Lots of great progress today on mobilization of the NY Tech community in response to Sandy. Updates:
Hackathon
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
The plans are starting to come together for a two day hackathon next week. Headlines:
- November 7th and 8th (Wednesday and Thursday)
- Likely location midtown Manhattan – location should be locked tomorrow
- We expect many people will want/need to participate remotely and we’ll set up mechanisms to support that.
- We would be very appreciative to see other cities, in particular other “tech capitals” such as San Francisco, Boston, Boulder, Austin, etc. hold hackathons of their own in support of NYC’s recovery and to raise money for recovery efforts. (UPDATE: This is starting to happen. See
- The purpose of the hackathon will be for developers and non-developers alike to get together to swarm and crowdsolve critical technical and infrastructure related problems the city is facing
- We’ll also look to allocate space for non-technical related support efforts, such as the ones being done by groups such as the Red Cross and recovers.org
- We’ll also be raising money to support relief efforts of the Red Cross
- We’re working on a program by which pledges can be made per developer hour, much the same way one might pledge a runner per mile. But if that appears too complex, we’ll do straight donations.
- We’re working to have a blood mobile at the hackathon site to encourage people to give blood. (There is no reason to wait – give blood today).
- We are looking for sponsors, of either the event overall, or of developers. If you are interested in sponsoring, please send an e-mail to Gary Whitehill, Tony Bacigalupo, Jessica Lawrence, or me (Rob Underwood).
- Check out Kira Newman’s article about out hackathon plans: http://tech.co/hackathon-nyc-hurricane-sandy-2012-10
#SandyCoWorking Spaces
As you may have seen from the of NY tech sector leaders such as Charlie O’Donnell using the hashtag #SandyCoworking, there is a lot of coordination going on around finding places for people to get together to get back to work.
Tomorrow we have two locations identified in Brooklyn at which people can work. In addition to being a place for people to just get stuff done, these will also be locations for us all to further coordinate and plan in person the NY tech sector response to Sandy. The locations are
- North Brooklyn
- Secret Clubhouse, 117 South 3rd Street, Williamsburg – starting at 10 a.m.
- Site Coordinators: Noel Hidalgo and Jessica Lawrence
- Link: https://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com/reports/view/12
- South Brooklyn
- Brooklyn Brainery, 515 Court Street, Carroll Gardens – starting at 10 a.m.
- Site Coordinator: Tony Bacigalupo
- Link: https://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com/reports/view/16
If you need a space and can’t get to Brooklyn, check out http://bit.ly/sandycowork
Resources
Here are some key resources for you to use:
- Our Google Doc we’re using to coordinate the different organizations, individuals, etc. is at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Atzn4MFqzJfPdFQ1VkRja2t0X05jR1k1MU5kNEtJVmc#gid=0.
E-mail me (Rob Underwood) if you’d like access. Here’s how we’re using it:- Tab 1. Organization/Groups: Details around groups organizing to help respond to Sandy, and each organization is focused on doing
- Tab 2. Contacts: People (i.e., you) who are helping out, especially those coordinating activities
- Tab 3. Online Resources and GDocs: URLs and descriptions of various GDocs, etc. that different people and orgs are using to coordinate
- Tab 4. Physical Locations – Places where people are gathering to work together – muster points, supply depots, tech co-working spaces, etc. Using this to source data for
https://sandycoworking.crowdmap.comhttps://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com/ among other purposes
- Form to use if you need technical support: http://bit.ly/hurricanetechhelp
- Form to use if you’d like to volunteer and supply technical support: http://bit.ly/hurricanetechvolunteers
- Hurricane Hackers IRC: http://irc.lc/freenode/hurricanehackers
- Hurricane Hackers GitHub: https://github.com/HurricaneHackers (Code library for Hurricane Hacker developed solutions)
PLEASE ADD ANY OTHER RESOURCES IN COMMENTS BELOW AND/OR TWEET OUT FAR AND WIDE AND/OR ADD TO COORDINATION G DOC.
Red Hook Initiative WiFi [Text to Map]:
TEXT Needed Supplies/Help to (347)778-0570 format as “Need @ Your Location”
(i.e. “Gas, Water Pump @ Van Brundt and Pioneer Brooklyn”)
Plots your need on this responders map, responders can comment: https://rhiwifi.co/hurricane