This is going to be an informal get-together where you show up with your "tools". That means your brains, laptop, smartphone, typewriter, slide ruler, HTML reference book, and Red Bull. You will know this before you show up: We are going to hack something together using the Foursquare API. When we get things under way, the first thing we will decide is what we are going to create. It will be something simple that we can build using Foursquare. It's not going to be a 24 hour marathon, but a modest 6 hour hacking session.
The Hack-a-thon format is divided into four phases:
Pitch Phase
A post will be published to the the csra.co website where people can submit their ideas. These ideas will be consolidated into an online poll, where the highest rated pitches will be hacked on during the April 6th Hack-a-thon.
Hacking Phase
On Hack-a-thon day (Saturday, April 6, 2013), hacking teams will show up ready to create. Each team member will decide what part of the project they want to work on. The team then sets up and begins their hack.
Delivery Phase
After the specified time for the hack-a-thon is completed, the team will a brief informal demonstration of the product they have created.
Hacking Teams
We aren't going to be too scientific about how hacking teams are formed. For low turnouts, this is simple. Everyone works on one project. That could present an interesting problem in that now we are having to decide things like "Dot Net" versus "Open Source" as a project platform.
For high turnouts, we could have three teams working on three projects. So, perhaps all the Dot Net hackers can work on a project together and divide up the remaining hackers for the remainder. This is only going to affect developers. Designers, marketers, and project managers are more flexible. The underlying point is that there will be bumps to smooth out and we will be learning as we go.
Post Hack-a-thon Phase
Let's do a post-mortem on what we accomplished. The idea is to determine what we learned and go over the pros and cons.
What Do You Need to Bring?
At a minimum, bring your computer. Also bring anything you need for your comfort. Have a confy office chair or bean bag, haul it in! Bring reference books if needed as well as any snacks and drinks.
IMPORTANT
TheClubhou.se is graciously allowing us to use the facility to host the hack-a-thon. Please respect the property and make sure you leave your area clean. Clean up any spills and dropped food items and trash.
We will provide drinks and pizza at the hack-a-thon. We will post a signup form soon, so make sure you check back to this post for updates.
