We are the Same and Different

Explaining what FreshBrain is all about is sometimes simple and other times hard. Might be bacause I am an engineer at my core and want to explain it all in great detail. Or it might be based on the background and experience of the individual(s) that I am explaining it to.

An article in the San Jose Mercury News might make it more clear. So here goes.

The article is "Summer camps offer kids fun, games, programming." This talks about what appear to be excellent camps run by iD Tech Computer Camps. These camps are held at universities across the US (and in Spain). In these camps kids age 7 - 17 mix fun activities that are location dependent (surfing in Santa Cruz) with providing them the opportunity to do very cool things with technology.

In many ways, this is what we are doing. But it is focused on the right hand side of the normal distribution of kids. That is, those kids that have the money to pay for a camp, recognize the importance of this kind of additional learning, and/or have parents who are involved in one of these industries.
It really doesn't hit the larger number of kids that are in the middle of that same normal distribution. That is where we come in!! We will provide an opportunity for any high school age student to investigate, engage, participate and create. At no cost. With advisors and a large community to support them (better than the 6:1 ratio iD Tech Computer Camps provides). On the latest technology platform. And when they are done, they will end up with a certificate of completion and potentially letters of recommendation as well as scholarships.

We are not like iD Tech Computer Camps, Cybercamps, Bay Area Video Coalition, or any of the other hands-on nonprofits or companies in the technology space. What they do is truly excellent and needed - I hope they grow and prosper. What I want to do is partner with all of them!!

It is not about competition for us. It is about the kids.