Exciting Times - Two Great HackCamps Upcoming - Dev4Good and GiveCampUK

Hey Guys! Remember me?

Yes, it has been a while, and yes - I have been busy! I'll get another post up soon explaining what has been chewing up my time, but for now I wanted to get some buzz around two great-looking events coming up soon. What's best is that these hacks are just about hacking, they are about hacking with the intent of helping the third sector.

Why Bother with a Hack Camp?

As you may remember, last year I attended CharityHack, which was great fun and amazing to see what people are capable of producing in such a short space of time (lots of caffeine and pizza help).

For me, I think I would say that I go to these events to:

  • Learn from many smart people with a variety of skill sets.
  • Network with lots of like-minded people.
  • Build software for problems I may have never encountered before (very easy to get stuck in a business and only deal with their problems). I like to shake it up a bit.
  • Just hack - get away from it all and focus on building something awesome - lose the manager and business constraints and just focus on the "wow" factor. Very liberating.
  • Eat lots of pizza and drink lots of red bull!

And to be honest, even if an event just had two of the above points, I would still go. HackCamps are an all-round assortment of geeky goodness.

What About Companies?

While I am a hacker and obviously focused on hacker concerns, don't forget that these kind of events need support. These are a great opportunity for you to get your corporate brand out there into an audience that is normally "the right kind of people" (people motivated and passionate about their craft to surrender a weekend for it, for free).

Most events will have multiple levels of support that businesses can support them at, be it getting a few items of branded material into swag bags (normally free) or good 'ol sponsorship which will often result in a chance to speak about your business or slap your logo in a few key places.

As well as this, normally sponsors will be around to talk to the developers (and others - such as designers and UX people) which can provide a great opportunity to target an interested market, not to mention provide a great resource for hiring great people.

The opportunity should not be taken lightly - even if you don't find the awesome hire you are looking for at an event, the community will really appreciate your support - and regulars are well noticed.

Upcoming Events

There are a couple of pretty tasty looking events coming up soon that have me super-excited. Dev4Good and GiveCamp. Both are pretty similar in design - turn up, build awesome stuff to do good.

Dev4Good

GiveCampUK

So, what are you waiting for?! Come along to either/both and see what it's all about. Don't be nervous (I was at my first event) - we are all there for the same reasons and that is what counts!

If you are coming along, be sure to ping me on Twitter (@robcthegeek) and I will make sure I say "hi"!

Happy hacking!

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