What the Tech, Bend?

What happens when you put Bend’s builders, operators, students, and nonprofit leaders in the same room for four focused hours?

We’re going to find out.

Build Something That Matters Hackathon is a hands-on community sprint where small teams work with local nonprofits to understand a real problem, build a practical solution, and present what they created by the end of the event.

No panels. No passive networking. No performative innovation theater. Just smart people, useful tools, real problems, and a room full of people trying to make something better.

The goal is simple: help local nonprofits make real progress on hard problems while giving the What the Tech, Bend? community a chance to learn, build, collaborate, and see what AI can actually do when pointed at something useful.

The Concept
We’ll bring together:
Nonprofit partners with real operational, community, fundraising, outreach, service delivery, or workflow problems.
Builders who can turn fuzzy ideas into working tools, prototypes, automations, websites, apps, workflows, dashboards, or demos.
Operators, product people, process thinkers, and business builders who can understand the problem, clarify the user need, and help the team avoid building something “cool” that solves absolutely nothing.
University students who have hands-on experience developing with AI.

Each team will spend four hours going from problem to prototype, then present their solution to the room.

How It Works
Each team will include a mix of builders, business/process thinkers, students, and a nonprofit client.

The rough flow:
First 30 minutes: Nonprofit shares the problem. Team asks questions, clarifies the need, and brainstorms possible approaches.
Next 2 hours: Team builds. This could be a working prototype, AI workflow, internal tool, automation, website, content system, chatbot, dashboard, or another practical solution.
Next 30 minutes: Team prepares the final presentation using AI.
Final hour: Teams present what they built, what problem it solves, and how the nonprofit could use or improve it after the event.
Final presentations will be open to participants and invited guests.

The Rules
Teams will build with modern tools, move fast, and present a practical solution at the end. Pre-work will be required so teams arrive ready to go.

Who Should Attend
You do not need to be a software engineer. We need builders, operators, process thinkers, designers, students, nonprofit leaders, and curious problem-solvers who want to spend four focused hours helping local nonprofits make real progress. You do not need to be an expert. You do need to be willing to jump in, collaborate, and build.

Why This Matters
AI is moving fast, but most conversations still hover somewhere between hype, fear, and “here are 47 tools you should definitely be using by Tuesday.”

This event is different.

We’re going to put AI into action against real problems from organizations doing meaningful work in our community. The nonprofits get new ideas, prototypes, and practical help. Participants get hands-on experience working with AI in a fast, collaborative, high-signal environment.

And Bend gets one more proof point that serious work can happen here in an unserious setting.

Event Details
Date: Friday, May 29 2–6 PM
Location: Embark Coworking
Format: 4-hour hackathon
Teams: 3+ teams
Team size: 5–7 people per team
Participants: $25
Students: Free
Nonprofit partners: Free
Food & drinks: Covered thanks to our sponsor

Food and drinks are covered thanks to our sponsor. The $25 participant ticket reserves your seat and helps keep the room committed, curated, and useful for the nonprofits.