#WPLDN - October 2025: WP Halloween Horror Stories & AI Open Topics

🎃 Happy (almost) Halloween, #WPLDN! 🎃

October brings our annual tradition: Tim Nash returns to spread WordPress horror stories just in time for Halloween. But this year, we're also introducing something brand new - Open Topics, our democratic discussion format where YOU set the agenda. Get ready for an evening of cautionary tales, robust debate, and plenty of post-event socialising to recover from both!

📅 Date: Thursday, 30 October 2025
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ⬅ EARLIER TIME
🎟️ Cost: Free (Registration Required)

Session One: Well, that's awkward

🎤 Speaker: Tim Nash timnash.co.uk | wpsecurity101.com
Part consultant, part chaos-preventer, and full-time bringer of doom (in a good way), Tim's mission is simple: make WordPress safer one mildly panicked developer at a time.
For the last few years, Tim has been coming to #WPLDN to spread discord and woe during the Halloween period, and this month is no different. He returns with tales from the dark side of WordPress and what happens when things go truly wrong with your projects and sites. Listen in horror as you realise this could happen to you, and discuss how to plan for the worst.
Warning: May contain graphic descriptions of database disasters, plugin conflicts, and security nightmares. Not suitable for the faint of heart (or those deploying on Friday afternoons). 👻

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Session Two: Open Topics - AI in WordPress Development

🗳️ Format: Participant-Led Discussion
We're introducing Open Topics - a new democratic discussion format where you vote on what matters most, then we dive deep together.
This month's focus: AI in WordPress Development - the practical, ethical, and safety questions we're all navigating.

How Open Topics Work

You set the agenda: Vote on the AI topics you most want to discuss (we'll provide prompts covering practical use, ethics, safety, and more)
Small huddles, big ideas: Break into groups of 6-8 to discuss the same topic, then hear how different groups approached the same question
Whole-room discussion: Connect the dots, surface disagreements, and explore where the community stands on contentious issues

What We'll Discuss

Expect robust debate on questions like:
- Where do you draw the line with AI coding assistants?
- Must you disclose AI use to clients?
- How do you validate AI-generated code?
- What's the impact on junior developers?
- AI and accessibility: helper or shortcut?
- Pricing in an AI world: what do you charge?
- AI hallucinations: prevention and war stories
This format thrives on diverse viewpoints - whether you're enthusiastically using AI daily, deeply sceptical, or still figuring out where you stand, your perspective matters. There are no wrong answers, just honest conversations about the opportunities and tensions AI brings to our work.

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Schedule
🔹 6:00 PM – Doors Open, Networking & Topic Voting
🔹 6:30 PM – Welcome & Session 1: Tim Nash - "Well, that's awkward"
🔹 7:30 PM – Short Break
🔹 7:40 PM – Session 2: Open Topics - AI in WordPress Development
🔹 8:30 PM – Networking & Social

Post-event: Join us at the local bar to continue discussions, swap your own horror stories, and debate AI ethics over a drink!

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About Open Topics
This format aligns with our open-source values: democratic, transparent, and community-driven. Everyone contributes, everyone learns, and we figure things out together. It's a format we can use again for any topic where the community needs to hash things out collectively.

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Venue Information
The Bridge is a charity supporting women to make positive choices and encouraging improvements to fitness, health, and wellbeing. The venue features a plant-based café (supplied by Girls Who Grind Coffee) and is just a 5-minute walk from London Bridge Station.

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📢 RSVP Now!
Secure your free spot for an evening of WordPress horror stories (the educational kind), democratic AI discussions, and brilliant community conversation. Whether you're here for the Halloween tales, the AI debate, or just the excellent company, we can't wait to see you! 🎉
Remember: This event may be audio/photo/video-recorded. All official recordings are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence.

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Massive thanks to our sponsors who make these free events possible:
DreamHost, Klaviyo, Mollie, hosting.com, 20i, and Kinsta

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If you're interested in being a featured speaker at an upcoming event, we'd love to hear from you at https://wpldn.uk/speak.

🎥 - Media Release Terms

By attending, you understand and accept that portions of the event may have audio/photo/video-recorded and/or live-streamed and may be used by the organisers. You agree that the organisers have the right and permission to use and publish such media for any purpose in any format, including online and offline, now and ever after, without further compensation, permission, or notification. You understand that all official recordings from the event are the exclusive property of the organisers, available under the Creative Commons Attribution­ShareAlike license for general use, and you do not ask for nor expect compensation or notification of the use of official recordings or photographs in which you appear or speak. Please inform an organisational team member at the event's start if you do not wish to appear in photos or videos.