HackEDU (more than a) hackathon

This is a weekend long hacking event specifically focused on developing products using the Raspberry Pi. I think I have a pretty good idea of what the challenge will be, but I won't be the one to ruin the surprise. I will say that it sounds very practical and very achievable given the technology.

Also, read to the end of this message for information regarding planning for another Jam at the end of July.

There's already been some discussion on this thread (https://www.meetup.com/STL-Raspberry-Pi-Meetup/messages/boards/thread/49844831) regarding the hackathon event. I've included the most recent invite below.

NOTE: YOU MUST BUY TICKETS FOR THE ACTUAL EVENT! DON'T JUST RSVP TO THIS.

What interests me about this is that its structure is a bit different from hackathons that I've attended in the past. This event will include instructional lessons to help guide teams and also teach participants something about the technology.

Rather than just having the reward for winning being the primary motivation, the educational element is something that might make the experience more valuable for all the participants. I've always gotten more out of this kind of event than I anticipated. They are great places to make new connections and develop skills you didn't know you had. If you've got some abilities, it's a great time to show them off.

I've got some other obligations this weekend, so I don't think that I will be able to devote enough time during the event to do a team justice. I will be attending the opening ceremony to see what it's all about. I'll also try to make as many of the instructor lead sessions as possible and help out any way I can with individual questions. I might even be bringing along a Pi Zero with an SD fully loaded with Raspbian to give away on Friday night (not related to the prize of the hackathon itself).

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Join us for a HackEDU hackathon at the University of Missouri St Louis (UMSL) South Campus Collabitat center near the Metro Link’s Red Line UMSL stop over the weekend of June 24th – 26th where each teams of 5-8, will be using Raspberry Pi 3’s with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons to help educators and students engage with their physical location.

Throughout the Hackaton, instructor lead sessions will help the teams learn about the software development lifecycle, administration and developing solutions for the Raspberry Pi 3 using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and more!

Other Topics Include:

· Hackathon team organization, task delegation and project management

· Raspberry Pi 3, General administration, setup and development

· Raspberry Pi 3 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) finding Gimble BLE tags (NodeJS/Noble)

· Raspberry Pi 3 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) creating EddyStone beacons (NodeJS/EddyStone)

· Creating MEAN Docker Cloud solutions on Docker-Cloud

The winning team will split $2,000, win a Raspberry Pi 3 (each) and receive free tickets to the million dollar Global Hack VI event!

The cost is $10, you must be 18 or older to attend and meals / beverages will be provided over the course of the 48 hour event.

Register for the HackEdu16 hackathon while spaces are available. (https://mimh.mycustomevent.com/ShoppingCart.aspx?com=detailview&iid=191&code=gzcAZ429gi)

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What about codeuntildawn?!

If you didn't get a chance to attend the last jam, we had a great response from the members of codeuntildawn. This is a group that I have some history with; they provided a great place for me to get help from other coders and actually get some work done after I had gotten through CS50 for LaunchCode, but before I found work. I was hoping to do another event with them this month, but HackEDU starts that same Friday.

The next codeuntildawn event will be July 29th; I plan to do another combined event at that time. The two groups feel very complimentary, we already share a number of the same members. On a personal level, having Kegan there to get the event started while I'm still at work makes it possible for me attend at all.

More events, (specifically true Pi Jams) should be possible later this year. I'm finally putting my money where my mouth is and moving to the big city! Okay technically the big county, but much closer to venues that you might actually want to attend.