Use your powers for good

At this hackathon we'll be focusing on using new technology to solve old problems for the Inland NW. It's a civic thing, not a government thing. We're going to spend 24 hours hacking for the greater good of everyone, forming teams, eating pizza, and having fun.

You will have the option of choosing from several issues facing the region or you can address one that you see. We'll have a list of pain points that people have brought up, like increasing the accountability and transparency of the City of Spokane's tax structure, or improving the Spokane River's sewage water outflow notification service. If it's something that you feel can help improve the lives of your family or neighborhood, protect the environment, or make government data accessible, it's in.

Location

We're excited that Merlyn's will be hosting the event in their awesome geek space.

Prizes:

Prizes will be given to the top three teams. Your team will be judged on creativity, ability to execute your idea and quality of your code.

• Grand prize: 1 year Github Silver plan, tablet computer
• Second prize: 1 year Github Bronze plan, mp3 player
• Third place: 6 months Github Bronze plan

Agenda

Friday, February 1

• 6:00pm: Registration open and Pizza
• 7:00pm: Welcome & team formation
• 7:30pm: Let the hacking begin
• Venue will be open all night

Saturday February 2

• 9:00am: Breakfast Served
• 12:00: Lunch
• 3:30pm: Close all hacking, sign ups for presentations
• 4:00pm: Presentations and Judging Begin (3-5 Minutes each)
• 5:30pm: Judges present awards

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a 24 hour event, and do I have to stay?

It's scheduled to go for 24 hours. We have the location open, and most of us are planning on powering through. If you need to go home and nap or tuck in the kids, you're free to do whatever you need to do.

Do I need to be a programmer to attend?

No. If you're willing to work on something for the public good, show up. We could probably use designers and idea people.

$20? Where does that money go?

You'll be provided with 3 meals over the course of the event and we also have to pay Merlyn's to use their awesome location.

Is this a way to get free labor for the fat cats in City Hall?

This is 2013, not 1984. Stop the paranoia. You're choosing your project, you're controlling your project, you're owning your project. If it's awesome and helpful for people, then it's cool.

What platform do we need to build on?

You can build on any software stack you want, but we encourage you to take advantage of the services offered by our sponsors. Openshift by Redhat is offering free hosting for all projects, and GitHub is offering free group repos for the event. 10gen, the MongoDB company is also a major sponsor, so feel free to go all NoSQL all over the place :)

Sponsors:

10gen

Magner Sanborn

GitHub

Openshift by RedHat

VentureLeap

Spokane Geek Girls

Sixth Man Marketing