Colorado: Land of the Code and Free

[caption id="attachment_12859" align="alignnone" width="560"] Photo from Zach Dischner on Flickr[/caption] Happy Friday, internet friends. As you know by now, Friday means a status update from the sponsorship desk, and boy do we have a treat for y’all!

HackCU

It’s no secret that Colorado is the crossroads of American technology, with startups in Boulder and Denver making major waves that crash on the coasts from east to west, and these waves often start as little swells in weekend events like HackCU, the University of Colorado's first-ever national hackathon. They set this event up as beginner friendly and a safe space for college students to learn and network with other hackers, makers, and builders. They're claiming that this is going to be the largest collegiate hackathon within 800 miles, and we’re betting that they’re probably right. Teams of up to four people will be hacking (hygienically) for 36 straight hours, from Friday, April 10th to  Sunday, April 12th. We’re grouped with some rad sponsors, and we’ll be following the action on the HackCU twitter feed. Attendees will be mentored by some truly bright people, and there’s no doubt that something big will come from this weekend. It’s always so cool to see young people coding and building things in such a short span of time, and it’s a testament to their creativity and stamina (and ability to work without sleep or shower!) that these events get pulled off. Code clean and hack fast, HackCU! [caption id="attachment_12858" align="alignnone" width="560"] Photo from Larry Lamsa[/caption]

Go Code Colorado

Now we’re gonna zoom out from the People’s Republic of Boulder to the entire State of Colorado for Go Code Colorado. Folks, this event is kind of a big deal, and it proves with major pudding that Colorado is the current tech capital of these United States. Go Code Colorado is a statewide effort, the first and only effort of its kind, and it unites Colorado’s thriving community of entrepreneurs, business partners, and developers. The challenge? To make use of public data through a series of events.

The three teams deemed the best are awarded a contract with the state—an invaluable first customer to a fledgling business that provides critical initial revenue. Go Code Colorado is an initiative through the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, which seeks to return value to Colorado businesses from business registration fees they collect. These events center around a challenge weekend in five cities across the state, engaging the entire state in two days of innovation around the use of public data. Teams in each of the five cities compete to build apps that use public data to help businesses make smarter decisions. Two teams from each city move on in the competition, getting help from a network of mentors—including a Mentor Weekend in Boulder—as they further develop their ideas. The teams come back together again for a Final Event where they pitch their ideas to judges. -copy from Go Code Colorado page

And here’s the skinny on the project that teams will be working on, straight from the Go Code Colorado Page:

“Each Go Code Colorado team must build an app that addresses a Problem Statement. The Problem Statements come directly from the business community. Last fall, we convened a Business Challenge Workshop where we asked business decision makers what problems they face that could be addressed through better access to public data. This gives a peek into market feasibility—these are problems that business leaders themselves (the customers for the apps that teams create) have told us they’d like solved.”

Spread out over two months, the event kicks off April 10-12 with the Challenge Weekend happening in Durango, Grand Junction, Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs. Then on the weekend of April 24th, the Mentor Weekend for the Finalists happens, followed by Code Review on May 17th. The Final Competition will happen May 21, and we’ll be following along and updating you all as the event unfolds. If you’re on Twitter, check out the local hashtags for your region: #GoCodeBldr, #GoCodeCoS, #GoCodeDen, #GoCodeDgo or #GoCodeFoCo.