Our Vision

What if Clojure became the most beginner-friendly language on the planet?

Clojure Camp aims to be the “Clojure Welcoming Committee,” the definitive starting point for junior developers who want to learn Clojure. We will help these learners by guiding them to resources that can help them become proficient at Clojure and build relationships in the community, from friendships to collaborations to even employment.

Camps can’t function without organizers and teachers. Clojure Camp aims to be a resource for mentors and teachers in the community by:

• Providing a distribution channel for the learning resources they create
• Providing tools for pairing learners with mentors
• Hosting events to socialize, give each other moral support, and help each other get unstuck
• Developing and sharing resources for effective execution of learning projects

We believe that learning Clojure is a great long-term investment because it helps people learn a better way of approaching programming, and because it brings creative satisfaction. We want to make it accessible to more people.

We believe thathowwe operate is just as important as what we do. We aim to create a positive, beginner-friendly, inclusive environment for learners and leaders alike. We want all who get involved with Clojure Camp to leave with a sense of having been appreciated, respected, and supported.

In particular, we want to unambiguously communicate that people from marginalized groups can participate in a safe environment, where they’ll be welcomed and won’t face harassment, discrimination, or other forms of exclusion. We want to be diligent about creating an environment that delivers on that promise.

Helping new Clojure Developers

Our thesis is that we can help new Clojure developers by owning the market category of “learning and support for junior developers interested in Clojure.” To own a market category is to become the unambiguous choice for meeting a need. By owning this category, we can eliminate the confusion and analysis paralysis newcomers experience when embarking on their Clojure journey

To get there, we will:

• Provide a p2p study matchmaking service
• Develop our own materials and events
• Host a series of zoom meetups for beginners to answer questions around a given topic (like project organization, REPL usage, functional programming, etc)
• Provide pointers to curated, opinionated learning materials from the broader Clojure community that present clear paths to proficiency
• Guide developers to community hubs (Slack, ClojureVerse) and employment opportunitities
• Cultivate community spaces that support sharing wins, asking for help, and general camaraderie and good vibes. Doinga great job of creating an environment where devs feel safety and support ast hey grow will help set the Clojure ecosystem apart.

Helping Organizers and Mentors

Clojure is one of the most beloved programming languages on the planet. There are many members of our community who love to help others learn, and we want to help them be as successful as possible in their teaching and mentoring projects. Such projects might include Clojure tutorials or virtual meetups.

We want to support each other by providing a venue where we can:

• Connect and socialize. Going alone = burnout!
• Share project updates
• Provide feedback and brainstorming sessions and otherwise help each other get unstuck
• Host knowledge sharing sessions. E.g., what are effective ways to teach recursion?

Clojure Camp will also help to curate and present these teaching projects so that they can find an audience.