NY Hackathons

Overview

During the summer of 2014 I was actively attending hackathons (just about every weekend). At that time there was no good place to search for events I might find interesting to attend.

I decided to solve this problem, along with a few volunteers by starting this curation site. We grew our newsletter to over 2,000 active subscribers, and curated over 330 hackathons.

The Mission Statement

Our theory about hackathons is deeply rooted in the idea of bringing people together, allowing them to break out of their comfort zone, and realizing they can do things they didn’t know they could in a short time period.

We strongly believe in the social and educational value of hackathons and want all New Yorkers who are interested to share in that experience.

A Successful Newsletter

I wrote and sent out a monthly newsletter updating our community with highlights from the previous month, as well as a curated list of hackathons to attend for the next month.

The opt-in newsletter grew at a steady rate and was useful as a re-engagement technique. Through our partners we were able to offer discounts, software trials, and free tools for our community of developers.

Conclusion

This project made me realize how important and rewarding hands-on learning is. Through this project I was able to attend some really special events and create a diverse and inspiring community.

Edit 2017:

We added The Wandering Bear Coffee Company as one of our beverage sponsors.

Edit 2018:

Still going strong! We added Monster Energy as one of our premier sponsors.

Edit 2020:

Due to the Corona Virus outbreak, hackathons (and other close proximity meet-ups) have been suspended. We hope to come back strong in the future.