Hackster Live June - Amazon Alexa 101 Hackathon - Win an Amazon Tap!
Details
Hackster & Amazon Present: Alexa Skill Building 101
Update - Thanks to help from our sponsors, this event is now FREE! If you already paid, you are welcome to request a refund from drew@hackster.io . Any remaining funds will be used to fund the event. Thanks for your support!
Tickets are required for entry, be sure to RSVP by getting your (FREE) ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/25747810394
This event is posted in multiple locations. The official link is here:https://www.meetup.com/hacksterlivephx/events/231697701
We’ve had a lot of interest! FAQ’s have been added below to address common questions.
About the Event:
On Sunday June 26 at Noon, we bring you the Hackster.io + Amazon Alexa workshop! Alexa is the speech and personal assistant technology behind Amazon Echo. Today you can use Alexa to listen to music, play games, check traffic and weather, control your household devices such as Philips Hue and Belkin WeMo, and lots more. Alexa offers a full-featured set of APIs and SDKs that you can use to teach her new skills and add her into devices and applications of your own.
Memo Doring, Alexa Developer Evangelist at Amazon, will be hosting Alexa Skill Building 101. In this talk, we will walk through the development of a new Alexa skill and incorporate it into a consumer-facing device such as an Echo or Tap.
There will be snacks available, and an afternoon of hacking will follow the talk. Finish off the day with dinner and incredible prizes sponsored by Amazon. Those attendees who are able to follow along with the workshops will walk out equipped to make new skills of their own for Alexa. Submit 3 published skills within 1 month of our event, and Amazon will ship you an Amazon Tap device (portable version of the Echo) free!
Prerequisites and What to Bring: Please bring or sign up for the following locations prior to the event so you can be fully prepared and ready to rock!
• Bring a laptop. Free wifi will be available at the event.
• Create an Amazon Developer Account: https://developer.amazon.com/
• Create a Free Amazon AWS Account: https://aws.amazon.com/
• If you don’t have one already, create an account at http://www.hackster.io
• Read over this document and the FAQ’s below to be fully prepped!
Additional Resources:
Getting Started with the Alexa Skills Kit: https://developer.amazon.com/ask (https://developer.amazon.com/ask)
Amazon AWS Lambda: https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/ (https://developer.amazon.com/ask)
(Select US EAST N. Virginia for free tier)
Alexa Developer Portal: https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa
Alexa Skills Kit Javascript Samples: https://github.com/amzn/alexa-skills-kit-js
Build a DIY Echo w/ a Raspi 2!
https://github.com/amzn/alexa-avs-raspberry-pi
FAQ:
Do I need a ticket? Yes. Tickets are required to ensure we have an accurate head count, enough food for everyone, and is required for earning your very own Amazon Tap.
What do I need to bring? A laptop and a thirst for knowledge is all that’s required, but please also visit the Prerequisites section above so you won’t have to waste time during the event setting up accounts.
This is at Noon - Should I eat lunch first? We will have some snacks available, but yes we suggest eating lunch prior. However, dinner’s on us!
Do I need to know how to program or code? Developing with the Alexa Skills Kit is beginner-friendly, but some experience with development, especially Javascript will be helpful.
Do I need to have Alexa-enabled hardware? Nope! You can test your skills with nothing but a web browser and a microphone via http://echosim.io
What do I need to get started? The links above will give you a good head start on what will be covered during the presentation.
Am I required to stay for the whole event? Nope! However it would be extremely helpful to you to arrive by Noon and learn from the presentation. While materials are available online, the ability to ask questions from our resident Amazon Expert would serve you well.
How can I win an Amazon Tap? Thanks to our generous sponsor Amazon, a bounty system is in place to win an Amazon Tap. That means each registered attendee that publishes 3 Alexa Skills within 30 days from the event will win their own Amazon Tap, shipped directly to you from Amazon!
If the Amazon AWS Account is free, why does it ask for a Credit Card? Amazon AWS requires a Credit Card for verification purposes. You will not be charged for anything within the scope of this workshop, or the creation of typical skills. Documentation is available on AWS for what would and wouldn’t cost (a small amount) of money, and Amazon has proven to be flexible about correcting mistakes.
I paid for a ticket and now the event is free. Can I get my money back? Of course! Request a refund from drew@hackster.io , or simply leave the funds in place if you would like to donate to help fund the event. Thanks!