By Péralte C. Paul
Consider it a hackathon with a twist.
The Advanced Technology Development Center’s inaugural ATDC Weekend Hackathon — scheduled for Aug. 28-30 — will bring together hackers, developers, designers, and other technology-creative folks eager to tackle problems.
In most hackathons, they would come up with solutions to problems they’ve identified and see a potential market need to address them.
With the ATDC Weekend Hackathon, however, they will be tasked with solving real world challenges faced by some of Atlanta’s most innovative tech companies, including several from ATDC, one the nation’s oldest and largest university-based technology startup incubators.
(Sign up and register at this link.)
“We thought we could do the opposite of a hackathon, sort of like a switch pitch where the companies present a problem and the hackers work to solve it,” said Everett Steele, president of Kanga. An ATDC Signature company, Atlanta-based Kanga is a crowdsourced, on-demand local delivery startup.
Steele said the idea for the hackathon followed discussions he and other entrepreneurs had about challenges startups face but putting them on the back burner to address other more pressing matters.
“We thought maybe we could figure out a cool way that we could get some of these things done,” Steele said. “It was that and piggybacking on the fact that most people were struggling to identify talent for hiring. I think it will be a great value to companies and participants.”
Hackers of all backgrounds are welcome from developers and designers to project managers and innovators, problem solvers of all types are needed. Any technology-oriented startup based in Atlanta can participate to present the challenges they have that they want solved.
It’s $300 for the event for the companies to participate. For that, you’ll be assigned a team of six to eight developers who will spend all weekend working on your problem. Companies are welcome to (for free) send their own staff as well to support and engage. Companies may sign up via this link.
The ATDC Weekend Hackathon will be held at ATDC on the second floor of the Centergy Building in Tech Square at 75 5 th St. in Atlanta.
Here’s the rundown of how the weekend is planned:
- Friday, Aug. 28: Event kickoff at 7 p.m. Teams will be presented with problems facing the participating companies and will spend the weekend creating a technology driven solution in conjunction with their host company.
- Saturday, Aug. 29: Working Session for Hackers (Programming).
- Sunday, Aug. 30: Working Session for Hackers (Final Touches & Testing).
- Monday, Aug. 31: Presentation Development for Hackers (On your own time).
- Tuesday, Sept. 1: Closing event at 7 p.m. Teams will create brief presentations of their solution, and pitch them to the audience, and judges. Teams will be judged on several factors, including creativity, innovation, functionality, and presentation. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top placing teams.
This is a great opportunity to show your skills to some of the most successful startups in Atlanta, whether you’re a job seeker, an entrepreneur, or just enjoy spending your weekend around like-minded people, Steele said.
The ticket price for hackers — $20 for early birds who register before Aug. 12 and $25 after — includes meals for the weekend, swag from our sponsors, giveaways, and much more. (Register via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atdcweekendhackathontickets17960354905.)