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Hack for Savannah 2017 |
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Want to build stuff that matters? Want to have a fun time meeting new interesting and creative people from the Savannah area? Want a chance to win up to $2,500 doing it?
Open Savannah's first-annual "Hack for Savannah" civic hackathon (see What is a civic hackathon?") is absolutely free to participate in, and the civic apps you build could end up being officially adopted by the City of Savannah or Chatham County.
The first place team will take home $2,500 (split equally among teammates), while the second and third place teams will each take home $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. Additionally, the team with the best functional prototype (MVP) will receive a separate cash award of $1,000. The first place team will also receive free tuition to ATDC's Startup Bootcamp, and all three top teams will receive six (6) months free community membership at Bull Street Labs.
The hackathon is being held in tandem with Code for America's annual National Day of Civic Hacking, an annual day of action to convene coders, bureaucrats, data scientists, journalists, user experience designers, and community activists to tackle big problems. Join us at Hack for Savannah, where we'll tackle a challenge that forms the fabric of our urban landscape and soul of our city: Our diverse and distinct neighborhoods.
Participants will work in teams over two days to develop product and startup ideas that make a difference, with an additional prize bracket for the team with the best functional prototype. Winning teams will receive a total of $6K in cash prizes, courtesy of the generosity of Savannnah Economic Development Authority (SEDA).
You may form your own teams in advance provided that the team is made up of no more than four (4) individuals, and that all four individuals register separately. You may not add to or form teams after registration has taken place.
If you don't already have a team ahead of time, no fears; most participants won't. We'll attempt to assign teams based on roughly equitable skillsets as indicated in the registration form, and additionaly provide each team a "Team Mentor" well-versed in programming to help you along the way and keep teams within scope and time limits.
If you’re passionate about Savannah, if you think you can help make it more democratic, and if you believe in the power of code to facilitate change, you should come! Civic hacking and hackathons benefit from participants of all types of backgrounds and levels of expertise. Technologists with advanced, professional skills can take the lead in project design and development. Mid-level members take on tasks that support their learning and contribute to project advancement. Even those with no technological skills at all can play vital roles in researching, designing, and launching projects. Subject-matter experts are essential to the quality, sustainability, and scalability of a project. Content experts and partner organizations contribute extensive, nuanced knowledge of the subject matter; they help guide and structure a project so that it tackles key needs, creating the greatest possible impact.
As with all our events, we require attendees to follow our Code of Conduct.
Remember, as Jane Jacobs put it, "There is no expertise more valuable than locality knowledge."
You bet so! All meals, including snacks, will be provided at zero cost to participants. We'll have a selection of catered offerings from local restaurants. If you have special dietary needs other than vegetarianism, including any food allergies, be sure to let us know by emailing the Core Leadership team at [email protected].
Yup. We don't call ourselves "Open Savannah" only to charge people money to attend our events. We're not only open-source and open-data advocates, but we are open to everyone from all backgrounds as a part of the community.
There is none. Because SEDA has been so generous in sponsoring this event – and because of other local businesses providing in-kind donation – this is an entirely free hackathon that even someone with basic technology skills can participate and have a shot at splitting a $3,500 prize package. All you have to do is commit to being a good teammate and showing up!
What if I can't physically attend the whole event, or don't think I'm up to 1.5 days of collaborative work under deadline?
Apart from the hackathon, we'll be hosting in coordination with Live Oaks Public Library System a Local Wikithon (see "What is a wikithon?") Saturday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for members of the community who want to show their support and build something useful, but who can't commit to the entire duration of the event or worry (irrationallly!) that they won't have anything useful to contribute. A 'wikithon' is sort of like the creation of a hyperlocal wiki; you use your locality knowledge to enter items into the wiki just as you would on Wikipedia, except it's hyperlocal and meant to capture the knowledge of residents about the lesser known parts of the City and County. We'll enter the data onto Savannah's page on localwiki.org. Sorry, no prizes for the wikithon other than civic pride!
- Jenn Bonnett- Director, Advanced Technology Development Council at Georgia Tech
- Yvonne Joffrault - Founder, TourBuddy Apps;; Co-Founder, Flye, Inc.
- Christopher NIchols - Lead Product Manager, GeoThinq
- Nick Palumbo - Ardsley Park Neighborhood Association President
- Kevin Lawver - Chief Technology Officer @ Planted, Inc.
- More judges TBA
- 6:30 p.m. - Reception in main auditorium of Bull Street Labs.
- 7:00 - 7:15 p.m.: Welcome and Introduction by Open Savannah founder Carl V. Lewis.
- 7:15 p.m.-7:20 p.m.: Introduction of volunteer event staff from Open Savannah and Codebase; announcement of problem statement teams will be tackling.
- 7:20 - 8:00 p.m.: Panel of Neighborhood Association Presidents and City Purchasing Officials Convene
- 8:00 p.m.: Teams split up and assigned mentors and team leads. Participants (that's you) can take this opportunity to meet your teammates and discuss development plans for the weekend.
- 9 a.m.- Breakfast Served in Room B of Bull Street Labs. Team mentors will also arrive at this time to assist teams in staying within scope and timeframe of the event.
- 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Teams begin work on projects.
- 11:30 a.m. - Lunch Served in Room B of Bull Street Labs.
- 12:30 -1:00 p.m. - Talk led by Open Savannah Core Leadership discussing what the words "Civic tech", "open data" and "open government" really mean, and why you should care.
- 1:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. - Teams continue work on projects
- 6:00 p.m.- Dinner catered in Main Auditorium of Bull Street Labs.
- 7:00 p.m. - onward: Teams are encouraged at least to spend 1-2 hours Saturday night finalizing their deliverables. Bull Street Labs will remain open and volunteer staff on hand the entirety of Saturday night if teams wish to stay to work on their projects throughout the evening as they see fit, although it's recommended that they get at least a little shut-eye on a couch at minimum.
- 8:30 a.m. - Breakfast served in Room B of Bull Street Labs.
- 9:00 a.m. - Teams given three-hour notice before pitch session begins and all deliverables are due.
- Noon - Lunch
- 1 p.m. - Team mentors rehearse and time pitches with teams for 20 min.
- 1:30 p.m. - Pitches begin and all project deliverables must be submitted electronically by this time.
- 3:00 p.m. - Judges announce winners.
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What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Bull Street Labs is located in the Starland District of midtown Savannah. If taking public transit, the closest bus routes include the 4 Line, which stops at Barnard and 38th Streets, and either the 14 or the 11 lines, both of which stop at Abercorn and 38th Street (one block away).
If driving, be sure not to park in the lot directly opposite the building, as that is a private lot. Generally, there will be plenty of street parking available, and you should have little trouble finding a spot near the location.
How can I contact the organizer with any questions?
You can reach Open Savannah's Core Leadership team by emailing [email protected], and we'll get back to you within 24 hours. If you'd prefer speaking confidentially to the lead event organizer, email Carl V. Lewis at [email protected].
What if I have a disability? Everyone should be able to participate, and we endeavor to accommodate any and all disabilities. Please send an email to [email protected] no later than one (1) week prior to the event stating your disability and how it may affect your participation. We will make it work.
-- © 2017, Open Savannah