CampSmalltalk: Promoting Smalltalk in Schools

Our community needs to be more active at Promoting Smalltalk in Universities.

The goals are:

Diversity (Make the world safe for "different" languages. Let languages be appreciated for technical beauty, not marketing might.)
Mindshare (Make the world safe for Smalltalk. Find a safe haven for our "Scene")

Suggestions for action

I suggest that we form a small corp of people to go out and actively promote Smalltalk at Universities near where we live. This is precisely what is meant by Guerilla Marketing. As always, I will put my money where my mouth is and do this myself.

We can promote Smalltalk by:

Giving talks at local Object Technology Users Groups
ACM
Talking to Faculty that you know
Teaching Smalltalk courses (not necessarily for a university)

I would also like to hear about what people are already doing in this vein.

Peter Kwangjun Suk

Since we are using Smalltalk for our trading systems, The Zagreb Stock Exchange has sponsored Smalltalk course at the local university, dept of mathematics. That way, it is much more probable that we will find some talent if need arises.

Davorin Rusevljan

I've taught Smalltalk to a group of interested students in a technical school in Mexico City. They act as promoters now that they have seen the power of smalltalk.

CarlosPC

Hello Peter, long time!

Thanks for the tips. I agree, it is going to take some serious, serious efforts. Problem, you love ST, I know I have seen it in your eyes. Others have to feed families, and don't have the time you may have or want... If we all can and do find a way to make money from it, that is what folks want, not just cool tools, or cool toys, but money. Show them how to make a buck, or two or a few million. To do so, also means show folks where and how it is being used. Kiosk and Million dollar trading systems are not most people see as being a way they can make money with ST. Show them the technology, and how they can build a web page, leverage the tech to sell stuff, and really, really make it basic and easy. On great thing about ST is of course the Classes, the built in functionality and the ability to access it. And as you also know, this is the LARGEST problem it has also, it is overhelming. To sell a ST system as something accessable, I believe that one like Little Smalltalk has to be developed, CORE functionality NOT accessable at first to the user, then peal away barriers as they feel comfortable. Kinda like what HyperCard had with 'userlevel 1..5', allowing different functionality that was well defined, yet was user settable. Just IMHO. I really do want, wish and desire ST to come back to life.