Behind Vancouver’s first all-female* hackathon

The numbers, hackers, and memories that created cmd-f 2019 ✨

Published in

nwPlus

6 min readMar 13, 2019

cmd-f 2019, what a weekend full of sharing, learning, and hacking for the female* Vancouver community. On March 9–10, 2019, cmd-f set out to *shift* the idea of what a hacker looks like and counter common misconceptions about women* in tech.

The cmd-f team would like to acknowledge that “female” or “women” is not an accurate description for many people and it may make some feel unwelcome. We use * to specifically and intentionally include cis and trans women, as well as non-binary, agender and intersex people.

Our mission is driven by three core values:

Women* Helping Women*
Connecting our participants to mentors and peers that they can identify with will help to establish a sense of community. It is important to us that females* have the opportunity to interact with a network of like-minded people. Together, we can combat a shared issue: lack of representation in tech.
Building Confidence and Positive STEM Identities
Many females are deterred from going into STEM because they fear that they are not “good enough”, or have grown up with the idea that STEM is a very male-dominated or intimidating field. cmd-f aims to build confidence in women*, give them the option to explore different paths in tech, and help them escape from outdated stereotypes.
Learning
Hackathons are a great place to be exposed to new tech and build on foundational skills. Whether someone has never coded before, or they dream in assembly, we aim to have every participant walk away with new knowledge and hopefully a project that they can be proud of. All cmd-f workshops are designed to be instructive and hands-on.

I founded cmd-f in the hopes that this event could help women* find a community, find their confidence and passion in the tech industry, and really, just find a place that helps them learn
— Zoe Fox, 2018–2019 nwPlus President

The Numbers

150+ female* hackers 👨‍💻
48% first-time hackers!
6 recent graduates
4 high school students

110+ students from the University of British Columbia, 10+ from Simon Fraser University, 10 from BC Institute of Technology, 3 from Brainstation and the rest from other surrounding universities!

29 engineering students, 24 double majors of computer science and another field, 11 studying cognitive systems, other interesting majors like Interactive Arts and Technology, Psychology, and Data Science!

43 Slack contests 🔥
24 UBC rooms booked

30+ volunteers and organizers 🤸
26 mentors
9 in-kind supporters
6 sponsors

24 hours ⌛
29 demos
8 team prizes

1 inspiring weekend of strong women* supporting strong women* 💖

The Hackers

A lot of hackers talked about the supportive environment and how cmd-f allowed them to explore their relentless curiousity.

We wanted to create a space where females* could find a supportive and vibrant community full of people who could better understand their experiences in the tech world.
We wanted to create a space where even non-technical people could find a passion for hacking without having to worry about trying to fit into the typical hacker stereotype.
We wanted to create a space where people could comfortably learn and have fun.
The end goal is equality, but we’re not arrogant enough to think that one event could come close to achieving that — so our hope for this event is that it helps to start conversations, and helps this part of the tech community that we haven’t been focusing on before. I just really want my peers to realize how amazing they are, and how we can all help and inspire each other.
— Zoe Fox, 2018–2019 nwPlus President

I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to connect with experienced women in the industry who live the female* experience in tech every day. The judges’ and mentors’ drive to inspire others and create opportunity for females* joining tech is unparalleled — I am insanely lucky to be able to call them my role models.
— Allison Chiang, cmd-f Logistics Coordinator

The Memories

Saturday, learn something new day! (March 9, 2019)

10:00am Check-In 👋
At the Henry Angus building, we started off the day by collecting swag, stickers, and conversation about women* in the wide world of tech.

11:00am Opening Ceremonies ☀️
cmd-f welcomed hackers with a phenomenal keynote speech from UBC computer science professor, Cinda Heeren. After announcing prizes and sharing our cmd-f values, hacking began!

12:00pm Team Formation 👭

12:30pm Lunch from Ba Le 🥖
Yum, Banh Mi!

1:00pm Introduction to Git hosted by Kristen 👩‍💻 (Tweet her!)

2:00pm Crack the Code with RBC 🗝️
Learning about encryption and cryptography with a pair challenge!

3:00pm Intro to Prototyping and Figma with UBC UX Hub 🖌️

4:00pm Building Scalable Apps with Cockroach DB hosted by Charmaine 👩‍💻 (Tweet her!)
Learning how to build a sample app with a database!

5:00pm Building Actions on Google Assistant hosted by Serena 👩‍💻 (Tweet her!)
Learning how to set up a Google Assistant voice app! You can host your own MLH Localhost workshop too!

7:30pm Dinner from Basil Pasta Bar 🍝

9:00pm Cup Stacking from MLH 🥤
Highest stack had 22 cups! :amaze:

10:00pm Dessert from Earnest Ice Cream 🍦

10:30pm Clothing Swap 👚
We asked hackers to bring in their lightly-used clothes! All remaining clothes are donated to a local women’s shelter.

Sunday, funday! (March 10, 2019)

8:00am Breakfast from Maxim’s Bakery 🍞

9:00am RBC Zumba 🏃‍♀️

10:30am Telus Speed Mentoring 🙋‍♀️
Connecting with Telus’ rock star leaders about career development, learning opportunities, and more!

1:00pm Lunch + Project Submission! 👏👏👏

1:30pm Demos + Closing Ceremony 🎉🎉🎉

Behold, the full list of prizes and top placings!

1st Place — Securus
2nd Place — Degree Navigator 2.0
3rd Place — kindHerWords

Check out all of the projects on Devpost!:
https://2019cmd-f.devpost.com/

Telus: “Best use of Internet of Things (IoT) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to foster sustainable and safe cities” — gEco-Home
RBC: “Most Disruptive Idea” — The Talking Wug
Best Use of Google Cloud Platform — Mood Setter
Best Domain Name from Domain.com — www.cmdfindmyvoice.com from cmd-f my voice
Best IoT Hack Using a Qualcomm Device — Securus

In future years, I hope we can continue to empower females* in tech through cmd-f, and also continue to promote diversity and inclusivity in other nwPlus events. We don’t generally see a female*-heavy judge panel at hackathons, so I would love to push for a female* presence at future nwPlus events. The tech industry will always have a male presence, so it’s also important to educate the next generation of tech moguls the importance of different narratives. We had a great response to cmd-f’s inaugural event, and I look forward to guiding the event to a larger scale next year! — Allison Chiang, cmd-f Logistics Coordinator

See you next year! 👋

nwPlus is committed to fostering a culture of design, entrepreneurship, and community among future hackers of the Pacific Northwest.

The entire nwPlus team thanks everyone for joining us this year from UBC Local Hack Day to nwHacks to cmd-f as a hacker, mentor, sponsor, volunteer, or supporter.