What time do I need to get there?

Registration opens at 8:30 am Saturday, and a light breakfast will be served until 9:15 when the main festivities start. View the full schedule here.

Where is the event, and where can I park?

We’ll be in the beautiful Integrated Sciences Building at UMass Amherst, 661 N Pleasant St Amherst, MA 01003. There’s a parking lot right next the building, and many other parking lots on campus if it fills up. View a map of the building and parking.

What should I bring?

Pack your laptop and charger. Wifi is available, but bring an ethernet cable if you want access to the ultra-fast UMASS network (if you’re bringing an ethernet cable we’ll also need your MAC address, which you can provide by editing your registration). If you can’t bring a computer, there are many machines available in the computer lab.

We’ll have coffee and bottled water on hand, but feel free to bring your own water bottle to be environmentally friendly.

Can I start thinking about projects before the event?

Yes! Participate in the challenge discussions on Hackpad. The hackpad is visible to attendees at events nationally as well.

I’m so excited! Can you give me a more detailed sense of the weekend?

Sure! Just check out this post for more details on preparing for the hackathon and some tips for hacking.

Stay in touch or ask for help:

• Use #HFCWesternMa on twitter
• #hackforwesternmass or irc.freenode.net. You can use this web client if you don’t have an IRC client already installed.

Can’t wait for Saturday?

Join us at the High Horse in Amherst on Friday at 6pm for a casual gathering to kickstart the weekend.

See you soon,
The Hack for Western Mass Team