What’s new for nwPlus 2019/20? ✨
With nearly triple the events in store, here’s how nwPlus is expanding to build a more inclusive and supportive hacker community.
Last year was a big year for nwPlus. Not only did StartupStorm join forces with UBC Hacks to become what we are known today as nwPlus, we’ve grown from hosting only one annual hackathon to three hackathons: nwHacks, UBC Local Hack Day, and cmd-f.
This year, we plan to grow even bigger and nearly TRIPLE our number of events. While nwHacks may be the largest 24-hour hackathon in Western Canada, our specialized hackathons (UBC Local Hack Day and cmd-f) do not shy away from making a greater impact in building a more inclusive and supportive hacker community. Here’s why:
What’s new for nwPlus this upcoming year
- UBC Local Hack Day = Learn Day + Build Day + Share Day ✨
- cmd-f Countdown 💖
- Not a UBC student? Join our new Campus Ambassador Program! 🌎
UBC Local Hack Day = Learn Day + Build Day + Share Day ✨
Last year, Local Hack Day was a single global event hosted by Major League Hacking where campuses around the world to put on an eye-opening 12-hour beginner-friendly hackathon, all on the same day. With 240+ campuses worldwide holding their own Local Hack Days, we were honoured to have been recognized as North America’s LARGEST Local Hack Day in 2018. Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop us from striving to continue building a more inclusive, diverse, and accessible hackathon community for tech lovers everywhere.
This year, UBC Local Hack Day is not just a hackathon anymore.
Local Hack Day will be expanding into three separate events throughout the year: Learn Day (Oct), Build Day (Nov/Dec), and Share Day (Apr).
Learn Day is a full day of technical and non-technical workshops geared towards helping beginners and veteran developers learn new skills to be used at hackathons and far beyond.
Build Day is the12-hour beginner-friendly hackathon that you already know and love — UBC Local Hack Day. Read all about what went on during North America’s Largest Local Hack Day in our 2018 recap article here!
Share Day is an opportunity for participants across different hackathons to come together and demo their polished hackathon projects to the rest of the hackathon community.
Learn Day 2019 is set to be hosted on Saturday, October 5th. Registration for Learn Day is NOW OPEN and spots are filling up quick, so be sure to check out our event page here for registration details!
cmd-f Countdown 💖
Held for the first time in March 2019, cmd-f is Vancouver’s first ever all-female* hackathon, where 150+ women* came together for 24 hours on a journey to innovate, learn, and shift the idea of what a hacker looks like. Yet, we want to continue to help build and support this community of empowered young women* for more than just 24-hours a year.
We’re so excited to be launching our brand new event series, 💖 cmd-f Countdown 💖 — events occurring throughout the year designed to support women* in exploring the wide world of tech. Events in cmd-f Coundown will all cumulate towards cmd-f, our final hackathon of the year.
We’re currently in collaboration with UBC PINK, a group of dedicated Victoria’s Secret PINK campus reps, to bring you cmd-f Phase 1: Learn & Network — the first installment of cmd-f Countdown and our first nwPlus event of this hackathon season.
Thanks to all the overwhelming support, we’ve reached capacity for this event! However, you can still sign up for the wait-list here. Don’t fret if you aren’t able to attend this one, stay tuned to our social media (@nwPlusUBC) for Phase 2 of cmd-f Countdown!
* nwPlus would like to acknowledge that “female” or “women” is not an accurate description for everyone. We use * to specifically and intentionally include cis and trans women, as well as non-binary, agender and intersex people.
Introducing our Campus Ambassador Program! 🌎
Hackathons are not just about programming. As the host of Pacific Northwest’s largest hackathon, nwHacks, we strive to create a platform for students to meet, connect, and learn from tech lovers outside of their home-campuses. Whether it’s sending charter buses across borders or offering travel reimbursements, we put a focus on bringing together students from a variety of schools and cities to hack with us.
As a way to connect hackathon communities across campuses, we’re officially launching our new ✨ Campus Ambassador Program✨. Campus Ambassadors will be collaborating to expand the reach of nwPlus hackathons, get connected, and become apart of each other’s tech communities.
We’re currently hiring for Campus Ambassadors and UBC organizers to join our nwPlus 2019/20 team! Applications are OPEN NOW until September, 22nd at 11:59pm. Learn more about the positions we’re hiring for and how to apply below:
- nwPlus Campus Ambassador Hiring 2019/20 (non-UBC students)
- nwPlus September Hiring 2019/20 (UBC students only)
We’ve got a big year ahead of us, and we can’t wait for you to see what we have in store! Thank you to everyone who have been apart of our journey so far, and we hope you stay along for the ride ahead ✨
Be sure to follow us at @nwPlusUBC on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to stay updated with all of our new events and initiatives.
See you soon! 👋
