Join MxHacks — Low-Code For Good— learn, have fun, and help charities @ a worldwide hackathon
Since Mendix announced its global hackathon just before the summer holidays, 600 makers around the world have already registered to battle-test their Mendix skills, learn new things, and have some fun. Not registered yet? You can still do so in the MxHacks app until September 9th. If you’re reading this and are (still) in doubt about whether you should join, let me help you with your choice.
MxHacks is about learning, meeting other makers, and helping nonprofit organizations
As a former MxHacks attendee, I have experienced the thrill of competing in this event. The time crunch adds a certain pressure to your capabilities, intensifying the need to think of a solution and directly implement it. You have to be creative, work together with your teammates, listen and read carefully to understand the requirements of the organization you’re trying to help, and build and test your solution in Mendix quickly. On top of this, you have a clear deadline of just a couple of hours to get the job done.
There’s a lot of fun you will have while playing games, enjoying the food & drinks, and of course the freedom of cutting corners and focusing on adding value instead of all the details, because it’s all a hack and prototype. Doing all of this together with your team in a war room with your competitors at close range gives tremendous levels of energy. And trust me: you will need it.
You can check out this video of the last hackathon to get an impression of this unique experience.
This time, the organization will be bigger, with many more competing teams, and this year for the first time ever, the event will be held in multiple continents and physical locations. Each region has its own kick-off, submission deadline, and award ceremony, respecting the different time zones. According to what we have seen so far, Mendix is organizing this pretty well and I’m expecting a top-notch event.
Great, but what if I’m not an experienced Mendix developer?
I’m glad you asked, because there are many benefits for competing Mendix Makers:
- Free exclusive workshops and training sessions, which only take place during the hackathon, some are streamed live, but not recorded, so it’s all really exclusive!
- Join a training and receive a 20% discount voucher on your next certificate
- Take advantage of the latest low-code technology
- Meet and greet with students, other developers, experts, and of course MVPs
- Share your knowledge and learn from others
- Receive some cool goodies when you join in person
Table tennis masters, for you there is something special to relax and let the pressure slip off you. If you’re ready to play against other table tennis masters instead of your regular competitors, it’s time to prove your skills.
Sounds like fun! Anything else?
Yes! Putting everything aside, MxHacks’ goal is to help three nonprofit organizations with a low-code solution so they can help even more people. You can help and compete in their challenges and contribute to social justice around the world! You can learn more about what nonprofit organizations are doing to make the world a better place. What holds them up and what do they need? We live in a VUCA world and even nonprofits need to be agile. This adds another dimension to an already stacked event. After a troublesome and unpredictable pandemic period, the world is opening up and everyone is getting used to the new normal. This hybrid and the global event is a nice example of this.
Hopefully, I was able to provide a better image of what you can expect from the next edition of MxHacks! I will be attending in Rotterdam and coaching the competing teams as a Mendix MVP.
Register for MxHacks 2022 in person or remotely at www.mendixhacks.com.
Join over 5,000 makers on the Community Slack and the #mxhacks-general channel to stay up to date on the latest news.
See you there!
Edit after update:
I’ve got a lot of positive reactions on my blog, but also feedback on mentioning what to if you have no experience with Mendix at all? Should you attend the Hackathon? Well, yes! First off all, I would really admire everyone who steps in the arena without any prior knowledge on Mendix. Second, you are very cool if you have the guts. A little help to everyone who is still doubting, because you’re new to Mendix:
1. Download Studio Pro and play around
2. Sign up (free) to Mendix
3. Follow as many learning paths as possible, starting from basic and the rapid crash course
4. If you have time left, also some intermediate courses. I can recommend: Workflows, Integration, Pages, Design & Styling. These will be handy to know about during the Hackathon.
5. Download examples of template Mendix applications and analyze them on their inner workings with your freshly gained new Mendix knowledge, understanding how they work. This will help you when you’re starting to build your own app.
Go make it!
From the Publisher -
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