BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1658@siliconbrighton.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260113T183000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260113T203000 DTSTAMP:20260106T104335Z URL:https://siliconbrighton.com/events/wordup-brighton-aspirepress-fair-an d-uk-wordcamps/ SUMMARY:WordUp Brighton - AspirePress\, FAIR and UK WordCamps DESCRIPTION:We’re starting the year with two talks that remind us why Wor dPress is more than just software\, it’s a community\, an ecosystem\, an d something worth looking after.\n\nWhether you’re planning to get more involved in WordPress in 2026 or just looking for a solid January excuse t o leave the house\, this is a chance to learn something new\, meet some fr iendly faces\, and ease yourself into the year.\n\nWordCamps in the UK\, w hat’s next?\nWe’re pleased to welcome back our first speaker\, Austin Meakin\, a Technical Product Manager at Amnesty International with over 1 6 years’ experience delivering digital products. Austin has led the deli very of a unified open-source WordPress platform supporting more than 28 i nternational sites\, and has been actively involved in the WordPress commu nity through meetups and conferences.\n\nIn this talk\, Austin shares his journey through WordPress events\, from speaking at meetups to helping org anise a WordCamp Europe side event\, and how those experiences shaped his understanding of community\, governance\, and what it takes to run sustain able events.\n\nHe’ll finish by outlining plans to form a UK-wide advis ory group of volunteers\, with the goal of bringing a WordPress event to a new location in the UK or British Isles every year\, and how others can g et involved in making that happen.\n\nAspirePress &\; FAIR: Securing th e Supply Chain\nOur second speaker is Matt Leach\, a technology leader sp ecialising in AI\, cyber security\, and large-scale digital infrastructure .\n\nMatt is Head of Digital at Salad Creative\, where he has supported Te am England’s digital ecosystem since 2018\, including leading delivery o f the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games pre-Games platform. He continues to oversee Team England’s digital services in the run-up to Glasgow 2026 . Alongside this\, he is founder of OtherHalf Digital and Co-Founder &\ ; Head of Product at Policy Shift.\n\nWithin the WordPress ecosystem\, Mat t is on of the Product Leads for AspirePress\, sits on the project manage ment team and helped to guide the project from concept through beta releas e &\; public announcement at WordCampEU weekend\, and continues to have a eye on the transition into stewardship under the Linux Foundation’s  FAIR Package Manager initiative.\n\nIn this talk\, Matt will cover the wo rk being done by the AspirePress team in collaboration with FAIR\, why sof tware supply-chain resilience matters for WordPress\, and how these effort s help reduce single points of failure across the ecosystem\, ensuring the long-term security and sustainability of WordPress.\n\nWant to get involv ed? Everyone is welcome - speakers\, helpers\, idea merchants: ping us on the form here: https://wordupbrighton.uk/\n\nHere’s what the evening l ooks like:\n\nSchedule\n\n\n 6:30 PM - Doors Open - Pizza\, Refreshments and Networking\n 7:00 PM - Welcome! &\; Community Announcements\n 7:1 5 PM - Austin Meakin: “WordCamps in the UK\, what’s next?”\n 7:45 P M - Short Break &\; Networking\n 8:00 PM - Matt Leach: “AspirePress &\; FAIR: Securing the Supply Chain”\n 8:30 PM - Wrap-up and Social\ n\nAfter we finish\, we’ll be heading to The Walrus pub for more conve rsation\, come along and join us! ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://siliconbrighton.com/wp-content/uploads/2 026/01/meetup-groups-images-1-1.png CATEGORIES:Silicon Brighton Event,WordUp Brighton LOCATION:Freedom Works\, 8-14 Black Lion St\, Brighton and Hove\, Brighton\ , BN1 1JE\, United Kingdom GEO:50.82071;-0.141347 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=8-14 Black Lion St\, Bright on and Hove\, Brighton\, BN1 1JE\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TIT LE=Freedom Works:geo:50.82071,-0.141347 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251026T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR