Update on hackathon progress

[ext-randa...@nokia.com]

Greetings all.  Some good news, great news and not-so-good news.

 

First, I want to apologize for lack of communications lately.  I’ve been battling a serious infection for coming up on two weeks and it’s really taken its toll.  More on that.

 

However I do have great news, as follows:

 

Sponsors

 

·         Pepsi and Frito-Lay have agreed to get on board as drink/snack vendors!  That will help a great deal.  We still need more though, particularly venue and meals.

 

Municipalities

 

·         We have made *some* progress with local municipalities, with two expressing interest:

o   City of Irving

o   Fort Worth

 

Still no response from others approached.

 

Venues

 

·         Centreport: We have either been ignored or turned down by every potential host in Centreport.  The windows has just about closed on that opportunity; in my opinion we need a solid lead on our site within one week.  No more then two.

·         North Lake College: no response; assuming zero interest.  This would however be a great site physically

·         Tarrant County College: interest there, but possible schedule conflict.  Its location is a big drawback for traditional hackathon attendees, who are used to Plano and nearby areas

·         ?

 

Now the bad news: my illness has been more than just an inconvenience.  It’s cost me quite a bit of money as well as the ability to meet with supporting parties during business hours (lost personal time).  I have a great deal of time to make up as well.

 

That said, I’m urgently repeating my request for more help.  Many thanks to Jason Brown, who has been chasing potential supporters all over Fort Worth—he was a godsend while I was out of commission!  But we need more to step up.  And that’s not limited to those currently in this group!  If someone needs to be added, let’s get them in.

 

To make it easy on everyone, I’ve done as promised and started opening up the organization process and resources.  The main tool you will find useful is hackpad, a wiki-like collaborative tool where all relevant content is being migrated.  I have also created a public dropbox folder for files.

 

Please check both resources and make sure you have full access.  Feel free to edit and comment hackpad to your heart’s content; it is designed to be an organic collaborative tool.

 

Hackpad: https://datalibredfw.hackpad.com/

Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public/Data%20Libre%20DFW%20Hackathon%202013

 

I am a firm believer that no idea is necessarily a bad one.  Same goes for stepping up and Just Doing Things without waiting for instruction.  No one will be punished for moving things forward!  I will do my best to provide outline and direction, and continuously flesh out the event structure; I really rely on others to pick up various footballs and just run.  This is not for or about me; it’s a community project that could help put DFW on the map as a more progressive, innovative environ than most believe possible.

 

So pick an unresponsive city on the hackpad list and ask them WHY NOT participate.  Get your local schools involved.  Identify a breakfast or dinner sponsor.

 

This event doesn’t have to launch big, but it does need to launch.  At this point I really don’t care if ten people meet in a garage that weekend and solve one civic issue—let’s just Do It.

 

Thanks all,

 

Randall (Randy) Arnold

Developer Ambassador

 

Mobile: +1 817 739 6806

Email: ext-randa...@nokia.com

Twitter: @NokiaDevNorthTX

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/texrat

Nokia US