digital since early 2020. He helped turn the Bristol WordPress Meetup from an informal pub gathering into an organised, sponsored group with regular attendees, a Trello plan, catering and a bank account.

How the Meetup grew
The group began simply: developers meeting in a pub to chat, swap problems and ideas. A project manager on the organising team brought structure with schedules and Trello. Members like Jenny Wong helped secure official WordPress backing. Sponsorships and modest funds made it possible to hire venues and provide food, which helped attendance. At its peak the Meetup drew 30–40 people monthly and the organising team grew to handle speakers, logistics and welcoming newcomers.

What COVID did
The pandemic stopped in-person Meetups overnight. The organising team didn’t have the appetite, time or tech setup to pivot to virtual formats, and community involvement faded. On a personal level, Simon’s priorities shifted—he had a baby during lockdown and later spent social energy on family and a casual band. Attempts to hand the Meetup to new organisers had mixed success and over time the group shrank rather than sustaining pre-COVID numbers.

Returning and recent revival
In the past year some original organisers—including people from that first pub meeting—reassembled and restarted events. Simon attended a recent Meetup and found the tone and warmth still present, if at a smaller scale. Seeing familiar faces in person felt valuable. He’s now considering returning to speaking and helping rebuild those connections.

The communication and social-media problem
Before COVID, platforms like Twitter and Facebook served as a central town square for promotion and informal connection. Since then social media has fragmented: people are scattered across different platforms or have left them entirely, so there’s no single place to reach everyone quickly. This fragmentation makes the “in-between” communication—how people stay connected between events—harder. Email lists, Slack, Discord, LinkedIn and Meetup.com each reach parts of the audience, but none cover the whole community. Simon also notes his own reduced engagement on social platforms and uncertainty about where to reconnect people he used to know.

Why in-person still matters
Meetups are more than talks. They provide warmth, approachable atmosphere, spontaneous hallway conversations and easy introductions for newcomers. That active welcoming and informal troubleshooting are hard to reproduce online. For freelancers and small teams, the networking value—finding developers, project managers, quick help or collaborators—is especially important and often happens through casual in-person interactions.

New challenges and cultural shifts
Leisure habits changed during COVID: remote work and streaming increased time spent alone online, reducing routine event attendance. Younger developers who joined during or after the pandemic may never have experienced Meetup culture and don’t automatically look for it. AI and better search tools mean people often get answers from machines rather than from humans on forums or in meetups, which reduces opportunities for recognition and relationship-building that used to come from public answers.

Ideas for rebuilding Meetups and events
– Broaden programming: include talks beyond WordPress technical topics—design, animation, soft skills, creativity—to attract a wider, cross-disciplinary crowd.
– Preserve a welcoming culture: organisers who actively greet newcomers and make introductions create the environment that motivates people to return.
– Mix formats: host smaller hybrid WordCamps, developer days, social evenings and live-music nights. Local creative elements can reconnect people who miss in-person gatherings.
– Use multiple channels intentionally: keep an email list, a clear social hub (even a Meetup.com page), and agree on where the community prefers to meet online.
– Accept different scales: physical events may be smaller than pre-COVID, but they can still be meaningful; success shouldn’t be judged solely by old attendance numbers.

WordCamps and scale
Large, multi-track WordCamps thrived before the pandemic, but it’s uncertain whether the same scale is realistic now. Events may need to be more modest or creative in format while preserving the social and learning value that made them worthwhile.

Attribution, learning and community value
Answering questions publicly used to create visibility and human connections. When AI supplies answers without visible authorship, the natural incentives for contribution and relationship-building weaken. Community contributions remain important for WordPress’s health: the project is built and improved by people, and local ties help its long-term success.

Where to find Simon
Simon is at illustrate.digital and is currently most reachable via LinkedIn. He welcomes suggestions about platforms or ways to reconnect the community.

Takeaway
The WordPress community was disrupted by COVID, life changes and shifting online habits. In-person gatherings continue to offer unique value—warmth, serendipity, introductions and mentoring—that’s hard to replace. Rebuilding will likely mean accepting a different scale, doing more intentional outreach, broadening event content to attract diverse interests and maintaining clear channels to stay connected between events. Small, welcoming Meetups and hybrid, creative event formats that blend tech with arts or social elements are practical ways to restore and reimagine local WordPress communities.