Free Joymaker Curriculum

The Fundamentals of Joymaking

A behind-the-scenes look at the Joymaker Camp curriculum, with the most powerful skills and habits from our three-step framework, so you can bring humans to life whether you come to camp or not.

If you apply what you find here, you'll feel more energized, more confident, and more connected in daily life. Joymakers around the world already use these tools. First comes the core mindset: how Joymakers think differently. Then the three-step joy protocol that equips leaders to ignite joy in any social setting.

The Joymaker Movement

I'm Jacques, also known as The Party Scientist. My mission is simple: give people the tools to make others smile, play, and connect in real life, because joy is an antidepressant.

This is much bigger than camp. We're building a new category of philanthropy called Joymaking. Imagine landing in a new city where you don't know anyone. Within hours, you've found your Joymaker crew. Instead of grabbing drinks or making small talk, you go elevate mental health in the world: you bring joy to a park, a school, or a retirement home. You help people come alive.

Why I started

I studied pharmacology in a high-pressure program, planning to follow my dad into disease prevention. My path changed when I became a festival medic. I witnessed violence, substance abuse, and disconnection. One night we found someone lying face down, completely still, while people nearby kept playing drinking games. No one cared.

That lit a fire in me to create spaces for healthy partying. I started organizing sober raves and eventually led hundreds of them across 20 cities. Those parties turned me into a Joymaker.

What Joymaking Means

Joy itself is a performance-enhancement drug you can give yourself. It makes you more creative, more collaborative, and more socially intelligent, and it improves your body and brain health.

The Joymaker Mindset

In the default world, we're conditioned to distrust strangers and fear social mistakes. At camp, we delete that "scarcity software." Mindset matters as much as the behavioral tools: once you install these beliefs, you stop following default social scripts and shift from social autopilot to connection creator. You become more expressive, more alive, more magnetic.

As a Joymaker, you believe:

• Joy is trainable.
• The more joy you give, the more you get.
• Every human has joy and wisdom hidden inside.
• Human connection is a limitless source of healthy joy.

Hoptimist and Experimenter Mindsets

The Hoptimist

A Hoptimist believes every person is a potential source of energy, insight, and joy. Through this lens you become more open, patient, and curious. You stop writing people off and start bringing out the best in them.

The Experimenter

An Experimenter shifts focus from outcomes to actions. Instead of asking "Did that go well?" you ask "Did I take the brave action?" If something feels awkward or doesn't land, it's useful data: "I showed up. I took the risk. Now I know more."

Together, these mindsets lead to more social risk-taking, which is how you elevate social dynamics.

Reinforce it through self-reflection

Train yourself to notice the good in people by journaling about it, and tell yourself empowering stories about your imperfections and setbacks. My own practice is a daily 20-minute walk: I record voice notes reviewing the previous day, look for moments of courage, highlight what worked, name the goodness I saw in others, and celebrate mistakes as better data.

The Three Fundamental Joymaking Skills

At camp, the joy protocol unfolds over three days, each building one skill:

1. Self / Personal Joy: giving yourself joy.
2. Interpersonal Joy: leading conversations people enjoy and remember.
3. Communal Joy: creating spaces where people feel alive and connected.

Day 1: Self / Personal Joy

The default world traps people in self-destructive cycles of scrolling, binging, and sitting, and the result is exhaustion. Day 1 is about shattering that fatigue and building vitality so strong that joy becomes your baseline, not a lucky accident. You become an uplifting presence people want to be around.

Start with your evening wind-down

If you install only one habit, make it a consistent night routine. It sets up tomorrow's energy, and sleep is a performance-enhancement drug too.

Master friction

Friction is the effort and time an action requires.

• Reduce friction for what fuels you: keep healthy food easy to reach, make movement so small it feels effortless, and schedule recurring time with people who uplift you, your Positive Peer Pod.
• Increase friction for what drains you: limit fear-based or low-quality media, turn off unnecessary notifications, and move distracting apps out of easy reach.

Day 2: Interpersonal Joy

The default world is a sea of polite small talk where everyone waits for someone else to be brave first. Day 2 breaks that pattern with one core principle: celebrate social risk. When someone speaks honestly, tries something new, or expresses themselves, consciously celebrate it. People feel safer around you, and relationships move beyond autopilot.

The Three A's: Attention, Appreciation, and Affection

• Attention: give them your full presence.
• Appreciation: offer specific, genuine compliments.
• Affection: use appropriate physical touch, like high-fives or a hand on the shoulder, to reinforce connection.

Go first

The most effective Joymakers don't just reward risk, they model it. They share something personal, bring energy, and step slightly outside the norm. Then they reinforce it with an empowering narrative: "I took the brave action. I lived my values. I'm building evidence."

Focus on the action, not how others responded. Otherwise your brain defaults to the one person who didn't like it instead of the many who did. Rewarding action over outcomes is how you build consistency.

Day 3: Communal Joy

Most groups never truly connect because they're stuck on social autopilot, waiting for a leader who never shows up. On Day 3 you step out of the crowd and learn to lead Vitalizers, a facilitation skill that turns a room of guarded individuals into a connected community.

Vitalizers and the Participation Ladder

Vitalizers are structured social activities designed to interrupt social autopilot and invite play, vulnerability, and expression. You don't need natural charisma or technology, just well-designed activities. I carry a mental library of them so I can add value in almost any group, even without preparation.

The key is the participation ladder: start with low-risk activities like pairs, simple prompts, and light movement, then increase depth as the group warms up.

A simple three-step structure

1. Activate joy. Simple games and movement shift the energy, like playing a high-energy song and leading dynamic moves for the group to follow.
2. Connect. Once the room is warm, pair people up for deeper games. A favorite is Best Moments: partners trade their best memories in one-sentence turns, like conversational ping pong.
3. Close with gratitude. Huddle the group and invite anyone to share something they liked or someone who inspired them, and why, out loud to the whole group.

Most groups never reach deep, energizing connection because no one leads it. Combine courage with the right sequence and everything shifts: people open up, laugh more, connect more deeply, and want to come back.

From inspiration to immersion

Practice Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 consistently and you become the person who reliably shifts the energy of a room, the person people remember, the one who brings people together. That's a Joymaker.

Most people feel inspired for a moment and return to the same conversations and the same hesitation. A small group decides that how they show up socially is a skill worth mastering. If that's you, you don't need more content. You need immersion, practice, and community. That's what Joymaker Camp is.

Joymaker Camp is hosted at a private estate in the Greater Vancouver area, approximately 70–90 minutes from YVR / downtown Vancouver.