🌴 About DevFest Florida Hackathon 2026
Build. Learn. Connect. Create something meaningful.
Join us for the DevFest Florida Hackathon, November 6–8, 2026, bringing together developers, designers, data practitioners, game creators, students, product thinkers, storytellers, and curious builders from across Central Florida.
You do not need to arrive with a team or a finished idea. Bring your skills, your curiosity, or simply your willingness to learn. We’ll help people meet, form teams, discover shared interests, and turn ideas into prototypes.
This is more than a competition. It’s a community-powered weekend focused on learning, collaboration, responsible technology, and building something together.
📍 Event Locations
Friday, November 6 • 6:30–8:30 PM
Hackathon Social KickoffLocation coming soon
Meet the community, learn about the tracks, share ideas, and start finding potential teammates.
Saturday & Sunday, November 7–8UCF Downtown
500 W. Livingston Street
Orlando, FL 32801
Saturday is where we learn, plan, and start building. Sunday is where teams finish, present their projects, and celebrate together.
🚀 What You’ll Experience
During the weekend you’ll have opportunities to experiment with AI, Firebase, Flutter, Cloud, WebXR, communications technology, data science, game development, web and mobile development, and more.
You’ll also get hands-on workshops, access to mentors and experienced engineering leaders, team formation support, networking with employers and community leaders, and the opportunity to turn an early idea into something you can actually demo.
Beginners and first-time hackers are welcome.
🛠️ Hands-On Workshops
Saturday will include workshops designed to give you practical ideas and tools you can immediately apply to your hackathon project.
Current workshops include sessions around:
WebXR + Real-Time Communications with Dwane Hemmings, JavaScript Developer Advocate at Vonage
Agentic Engineering with Will Gorman, CTO at Nucleus Security
Flutter, Firebase & Gemini with Carol Bolger, Flutter & AI Consultant
AI-Assisted Architecture with Javiera Laso, Lead Developer Consultant at Thoughtworks
More announcements are coming.
🏁 Choose Your Track
💻 Devs Track
Build useful software using APIs, web or mobile applications, cloud infrastructure, machine learning, AI, and other technologies that solve real-world problems.
🎮 Game Devs Track
Create playable prototypes and interactive experiences using programming, art, animation, sound, storytelling, and creative experimentation.
📊 Data for Good Track
Use data, analytics, AI, and visualization to explore community challenges including education, accessibility, civic engagement, and other opportunities for positive impact.
🏆 Build, Present & Compete
Teams will present their projects Sunday afternoon to a panel of judges.
Each track will recognize:
🥇 1st Place Team: $500
🥈 2nd Place Team: $200
🥉 3rd Place Team: $100
More prizes and community partner opportunities may be announced as we get closer to DevFest.
🙌 Everyone Is Invited
DevFest Florida is for experienced developers, first-time hackers, students, career changers, designers, project managers, game creators, data practitioners, founders, and people who are simply curious about building with technology.
You don’t need a complete team.
You don’t need a finished idea.
You don’t need to be an expert.
Bring a laptop, a charger, an open mind, and come build with us.
🌴 November 6–8, 2026 • Orlando, Florida
Learn something new. Meet your people. Build something worth sharing.
Agenda
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Hosted By
Javier Carrion, GDG Organizer
Hi everyone! My name is Javier, but you can call me "Javi." I live in Ocala, known as "the Horse Capital of the World" and I'm actively involved in the Central Florida Development communities. As a Software Engineer (Web) at Design Interactive, I work with cutting-edge human-system integration (HSI) technologies, which means I get to play with devices like HoloLens and more. Fun Fact: I have a mixology certification from the city of Waterbury! 🍸 I'm excited to be a part of this amazing group and looking forward to connecting with all of you! 🚀
Michael Rosario, GDG Team Lead Member
As an experienced software developer with over 19 years of experience, I enjoy helping organizations with agile software development, promoting cultures of innovation, and creative business solutions. I enjoy helping organizations and software teams discover the craft of continuous improvement. I am always looking for opportunities to serve leaders and teams who want to create more value with integrity, character, and predictability.
Professional interests: AR/VR, Web dev, MAKERS movement, Agile leadership, Machine learning, Cultures of Innovation, Gaming & Game based learning, Visual analytics
Christi Kapp, Founder & CEO
Christi Kapp is a well-respected Management Consultant and Coach that has spoken at numerous professional conferences on topics ranging from business analysis, to managing organizational change.
Christi’s career has included management consulting, executive leadership, coaching and teaching in the hospitality, training and technology industries. She has also managed performance, as well as the professional development of staff engaged in development and delivery of complex information system solutions, solution sales, training, and customer service.
Her entrepreneurial background includes founding, growing and selling TechKnowQuest, Inc – one of the Orlando Area's Fastest Growing Tech Companies in 1998 (1992 – 2000). While at TechKnowQuest, she created custom courses for a number of clients and performed management consulting services. She has also performed coaching and consulting services through KnowledgeSpot, Inc, (2000 – 2007) and JustIntegration, Inc. (founded in 2006). She was also co-founder of Art In Motion LLC Custom Motorcycles (founded in 2007), and is Owner/Innkeeper at Kapp and Kappy Bed & Breakfast (2016)
She is an accomplished author also. She has written several enterprise information technology books (Prentice-Hall), a UCF Master's thesis on “Regional Readiness for Homeland Security Information Sharing”, and in 2016, wrote a book chapter titled “Soft Factors Enabling Innovation” in the Apple Academic Press series called Ecosystems and Technology: Idea Generation and Content Model Processing.
She has a B.S. Degree from the University of Rochester and a M.S. from the College of Health & Public Affairs at the University of Central Florida.
Kendra Kennedy, GDG Organizer
Hello everyone! My name is Kendra Kennedy, and I am a Software Engineer who specializes in eXtended Reality (XR) Development and dabbles in Web Development, Mobile Development, and a bit of Machine Learning. I have a deep love for learning and trying out new skills, so when I'm not behind the keyboard I can be often be found taking acting, dancing, or media art classes from the nearby art center or martial arts, yoga, or one-off exercise classes at my local gym. I'm happy to be a part of such an awesome team and look forward to learning and creating with all of you!
Kayle Brown,
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Platinums
Google (https://about.google)
Google organizes the world's information and makes it universally accessible and useful, supporting global developer communities with open tools, platforms, and resources across Android, Google Cloud, Firebase, and AI.
DataKind (https://www.datakind.org)
DataKind brings together top data scientists, AI engineers, and mission-driven organizations to advance the "Data for Good" movement, delivering innovative data-driven solutions to solve critical social and economic challenges.
LATO AI (https://latoai.com)
AI-driven business process automation and custom software solutions designed to help organizations streamline operations, automate repetitive workflows, and build intelligent systems.
Gold
Vonage (https://www.vonage.com)
Vonage provides cloud communications APIs that enable developers to easily integrate SMS, voice calls, video streaming, two-way messaging, and multi-factor authentication directly into their web and mobile applications.
Bronzes
TEKsystems (https://www.teksystems.com)
TEKsystems is a global business and technology services partner that helps organizations accelerate transformation, build modern digital solutions, and connect with top-tier technology talent across cloud, data, and software engineering.
Building Our Tech (https://buildingourtech.org)
Building Our Tech (BOT) accelerates economic mobility by providing approachable tech training, mentorship, and entrepreneurial resources. Driven by the conviction that local growth fuels national impact, BOT connects talent with industry opportunities across Central Florida through hands-on bootcamps, workshops, and community partnerships.
Communitys
JetBrains (https://www.jetbrains.com/)
JetBrains make professional software development a more JetBrains creates intelligent developer tools, including IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, and WebStorm, empowering software engineers to write clean code, automate routine tasks, and build great software faster.productive and enjoyable experience.
Kodeco (formerly raywenderlich.com) (https://www.kodeco.com)
Kodeco (formerly raywenderlich.com) is a leading hands-on learning platform for mobile developers, providing high-quality courses, books, and bootcamps across iOS, Swift, Android, Kotlin, Flutter, and AI.
Partners
DataPsy Inc (https://www.datapsy.com)
DataPsy is a consultative training company. We provide training and consulting services that help people energize their interactions with their teammates and customers to deliver product and service-based Xperiences.
Orlando DevsGoogle (https://www.orlandodevs.com)
Google's mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Orlando Devs is the premier tech community for Orlando and Central Florida, uniting thousands of software engineers, designers, and tech enthusiasts through meetups, workshops, and active collaboration to empower the local tech ecosystem.
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Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-central-florida-presents-devfest-hackathon-2026-build-innovate-amp-connect/.
