WP Engine has been banned from sponsoring WordCamps and WordPress events, with WordCamp Sydney 2024 the first event to be affected.
WordCamp Sydney organizers were officially notified yesterday that WP Engine is no longer eligible to sponsor WordPress events, and its employees are prohibited from participating as organizers or speakers. According to WordPress Community Support, WP Engine violated point four of the WordCamp Sponsorship Guidelines, which require sponsors to “respect the WordPress trademark.”
The decision follows three weeks of uncertainty for WordCamp Sydney organizers after WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, during his WordCamp US 2024 keynote, accused WP Engine of profiting off the WordPress project and violating trademarks. He also told attendees that WP Engine could be banned from future WordCamps. WP Engine has since sued Mullenweg and his company, Automattic, alleging abuse of power, extortion, and anti-competitive behavior
WCS, also known as WordCamp Central, is a for-profit public benefit corporation that supports WordPress events. It is financially separate from the WordPress Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization.
WordCamp Sydney lead organizer Wil Brown said WP Engine had paid $5,000 AUD to be a Platinum sponsor. While organizers had considered options to cover the shortfall — with WCS yesterday offering to reimburse the amount — Brown said the more difficult task was telling WP Engine employees Ricky Blacker and Kimberly Pater, who were scheduled to speak, and organizer Sam Toohey, that they could no longer be involved.
“WP Engine has been a long-time supporter of the Australian WordPress community, financially and otherwise, maybe five or six years,” Brown said. “Most of their Aussie employees are known and friends with the local communities. This ban affects Aussie WordCamps and WordPress chapter meetups financially, and many WP Engine employees help organize these events. It’s very stressful.”
WordCamp Sydney, scheduled for November 2-3, will be the first Australian WordCamp since 2019. Blacker, WP Engine’s Technical Services Director for the APAC region, had been scheduled to present on website accessibility. He’s well-known in the Australian WordPress community as a co-organizer of the Brisbane and Sunshine Coast WordPress Meetups and WordCamps, and recently helped organize WordPress Accessibility Day 2024. Pater, a Technical Account Manager, was set to speak on migrating legacy CMS to WordPress.
Blacker and Pater’s talks were removed from the WordCamp Sydney schedule today following WCS’s removal of WP Engine’s logo from the sponsor page a few days ago.
Organizers, who are juggling day jobs, are now working to update the event website following the addition of a contentious checkbox on WordPress.org. When logging in, the checkbox requires users to confirm they are not affiliated with WP Engine.
Brown said he had initially urged organizers not to log in until there was clarity on the intent behind the checkbox and whether checking it was legally binding, given WP Engine was an event sponsor.
“Matt made it clear he won’t explain his reasoning, intent, or whether this is a legally binding part of the website’s terms and conditions. I don’t know why. He seems to be vocal about everything else,” said Brown, who has since told organizers to make their own call on whether to log in. “I logged in yesterday because I can’t run the event otherwise. If there are legal/personal consequences, I’ll deal with them then,” he said.
Whether WP Engine employees who bought tickets before the checkbox was added to WordPress.org can still attend is uncertain.
“WCS doesn’t have an answer. Read into that what you may,” Brown said. “I’m assuming they can attend because of the official wording. But [WP Engine employee who want to buy a ticket] will have to decide to tick the new mandatory login checkbox. I can’t issue tickets from the WordCamp admin dashboard.”
Brown said organizers were committed to delivering the best WordCamp for the Australian community despite the upheaval.
“Drama aside, that’s all we ever wanted,” he said. “WordCamp Sydney has a wonderful line-up of top-notch speakers, covering a broad range of WordPress topics. It’s also the biggest post-pandemic WordPress community networking event in Australia! Networking is a key skill for business and growth.”
“The $70 dollarbucks ticket is the best value tech conference in Australia with two full days two-track sessions, morning and afternoon tea, lunch and an Saturday evening networking social event. There may be highly sought-after Sydney Wapuu lapel pins too!”
Image credit: Caleb on Unsplash.
Update: An earlier version of the article included an embedded X post from WordCamp Sydney stating that WP Engine’s logo had been removed from the event’s website without the permission of organizers. The post has since been deleted from X.
