NOVEMBER 2 – HACKATHON UPDATE: Based on a number of concerns that have been raised, we’re thinking we will delay a hackathon until at least the week after next. See http://nytechresponds.wordpress.com/about/ and a longer explanation at http://nytechresponds.blogspot.com/2012/11/nytechresponds-day-3-wrap-up-hackthon.html

Serendipity resulted in my having a chance to meet in person with Tony Bacigalupo (@tonybgoode) and Jason Kende (@jasonkende) this evening in Brooklyn to talk about coordination re the NY Tech community response to Sandy. There is a hackathon in the works for tomorrow, likely to be followed up by a larger hackathon later this week or weekend. The purpose of the hackathons will be to get as many people as possible in one place to collaborate on different technical solutions that can be collaboratively developed together. Part of the work will be coding, but lots too will be coordination via Google Docs, social media, etc. I’ll post more details as they develop. 

Regarding the larger hackathon we’d like to do later this week, when things are hopefully a bit closer to some form of more normal, we’re thinking we will do that as a fundraiser as well. Essential idea is we’ll ask individuals and companies to “pledge” to developers. Instead of pledging, say, by the mile to a marathon runner raising money for a worthy cause, in this case we’d ask people to pledge a developer by the hour. So the more developers, and the more people/organizations pledging, the more solutions we’ll develop and the more money we’ll raise. The donations will likely be donated to a charity such as the American Red Cross; we may have a blood drive there as well.

Here’s how you can help:

• If you have a location that could host 20-30 developers tomorrow, and/or 50+ later this week, let us know. For tomorrow, we’re thinking Prospect Heights/Park Slope area (high ground that has electricity). TBD on the weekend. We need a location that has Wi-Fi that is both high bandwidth and reliable.
• If you’d like to volunteer to participate, sign up at http://bit.ly/hurricanetechvolunteers (being able to code is NOT a pre-requisite)
• If you’d like to sponsor – either individual developers or the event itself, send Tony (tony@nwo.co) and/or myself (runderwood5@gmail.com) an e-mail.
• If you are in another city (San Francisco, we’re looking at you) and would like to host a similar hackathon to raise money for Sandy relief and help us develop solutions to some of the technical challenges we’re facing let us know.