Community at HackMIT 2017
What community means to us
HackMIT has always been about building unique, challenging projects that push the boundaries of what you think you can do within 24 hours. This year, we’re focusing on the people who make that possible. Some of our best memories are from when we worked together with friends on a project, dove into an open source codebase after someone we’d never met spent hours helping us get set up, or bonded with the team next to us at 4am over that obscure iOS bug. Part of the magic of hackathons is that all these people come together in one place for one weekend.
At HackMIT 2017, we’re hoping to focus on this community that makes coming out to the event more rewarding than hacking alone in your dorm room.
What’s in store for HackMIT 2017?
For this year’s application, we asked what community means to you. So far, we’ve been inspired by some amazing personal stories of mentors, mentees, friends, and teams who have made your experiences so rewarding.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned hacker, HackMIT will feature more opportunities to meet, teach, and learn from fellow hackers. A glimpse of what might be in store:
- Peer expo, so everyone has a chance to see all the awesome projects that other teams have worked on, separate from the normal judging period
- Red/blue factions, bond with hackers from different teams in friendly competitions
- Topic-based “bug bashes,” where you can get help from (or rant to!) other hackers working with the same technology
- And more!
Maybe you feel like you’re less experienced than everyone around you, or you simply have no idea what a hackathon is like. That’s okay — most of us felt like that at our first hackathon too. We want to make the experience as approachable as possible! We’re taking components that have been staples of the typical hackathon experience and focusing on the details that matter for first time hackers. This means redesigning the way you:
- Form a team that complements what you know and what you’d like to learn
- Ideate projects that are feasible within 24 hours and help you get the most out of the event!
- Find dedicated mentors whom you can rely on for continued help throughout the event
We can’t wait to show you what we have in store!
