As the lead organiser representing the WordPress Udupi Community, I had the incredible opportunity to bring WordPress Campus Connect to college campuses across Coastal Karnataka.
What began as a small idea soon became a mission – to introduce WordPress, open source, and digital opportunities to the next generation of creators.

Across all our sessions, we interacted with over 300+ students from four institutions:

• S.G.S. College, Bhatkal – 50 students
• Bhandarkar’s College, Kundapura – 120 students
• Dr. B. B. Hegde College, Kundapura – 65 students
• IMJ Institute of Science & Commerce, Moodlakatte – 70 students

Each campus had its own energy and challenges. Most students were in their final year, just months away from entering the professional world, yet many still lacked basic digital readiness. Some didn’t have LinkedIn profiles but had multiple Instagram accounts. Others were hesitant to speak on the mic, and a few genuinely didn’t know what to enter in the PIN code field while creating a WordPress.com account. Out of 300+ students, more than 250 had forgotten their Gmail passwords, so each session began with a mini Gmail recovery workshop before we even reached WordPress!

At first, it was challenging. But soon our team switched gears, we weren’t just there as WordPress community members; we became mentors. We realised this wasn’t only about teaching WordPress; it was about building digital literacy. If not us, then who would help them take their first confident step into the web world?

By the end, we witnessed real transformation, shy students asking questions, first-time creators proudly launching their sites, and a spark of curiosity lighting up across classrooms.

We’re grateful to all the colleges, their management, and faculty for the warm welcome, and to every student who showed curiosity and enthusiasm once they got started.

Organising Team

Organisers: Shashikanth Shetty, Keerthi Prabhu & V Gautham Navada
Facilitators: Omkar Udupa, Manjunath M M, Chandana G M
Social Media Designs & Reels: Ranjitha GC

Sponsors

Global Sponsors: Automattic, Bluehost, Hosting.com, Kinsta, WooCommerce
Local Sponsors: SabWeb, ForthFocus, Yuktha Digital, Koti Soft Solutions

A heartfelt thanks to WordPress.com for sponsoring free one-year website plans for students from our last two campuses, an initiative that has already helped many of them start blogging and showcasing their work online.

Student Testimonials

College Testimonial

Media Coverage

We were also featured in several local and regional media outlets that recognized the impact of the initiative. You can read the articles and see coverage highlights below:

• UdupiTimes: ವರ್ಡ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್ ಕ್ಯಾಂಪಸ್ ಕನೆಕ್ಟ್ ಉಡುಪಿ: ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಡಿಜಿಟಲ್ ಪ್ರೇರಣೆ
• Kundapraa.com: ಕುಂದಾಪುರ: ವರ್ಡ್‌ಪ್ರೆಸ್ ಕ್ಯಾಂಪಸ್ ಕನೆಕ್ಟ್: 120 ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಾಯೋಗಿಕ ತರಬೇತಿ
• NewsNext: WordPress Campus Connect Udupi Empowers 65 Students at Dr. B.B. Hegde College, Kundapura
• Tulunada Dhwani: ಮೂಡ್ಲಕಟ್ಟೆದ ಐಎಂಜೆ ಕಾಲೇಜಿಡ್ ವರ್ಡ್ ಪ್ರೆಸ್ ಕ್ಯಾಂಪ್..

For the WordPress Udupi Community, this journey was much more than a series of campus sessions. It was a reminder that true change starts with awareness and sometimes, the first step toward digital empowerment is simply helping someone log in.

To any student or job seeker reading this:
Don’t wait for the syllabus to teach you what the world already expects you to know. Curiosity is your real qualification!

WordPress Campus Connect Udupi 2025 turned out to be more than an event, it became a movement, proving that communities like ours can make a real-world impact, one campus at a time.