Wednesday, October 31, 2012

#NYTechResponds Day 2 Update: Hackathon, #SandyCoWorking Spaces

Lots of great progress today on mobilization of the NY Tech community in response to Sandy. Updates:

Hackathon

NOVEMBER 2 - HACKATHON UPDATE: Based on a number of concerns that have been raised, we're thinking we will delay a hackathon until at least the week after next. See http://nytechresponds.wordpress.com/about/ and a longer explanation at http://nytechresponds.blogspot.com/2012/11/nytechresponds-day-3-wrap-up-hackthon.html

The plans are starting to come together for a two day hackathon next week. Headlines:


  • November 7th and 8th (Wednesday and Thursday)
  • Likely location midtown Manhattan - location should be locked tomorrow
    • We expect many people will want/need to participate remotely and we'll set up mechanisms to support that.
    • We would be very appreciative to see other cities, in particular other "tech capitals" such as San Francisco, Boston, Boulder, Austin, etc. hold hackathons of their own in support of NYC's recovery and to raise money for recovery efforts. (UPDATE: This is starting to happen. See
  • The purpose of the hackathon will be for developers and non-developers alike to get together to swarm and crowdsolve critical technical and infrastructure related problems the city is facing
  • We'll also look to allocate space for non-technical related support efforts, such as the ones being done by groups such as the Red Cross and recovers.org
  • We'll also be raising money to support relief efforts of the Red Cross
  • We're working on a program by which pledges can be made per developer hour, much the same way one might pledge a runner per mile. But if that appears too complex, we'll do straight donations.
  • We're working to have a blood mobile at the hackathon site to encourage people to give blood. (There is no reason to wait - give blood today).
  • We are looking for sponsors, of either the event overall, or of developers. If you are interested in sponsoring, please send an e-mail to Gary Whitehill, Tony Bacigalupo,  Jessica Lawrence, or me (Rob Underwood).
  • Check out Kira Newman's article about out hackathon plans: http://tech.co/hackathon-nyc-hurricane-sandy-2012-10
#SandyCoWorking Spaces

As you may have seen from the of NY tech sector leaders such as Charlie O'Donnell using the hashtag #SandyCoworking, there is a lot of coordination going on around finding places for people to get together to get back to work. 

Tomorrow we have two locations identified in Brooklyn at which people can work. In addition to being a place for people to just get stuff done, these will also be locations for us all to further coordinate and plan in person the NY tech sector response to Sandy. The locations are
If you need a space and can't get to Brooklyn, check out http://bit.ly/sandycowork

Resources

Here are some key resources for you to use:
PLEASE ADD ANY OTHER RESOURCES IN COMMENTS BELOW AND/OR TWEET OUT FAR AND WIDE AND/OR ADD TO COORDINATION G DOC.

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Rob Underwood
+1.917.754.3900
Twitter: @brooklynrob (http://www.twitter.com/brooklynrob)

1 comment:

  1. Red Hook Initiative WiFi [Text to Map]:

    TEXT Needed Supplies/Help to (347)778-0570 format as "Need @ Your Location"
    (i.e. "Gas, Water Pump @ Van Brundt and Pioneer Brooklyn")

    Plots your need on this responders map, responders can comment: https://rhiwifi.co/hurricane

    ReplyDelete