Ji-V Hackathon & Workshop Series

About This Event

Join Chicago’s hacking community to build applications for local startups.  Criteria is set by one startup business to fit their business needs.  Prizes are awarded based on the completed project.  You don’t need to be a presentation pro to win this hackathon!

Your prototype will be judged not only on the initial criteria, but how much of the application is built in the given time-frame.  Developers and UX Designers often spend their time at hackathons developing working applications and the winning teams end up being the one’s with the best presentation.  Even if there are no working functions of the prototype.  This hackathon series intends to recognize developers and designers for their dev skills as well as their creativity.

Not a skilled developer or designer?  Don’t be intimidated!  This is also a place for education so come to learn!  Each team of hackers will be required to have at least one student developer/designer or one enthusiast.

It all started at Google Android’s birthday party. We were discussing the many hackathons we’ve attended and how the overall experience could be so much better for everyone involved.

Our mission:

To create an environment for developers, designers, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts, that promotes fun competition, education, innovation and opportunity for everyone.

The Ji-V Hackathon is a one day hackathon and workshop series that will be held on a quarterly basis in 2011. The purpose of the event is for all participants, sponsors and attendees to benefit from the experience.

Developers and Designers will form teams of 6 people or less and compete in building an application prototype. Each team must have at least one student developer or beginner to qualify.

One local startup company will set criteria for an application based on the needs of their business. The criteria will be announced at the event to guarantee a fair competition.

Judging will be set upon this criteria as well as how much of the prototype has been developed.

The 1st place team will win a monetary award provided by the startup company and an open opportunity to discuss a potential contract with the company to complete the application.

• Each team must have no more than 6 people and be registered with Hackatopia by January 15th at 8am.
• There must be at least one student developer or beginner on the team. If your team does not have access to a student or developer, contact us and we will connect you.
• The application prototype must have some visible functionality and user interface.
• The prototype must be started from scratch. Any team using a pre-developed platform will be disqualified.

During the hackathon competition there will be mini-seminars and workshops that are open for all participants and attendees to join. Speakers from different companies will share their expertise and provide educational resources to help promote continuing education.

Visit our site for more details: http://ji-v-hack.eventbrite.com/

Speakers

During the hackathon competition, join in on a workshop or presentation given by our special guests.

Renaun Erickson
Renaun is a Flash Platform Evangelist at Adobe Systems. Renaun has a wide range of experience with the Flash Platform. Renaun has worked on projects using technologies including ActionScript, Flex, AIR, PHP, ColdFusion, video, audio, logging, SIP/VoIP, casual games, and mobile. Renaun can be found at his blog and at twitter @renaun. When he's not programming, Renaun enjoys playing games, the outdoors, archeology, driving a Jeep, and spending time with his family.

Anthony Hand
Mobile User Experience Designer at Motorola Mobile Devices
Mr. Hand entered the mobile space in 2004 by joining SavaJe Technologies, a startup working to create the first Java-based smartphone operating system. He worked with the engineering team to define the platform’s user interface theme framework capabilities, and designed a number of core applications including email, audio and video players, the theme manager, and a file system browser.  Since SavaJe, Mr. Hand has continued to deepen his user experience expertise in the mobile space. Through stints at Nokia, iSkoot, and multiple independent engagements, Mr. Hand has gained the skills to craft engaging user experiences across a range of mobile platforms, including the Apple iPhone, Symbian S60, UIQ, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, mobile Java (J2ME), and the mobile web. Such breadth of mobile platform fluency is rare in the industry.

Conrad Fuhrman
Conrad is a partner at ThreeSphere based in Batavia IL. More than a decade of design and programming experience has led ThreeSphere to become an agency for the agencies. With many applications behind him in development, and a book in the works about Appcelerator’s Titanium, Conrad brings a forward thinking approach and concepts to both iPhone and Android development.

Minh Nguyên Trần
Minh Tran is a founder of TranCreative LLC, a mobile device software company based in Chicago. He designed and developed several popular iPhone/Windows Phone apps including WordBook, the top paid English dictionary on both iTunes App Store and Windows Phone Marketplace.  Prior, Minh worked for TransUnion as a senior application engineer where he led developments of consumer financial/marketing applications for banks and credit providers in Chicago

Will Danford
Will is a senior engineer at Clarity Consulting – a Chicago-based development and UX design shop. Since 2008 Will’s focus has been retail and mobile applications built on Microsoft’s WPF and Silverlight platforms. He recently led the Clarity team that created the Facebook application for Windows Phone 7. Will has worked closely with the designers, developers and evangelists at Microsoft who brought Windows Phone to market, and he’s excited about the future of the platform.

Ben Farmer
Ben Farmer is a senior developer at Clarity Consulting where he helps clients build applications with ASP.Net, WPF, Silverlight, Windows Phone 7 and other .Net platforms. He has experience in several verticals including ecommerce, retail, and consumer applications. His most recent project was leading the team of developers that built Kraft’s iFood Assistant mobile application on the Windows Phone 7 platform.

Uki D. Lucas
Uki is the Lead Android Architect at Sears Holding Corporation. He is an accomplished project manager, veteran of many start-up companies, mentor to other Java developers and organizer of Chicago Google Technology conferences Chicago-GTUG.com and ChicagoAndroid.com

Prizes

• 1st place: $1000 cash prize provided by Web2Carz.com plus open opportunity to discuss a potential contract to complete the application.
• 2nd place: $500 in prizes and gift certificates provided by Artisan Talent.
• 3rd place: $100 in prize money provided by A Space Apart and additional gifts from Operation WorkFORCE.

Schedule Details

Saturday, January 15, 2011

8:00 AM	Registration
4:30 PM	Presentations and Awards
5:30 PM	After Party