Whether you’re a new developer or already in possession of some serious coding chops, hackathons are a great way to stay engaged with what you love to do.
Spending a weekend laser-focused on building something from scratch with an unfamiliar group of developers offers opportunities to try out new technologies you’re curious about, or to learn new approaches from developers coming from different backgrounds and developer cultures. You’ll probably learn something new, and maybe you’ll teach someone something as well. And if you’re lucky, you may build some new relationships that can give your career a boost down the line.
Chi Ladies Hack, which is kicking off this Friday, is a hackathon with a purpose — or two. Conceived of as an event that would bring Chicago’s women and non-binary developers together, participants at the one-day hackathon are working on coding projects for social good nonprofit organizations including Red Cross, the Midwest Access Coalition and the Neighborhood Parents Network, among others.
Unlike traditional hackathons, where participants often come up with and pitch ideas before assembling into teams and getting to work, developers at Chi Ladies Hack will be part of assigned teams working on pre-specced projects.
Rodica Trifan (pictured right) — a graduate and one of the event’s organizers — said the team’s hope was to increase the proportion of the hackathon actually spent coding, as well as the event’s real world impact. The event’s 100 participants will spend Friday evening meeting their teams and configuring their setups to get ready for a full day of coding on Saturday.
Participating developers will be divided into three experience “tiers” and distributed on nine different teams, each assigned to a particular project. Teams have the guidance of one or two “coaches” — developers from a number of Chicago tech companies including
, Dev Bootcamp and
Trifan said the response from the Chicago community has been great, with registrations filled up within the first three days. In addition to members of the developer community offering their time as coaches, company sponsorships have provided the hackathon with an event location, as well as the opportunity to offer catered meals and childcare (the latter of which opens the event up to developers regardless of familial status).
The event’s organizers come from a number of Chicago coding organizations including Girl Develop It, Women Who Code Chicago and PyLadies Chicago — all of whom had long wanted to put on an all women’s hack.
The first hackathon of its kind, Trifan said it’s too early to tell whether the event will become a tradition.
“We’ve laid the foundation, and there’s a lot of work that won’t have to be repeated next year,” she said. “So perhaps, but right now we’re happy to have this going, and we’re really excited about it.”
Images via Shutterstock and Chi Ladies Hack.
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