CoderDojo's James Whelton talks to Startacus
by Startacus Admin
James Whelton started hacking and coding at just 9 years old. Then just a few years later he co-founded CoderDojo, a free coding club for young people in his native Cork. CoderDojo has now become a 
global movement with over 16,000 young people learning how to code in 23 countries worldwide. Pretty impressive! With the 2nd Annual CoderDojo Mentor Conference happening this weekend in Slane Castle, we were delighted when James took a few minutes out ahead of all the prep to give us a lowdown on the phenomenon that is CoderDojo.
So James, why has Slane Castle – famously associated with pumping rock concerts – been chosen as the site for your global mentors meet up?
Slane Castle in my eyes is a legendary venue and has had an incredible bunch of characters come and go in years past. It is also a beautiful location and there’s an air of excitement when you visit the place, much more so than a hotel conference room or something. Slane to many is a pretty cool location and CoderDojo aims to make coding cool and fun, so it also seemed like a fitting match. The conference team did an outstanding job getting the venue, which the use of for the day has been kindly donated by Lord Henry, who recognises CoderDojo as an altruistic volunteer movement that he is happy to support. Also we'll have a guitar there on the day so mentors can play a few chords and say they "played Slane Castle".
In the last few years, more and more businesses have emerged offering a similar style of teaching in coding. Do you consider them competition, and what attributes do you think Coderdojo has, that will keep it ahead of the market?
I don't really consider business competition, we each have our roles and place in technology education, particularly when they can develop great free tools and platforms, such as Codecademy that can be leveraged in Dojo sessions. I've met with a few education start ups (like Codecademy), they all have a great vision and generally are working on some cool things! I think as CoderDojo is physical location based, that’s a strong attribute, fostering real world social interaction and building local community, which can translate into a stronger Dojo, more people involved in the movement and a stronger movement as a result. A strong community, with core values on a open source movement with willing to iterate and try new things will be the attribute that keeps CoderDojo ahead of the market.
What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given?
Perhaps NSFW, but Eamon Leonard told me just before my first overseas talk at JSConf to "Never be a d**k. It stuck with me, in that treat everyone with respect, be responsible, realise when you're wrong, make amends, try and make everyone win and be fair. I know it’s a fairly obvious piece of advice, but I always keep it in my mind. By trying to be an easy going, chilled, level headed person it has served me well in business, with how I interact and operate.
How does an, initially, one would assume, small organisation like Coderdojo secure partnerships with entrepreneurial giants like Intel and The Science Gallery?
A strong message and vision, layered with real world proof. By going to Science Gallery and Intel and saying this is who we are, this is what we do, this is our future and here are some of the stories and metrics from our past, they saw the vision and came onboard. We were honest and straight up and by finding a champion in each organisation who would support our cause internally this always strengthened our case.
Coding seems to be an increasingly popular buzz word for children. Why do you think that is?
A few things, it’s becoming cooler, primarily by the rockstar image portrayed by the tech world, young people striking it big, the fame and all sorts of other factors, more stories of young people doing well, it’s in the news more. It’s becoming fashionable and with that, coding is becoming more accessible, it’s now being discussed as a real learnable thing, not some cryptic language or trade secret, but what hooks them is the real buzz of coding, being able to create something, put it online and show the world, it’s empowering. Furthermore when they show friends, parents, relations, whoever, the message spreads, that anyone can code, make something from a few lines and be proud of it.
Which guest speaker are you most excited to hear at Slane?
Kimberly Bryant from Black Girls Code will be great and it'll be fantastic to hear about what other organisations are doing too and how we can learn from there. Jerry Kennelly will be awesome too, he’s a guy with great drive and ambition and doesn't mess around!
So there you have it. The lowdown on CoderDojo from James Whelton, “Web'preneur',Hacker & Social Media Connoisseur “ and as he proclaims himself “Not another victim of conformity.”
We need more inspirational people like this, wouldn’t you agree...and on that note check out our article on Rails Girls - the movement and meetup to encourage more female coders!
If you like what you see here on Startacus and want to get involved yourself, why not become a member of our growing community by joining for free here!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Stashbee, the online sharing-economy platform for storage space, has announced a £1.6m funding round on leading European investment platform Seedrs.
The lowdown on Talentful, the startup that's using your cultural fit and personality to match you to a job and employer...
Hot flushes affect around 1.5 million women in the UK alone. Step forward Grace, the world's first automated tracking and cooling bracelet that counters menopausal hot flushes
The innovative startup that empowers restaurant managers and owners to measure and improve their customer experience.
upSTART, the startup pitch competition at Digital DNA 2019 will see over 20 disruptive NI-based startups pitch to determine who will win an all-expenses paid trip to explore the New York tech scene.
If you've not quite scraped the pounds together to get your 1st startup idea off the ground yet, don't fret! Here's a few top funding tips to consider.
If you are running a business, it’s important for you to understand financial matters, too, Here's some handy accounting reminders!
Holland-based startup Active Cues has created a simple product to engage children and adults with cognitive challenges...
The startup that's empowering people to participate in their health and wellbeing decisions with easy-to-understand health insights.
The startup that's aiming to reduce loneliness and social isolation through warm technology...
Published on: 10th April 2013
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Stashbee announces £1.6m funding round on Seedrs 17th Jun 2019 Stashbee, the online sharing-economy platform for storage space, has announced a £1.6m funding round on leading European investment platform Seedrs.
- The upSTART finalists at Digital DNA 2019 13th Jun 2019 upSTART, the startup pitch competition at Digital DNA 2019 will see over 20 disruptive NI-based startups pitch to determine who will win an all-expenses paid trip to explore the New York tech scene.
- Lloyd's Lab announces third round of applications 3rd Jun 2019 From data sharing to next generation claims, insurance industry focused tech startups are currently being sought after to join Lloyd's Lab cohort 3.
- Startup Exhibitor package at Digital DNA 2019 28th May 2019 New startup exhibitor package at Digital DNA 2019 gives startups access to 150 Speakers, an estimated 3,000 attendees, 121 investor meetings, a startup pod to exhibit and 4 x 1 full-access exhibition tickets!
