Friday Harbor Labs, WA | River Bend Farm, ME | Walker Creek Ranch, CA
Hey, what’s up, it’s Aaron, Laura, and Joe, and this is the website for Chumstock, our 4-day bash for founders, funders, researchers, and operators working on climate. 2 years ago, Aaron accepted a dare and put up his MBA as collateral to rent out UW’s Oceanography Facilities on San Juan Island for a long weekend. Now we’re gearing up to host Chumstock in 3 states next year, and we really hope you’re able to make it.
Chumstock is adult summer camp (that sometimes happens in the winter) for people who daydream about doing good, from building better batteries to funding emerging climate solutions. It’s a highly-social unconference, which means that it is built for people who a) care about the climate, b) think it’s fun to start stuff, and c) wish that conferences were actually just about making real connections, not vying to be a “thought leader” or whatever. There won’t be any powerpoints or panels, just dinner salons and outdoor activities and crafts and at least one massive dance party.
We’ve set this up to be a curated mix of early & mid-career climate & sustainability doers: people founding, funding, operating, and servicing climate orgs, plus researchers in the space. Once you’ve attended Chumstock, you’re automatically (and perpetually) on the invite list. New Chum will be invited with an eye to balancing out the group: we’re passionate about even gender ratios, different professional interests, and making sure there aren’t so many founders that this turns into a weird pitchfest.
Importantly, partners are invited to Chumstock too, regardless of the climate-ey-ness of their job. Anyone who really cares about climate entrepreneurship should have the chance to make nerd friends alongside their person. And anecdotally, the 10-ish percent of attendees the past few years who were “non-climate” +1s were actually incredible additions to the party. Everyone has nametags shaped like fish, no one has a nametag with their company or job title; everyone is worth everyone’s time here.
Chumstock Maine Recap Video.mov
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV9RxMnAWp7/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=56bf2c86-dd56-4768-923b-2c813051684c
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF_UtnqSyCe/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=8735e67d-5cf3-4523-981e-50dd624ac166
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF84PYJyafX/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=6ef35dd4-06c8-4900-91b2-6df596ee42f8
January 22-24, 2027
An hour north of SF and just over the hill from Tomales Bay; features a building named “The Boogie Barn,” some goats, and a swim pond. Our first Chumstock location that allows camping!
Late February, 2027
A ferry ride north of a 2 hour drive from Seattle, Friday Harbor is where it all began, and why this is so gratuitously fish-themed. Lots of rowboats, research labs, and coastal hiking trails.
Late August, 2027
A train ride north of Boston, River Bend Farm is home to fresh veggies, swimming holes, and incredible architecture (inc. a famously comprehensive costume closet). Fun fact: Aaron used to work there!
How much of a conference is this and how much of a party is this? It’s both and neither, so we think it’s helpful to set some boundaries and expectations. The point of this weekend is to forge new friendships between people who are excited to contribute to climate solutions by creating new companies and organizations. We’ll be catalyzing these friendships via recombination in shared opt-in activities, from tidepooling to field sports.
Our core expectation of our guests is that they’ll be a) enthusiastic about meeting new people and b) treat each other as future collaborators, coworkers, and professional connections. In other words, make friends by being silly, but not so silly that it would be weird/something-Phoebe-Waller-Bridge-would-write if you ran into them in your future workplace.
Like many conferences, alcohol will be available, but it’s worth saying that this isn’t a very hard-partying event. Anecdotally from the past few years, we can report that most people had a drink or two with dinner and maybe another afterwards. At game night for two years in a row, people have guzzled herbal teas with abandon. And at bonfires, people have seemed to be much more interested in hanging out than burning it down. Really, the substance of this weekend is enthusiastic small group conversations and going on field trips and breaking bread and dancing.