Learning and Experimenting at PennApps XIII
PennApps has always been about pushing the boundaries of what defines a hackathon. With PennApps XII, we focused on inclusivity and quality to host the world’s largest college hackathon in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. We offered automatic admission to all hackers local to Philadelphia, and brought a thousand more from universities and high schools around the world. We went all out to provide over 2000 participants with swag, resources, and prizes, directly contributing to our vision of advancing the hacking community at large. We also introduced the idea of Routes, a way to incentivize and support hackers working on hacks in specific areas ranging from Civic Hacking to Humor, combating the incentives to string together a bunch of disparate APIs into a haphazard hack.
PennApps XIII will be hosted on January 22nd-24th, 2016 and this time we’re moving our primary focus. Mentorship has always been an integral part of the PennApps experience, and this spring, we’ve decided to bring it front and center.
That’s why we’re introducing the Hacker Guru system. We’ve always loved seeing more experienced hackers help their novice friends. Hackathons can seem intimidating at first, and having a friend who’s done it before can be incredibly helpful.
However, not everyone has a friend who’s been to tons of hackathons before, so we’re trying to bring that same experience to anyone — all you have to do is hit a checkbox on your application! If you already have a team we’ll try and pair you up with a Hacker Guru before the event; otherwise, you’ll be matched with a team and Guru when you arrive.
Being a Hacker Guru is a great opportunity for experienced hackers to give back and try doing something different. Hacker Gurus will guide their team through it all, right from ideation to submission…and even everything in between. This could include anything from teaching new frameworks and languages to simple tips like what to bring, where to find food and the best times to sleep!
Of course at PennApps, teams with Hacker Gurus are treated just like all other teams. This means that these teams are no different from traditional teams and are still eligible for prizes — they just have a little extra guidance along the way.
And so, when you apply to PennApps, know that you’re applying to join us in learning something new, building something novel and starting something from scratch. The true hacker way.
See you soon!
The PennApps Team
