Schedule

All 2015 Hack for Western Mass events will be at UMass Center at Springfield, Tower Square, 1500 Main Street, Springfield, MA. Sponsored parking is available form the Civic Center garage. You might also be interested in our logistics FAQ and some tips about getting ready for the hackathon.

NOTE: Saturday and Sunday are VERY DIFFERENT – and both are equally valuable for participants. Attend both if you can!

Friday, June 6

6:00pm – 8:00pm Facillity Support Volunteers and Organizing Committee only.

Saturday, June 7

8:30am – 8:00 pm Keynotes, Challenge Presentations, Team Formation, Hacking!

  • 8:30 • Doors open, Registration and Hot Breakfast.
  • 9:00 • Quick Welcomes and Keynotes
    • Welcome – Organizing Committee
    • UMass Center Operations Director Dan Montagna.
    • Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno
    • Tech Foundry founder Delcie Bean
  • 9:30 • Project Managers –  Challenge Pitches (5 minutes each!)
  • 10:45 • Guidance for Teams – Organizing Committee
  • 11:00 • Team Formation and Room Selection using this signup form. 
  • 12:00 • Mini-Sprint #1
  • 12:30 • Mini-Workshop #1: Collaboration Tools (GitHub, Slack, HackPad or Google Apps)
  • 1:00 • Lunch and team check-in
  • 3:00 • Mini-Workshop #2: Development Tools (Setting up servers with DigitalOcean)
  • 3:15 • Mini-Sprint #2
  • 3:30 • Movement Break (led and sponsored by Ohm Style Living)
  • 6:00 • Fancy Dinner and team check-in
  • 7:30 • Half hour left!
  • 8:00 • Doors Close

Sunday, June 8

  • 8:30 • Doors open and Continental Breakfast
  • 9:00 • Mini-Sprint #3
  • 11:30 • Fancy Brunch and Presentation Sign-Up
  • 12:00 • 15-minute Presentations Begin! To prep, read about last year’s presentations or see a 2014 presentation for ideas.
  • 3:30 • Closing remarks, next steps, and wrap up