As promised, Hack for Western Mass will reconvene on Saturday, 6/28. We’ll be in Holyoke again, this time at Brick Coworkshop from 10:30 AM to noon

Why Is This Important?

If you’re still working on your hackathon project (and according to Github, many of you are), share your progress on Saturday. If you’re seeking other ways to pitch in or have ideas for collaborating throughout the year, Saturday’s your chance. Or if you weren’t able to join us for the hackathon but want to see what it was all about, come on by.

If you’re on the fence about coming to Hack for Western Mass, maybe some of the people who joined us last year can nudge you in the right direction. Here’s what they had to say.

Hack for Western Mass is moving to Holyoke this year, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Helping great local non-profits, meeting people and learning new skills, and eating great food, all at Holyoke’s beautiful Gateway City Arts. Have you registered for the 2014 edition of Hack for Western Mass?

When I tell people about Hack for Change, a common response is, “That sounds really cool, but I’m not a programmer!”

Think of a hackathon like a movie. Actors are only one part—you also need directors, producers, screenwriters, editors, production designers, costume designers, sound engineers, and art directors. Actors alone cannot make a movie, and programmers alone cannot make a hackathon.

So what are some of the non-technical roles on a hackathon project team?

Jason Leveille wrote about his experience at Hack for Western Mass over on the National Priorities Project blog. Over the weekend, he and some teammates brainstormed about the best way for NPP to ditch Flash-based maps and provide better ways of displaying the local impact of federal spending. Jason also notes the he was a first-time civic hacker and is already looking forward to the next time around.

Peter Wagner from Prison Policy Initiative in Easthampton wrote up a great summary of what his team accomplished at Hack for Western Mass: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2013/06/03/fcc-civic-hack/ 

After several weeks of outreach, we’ve solicited a great collection of hackathon challenges from local organizations. They truly represent Western Massachusetts, and they show exactly why civic hacking has value beyond the big city.