Slane Castle the venue for next CoderDojo mentor conference: Rock ‘n’ Code

1 Mar 2013

CoderDojo co-founder James Whelton with Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharles at the iconic rock venue in Co Meath

Usually the venue for rock concerts, Slane Castle will be the venue for the next DojoCon on 12 April. Now in its second year, the conference aims to help mentors share know-how as the CoderDojo movement to teach kids how to code continues to be a global phenomenon.

After starting in Cork almost two years ago, CoderDojo has grown to more than 16,000 kids learning how to code in 180 dojos in 23 countries.

CoderDojo Los Angeles’ Una Fox, who is also a Disney executive, will chair this year’s conference. It will feature keynotes from Jerry Kennelly, the Kerry entrepreneur who sold his business Stockbyte to Getty Images for US$135m, and entrepreneur and investor Bill Liao, who will speak about inspiring a new generation of coders.

The conference will feature more than 12 formal and 10 informal sessions focused on education, technology and running a dojo.

Volunteers from CoderDojo Drogheda, Dundalk and Navan, and the Science Gallery in Dublin, are organising the event.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com