What to expect at ETHSanFrancisco
The time is nearly upon us for ETHSanFrancisco — the world’s largest Ethereum hackathon and ETHGlobal’s first event on the west coast! Some of you may be newbies to ETHGlobal hackathons, so we’ve put together a post to help you paint a picture of what to expect from the three day event at the Palace of Fine Arts!
Like we’ve said before: Hackathons matter. They expand our already vibrant community, teach new skills, introduce new ideas, and give developers a chance to collaborate. Each ETHGlobal event is different, because every community around the globe has something different to offer and to share. That’s why more than 1,500 people have attended our events this past year, and they just keep coming back for more.
- The buzzing, vibrant global community vibes
Picture this. A grandiose monumental building in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. As you walk in on the first day you can feel a huge buzz as everyone arrives at the registration desk. Hackathons aren’t just about the tech, but about the amazing community of people who BUIDL it. It’s a chance for people to catch up with old friends, colleagues from around planet earth and even meet people in REAL LIFE that you’ve had deep and meaningfuls with on twitter, gitter, reddit or peepeth.
ETHSanFrancisco will be one of our most globally diverse events, with 1000 members of the community coming from more than 20 countries including the USA, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Argentina, India, Spain, South Korea, and Canada, so expect even more reunions and new friendships blooming.
2. All about that content to get the inspiration going
As the hackers find their teams and start the prep towards BUIDLing their dream projects, to get those inspirational juices flowing we have key members of the ethereum community taking to the stage for workshops & presentations on the latest advances in the ethereum ecosystem. As always, content is key. At ETHGlobal events it is purely focused on tech, not hype. The talks and workshops throughout the weekend will focus on giving you knowledge you can use when working on your hacks — whether that’s generating awesome ideas, designing dapps for real users, solving technical problems, or building on a new platform.
3. Surprise, surprise, there will be LOADS OF HACKING!!!
Friday night at 10PM and the hacking commences. The vibe transforms from anticipation and excitement to intense concentration. So wow, much concentration! Until Sunday morning hackers will be superglued to their laptops that are exploding with code, finding time to breath to grab a quick coffee or hunt down some snacks. Hackers will take breaks to chill in the chill room. Organizers will ensure you are well fed and caffeinated. Teams will refine their ideas and seek advice from organizers, volunteers, mentors, sponsors, and other hackers. Panels & workshops will continue to beam knowledge into your eager brains.
4. A chance to meet and chat with some of ethereum’s sickest projects!
Let’s be real: ETHSanFrancisco wouldn’t be possible without our sponsors. They’re here to support the community, and continue to support ETHGlobal hackathons. While you are there, go talk to them! Find out what it’s like to work in the industry, ask them about their projects, bounce around ideas! After all, they are there to help and support. And don’t forget about all the awesome swag you can get, they are always full of surprises!
Seriously, we couldn’t be luckier with the projects who are supporting us. They’re a resource for the whole community, and it will be worth your time to say hi and get to know them!
5. THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
Saturday night is the night when we see hackers pull all-nighters, as they pour blood, sweat, tears (ok, no blood) in order to meet the deadline for submissions. The final hour is hectic. There is a culmination of exhaustion and excitement. Teams rushing to get all the final details fine-tuned in order to submit their project. Then once all the projects have been submitted, it’s time for the teams to pitch to the judges.
6. Just your (extra)ordinary judging panel.
Yeah we don’t do average, did we also mention we have an all-star line-up of judges?! Well just in case you missed it, we are thrilled that the likes of Vitalik, Vlad Zamfir, Linda Xie, Evan Van Ness, Yin Wu, Cassandra Shi, Robbie Bent, Connie Yang and Simon De La Rouviere will be joining us for ETHSanFrancisco as judges!
Hackathon judging isn’t mainly about judgement — it’s mainly about feedback, learning, and iterating on your idea. The panel is mainly there to help you improve your idea, understand what’s great about it, and what still needs work.
Through this process, judges will pick a few projects they want to highlight for the whole audience on the main-stage Sunday afternoon. So imagine how much more excited our hackers will be when the moment comes to present to the best judges ethereum could ask for.
Once the judges have decided who will be presenting on the main-stage the results flood in and the winning teams will be announced in front of an audience of hundreds of people. (Unfortunately, Bill Clinton is too busy practising his speech for the Swell conference by Ripple so he was unavailable to present the winner’s announcements.)
This part of the event is the climax. This is your moment of fame! The chance for the hackers to give us their demos and showcase them in front of the entire community and beyond (there will be a livestream on the day and we shall be recording the demos).
7. All about those perks
It’s not all just coding, coding and more coding. We have some fun and games to give everyone a breather from the coding such as morning meditation, lifesize chess and checkers, local crypto artists coming down to do their thing and way more tbc… Watch this space! All shall be revealed closer to the hackathon.
8. Our army of amazing volunteers and organizers
Let’s not also forget that over the course of the weekend we will have a stellar team of volunteers who are giving up their time to join the mission to hack the bay and BUIDL a decentralized future. Think Marvel superheroes. This team of warriors will be making sure everyone is registered, fed, watered and entertained, 24/7. So without this team of hard-working and passionate individuals, we wouldn’t be able to carry out such a huge event.
We are ready to take on San Francisco, we can’t wait to see you on the 5th October!
