Relaunching the San Diego WordPress Meetup

The San Diego WordPress Meetup is back!

This group holds a lot of sentimental value for me. Back in my early days, I was working at a creative agency in downtown San Diego, building custom themes and experimenting with my first plugins. The meetup at that time was called Advanced WordPress (AWP), and it was one of the first of its kind to cater specifically to developers.

Each month, a small group of us would gather to share what we were building. I remember always being excited to bring something unique or impressive to the table. It was at this very meetup where I met Matt Cromwell, who I later convinced to take a leap of faith with me to start a WordPress product business. That decision led to GiveWP… and the rest is history.

Building Community Together

For years, the AWP meetup drew a steady 12–20 attendees. We became friends, worked on projects together, and eventually helped revive WordCamp San Diego. Organizing WordCamp was both fun and challenging, and I learned a ton during the three years I helped out.

But by the late 2010s, the meetup began to struggle. Having a consistent and accessible location is critical for any Meetup group, and that became harder to secure. Downtown wasn’t convenient for folks in North County, and some co-working spaces wanted us to serve as their customer funnel, which wasn’t our mission. At the same time, organizer fatigue started to set in. A big shout-out goes to Michael Bastos, the original organizer, who gave so much back to both me and the community. It’s a lot of work, both financially and time-wise, to keep things running month after month.

Here are a few photos from our early meetups:

Joining the WordPress Meetup Chapter Program

Around this time, the WordPress Community team launched the Meetup Chapter Program. They invited us to join, but there was one catch: we couldn’t keep the “Advanced WordPress” branding. The chapter program is about inclusivity, making meetups accessible to beginners, bloggers, and users… not just developers. At first we hesitated, but by late 2018 or early 2019, the group decided to join.

Then came 2020. Like WordCamps everywhere, the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Virtual meetups kept the spirit alive, but it wasn’t quite the same. In-person connection is special, and I always missed that.

A Fresh Start in 2025

Fast forward to today. After stepping away from Liquid Web and GiveWP, I’ve had the chance to recharge and spend more time connecting locally. I’ve been attending React meetups in San Diego, which reminded me how much I value that sense of community.

Recently, a meetup member named Leif started a thread in the San Diego Meetup group asking if anyone wanted to get together informally to talk WordPress. Four of us showed up with beach chairs at a park, and the conversation naturally turned to how we could reignite the meetup. Phelan, a long-time supporter of the group, offered his co-working space in central San Diego as a new home for the group, and both Leif and another long-time member, Evan, said they’d help with organizing.

That was the spark we needed.

I reached out to Devinder, a WordPress Community member on LinkedIn, who connected me with the WordPress Community Support team. A quick training session later, I officially became a co-organizer again.

Our First Meetup Back

I’m thrilled to share that our first in-person meetup is happening next month! We already have 12 people RSVP’d. The format will include:

• Networking and WordPress help desk time
• A series of lightning talks (15 minutes each)
• A closing WordPress trivia session with possible swag prizes
• Food and drinks provided

It feels good to be giving back to the community that gave me so much in my early career.

If you’re in San Diego and want to be part of this new chapter, RSVP here. I’d love to see you there.