Inviting Women and People of Color

I'm giving a $200 per person subsidy for four people to attend Clojure/West. I am giving the subsidy to women and people of color.

Why?

@aphyr said is best:

@aartiparikh because there are too many straight white dudes at confs, and if we shift that balance a little it won't feel as isolating.

And my reasons.

Do you qualify?

If you feel like you'd be out of place because there aren't enough people like you to hang out with at a tech conference, then, yes.

How does it work?

Email me at feeder.of.the.bears at gmail or Carin Meier at carinmeier at gmail and ask. And Carin is helping out with logistics and additional subsidies because maybe emailing a straight white dude for money may be too intimidating and I want the barriers to be as low as possible. Thanks Carin!

We will either mail you a check or hand one to you at Clojure/West.

Also, Kyle is independently subsidizing.

Really?

Yes.

"I don't want to take a slot from someone else..."

Don't worry. I am subsidizing 4 people. Carin is subsidizing. Kyle is subsidizing. And we've gotten offers of additional cash from other people.

Money/slots is not the issue here. The only issue is you coming to Clojure/West and making it a more interesting conference.

Shouldn't you turn this into a Thing?

Yeah, maybe. But right now, if Kyle, Carin, and I get an extra 8+ people to Clojure/West who might not otherwise have gone and the balance at the conference makes those people feel more comfortable, then we will have succeeded and we can go on to succeed again.