A-Camp (Camp Autostraddle)

File A-Camp under the creator economy's strangest and most wholesome product: the fan sleepaway camp. It is run by Riese Bernard / Autostraddle, leading queer women's media site; camp co-directed by Marni Kellison and Kristin Russo. The format is a longer, multi-night immersion in California, and the draw is less the archery than the chance to spend real time inside a community that normally only exists in a comment section.

Autostraddle, the internet's biggest indie queer women's publication, ran this beloved mountain sleepaway camp for its readership from 2012 to 2019, bringing 300+ queer women, non-binary folks, and trans campers together for workshops, panels, crafts, and performances. Staffed largely by the site's own writers and editors, it became a defining IRL extension of an online community. It has been on hiatus since the 2019 session.

The experience

Practical picture: the format is 5-day sleepaway, ~300 campers. Plan for a real time commitment. This runs longer than a weekend, which is exactly why alumni describe it as transformative rather than merely fun. Campers are adults only, so expect the particular energy of grown-ups given permission to play without an audience of children.

Cost

When it last ran, pricing was $795-1,695 USD (2019). That is squarely in the mainstream band for adult camp: most all-inclusive weekend sleepaways in North America charge somewhere between $400 and $1,000. Confirm what the price actually covers. Camps in this dataset differ on whether lodging, meals, and transport are bundled, and that swings the true cost more than the ticket price does.

Where and when

The venue is in Ojai / Angelus Oaks, California. On timing, the operator's own line is the one to trust: Ran 2012-2019 (A-Camp XI: June 5-10, 2019); on extended break since.