World Create Day: A Subcontinent, An Island Continent, And Asia

April 21, 2016 by Brian Benchoff 3 Comments

Hackaday’s own World Create Day is just two days away. This Saturday, April 23rd, the Hackaday community will rise up, come together, have fun, share a few stories, and build something cool in the process.

When we announced World Create Day a few weeks ago, we were inundated with responses. Hackerspaces across the globe have offered up their spaces for the Hackaday community to brainstorm the latest entries for The Hackaday Prize.

We have hackerspaces from Islamabad to Adelaide and from Mumbai to Shenzhen opening their doors to the world. If you’re near any of these events, join in on the festivities. If you don’t see one in your neck of the woods, you can still host your own meetup. Just click here to get your town on the map.

What’s going on at these meetups? [Robert] and [Steven] in Adelaide are planning several events including a meet and greet, a few lightning talks, and snacks. They’re also live streaming their event. Maker’s Asylum in Mumbai is doing project demos and forming some teams for the Hackaday Prize. It’s going to be a great event at every hackerspace, and the largest distributed meetup we’ve ever done. Don’t miss this.

The HackadayPrize2016 is Sponsored by:

World Create Day: Hackaday Meetups Reach Europe And Africa

April 20, 2016 by Mike Szczys 5 Comments

We are now just three days away from Hackaday World Create Day. On Saturday, April 23rd, the Hackaday community around the world will come together in real life to have fun, share their stories, and to do a little bit of engineering.

A few weeks ago, we put out the call for local meetup organizers and were overwhelmed by the response. The World Create Day events in Europe and Africa span pretty much from pole to pole with meetups in Salangen and Cape Town.

If you are near any of the events on the map, please join in the camaraderie on Saturday If you don’t see a marker near you, it’s not too late, you can still host your own meetup. Follow these easy steps to get your town on the map!

What can you expect from World Create Day? At its simplest, gather together and talk about solving a technology problem facing humanity. This can be submitted as your Challenge 1 entry for the 2016 Hackaday Prize. But many organizers have more planned. We’ve heard from groups who are hosting hardware show-and-tell, others have lined of speakers or workshops, and we always suggest hosting lightning talks where anyone at the meetup can speak for around two minutes.

Hackaday is made up of doers. It’s time we all got together and celebrated what that means. Don’t miss out this Saturday!

The HackadayPrize2016 is Sponsored by:

World Create Day: A Meetup Across The Americas

April 19, 2016 by Brian Benchoff 9 Comments

This Saturday, April 23, we’re hosting a worldwide Hackaday meetup called World Create Day, and we want you to be a part of it. The 2016 Hackaday Prize is all about solving technology problems, and if you’re looking for an excuse to meet up with a few fellow tinkerers, this is it.

Right now, we have dozens of Hackaday meetup hosts planning their own get together. It’s six continents of awesome, and that’s only because winter is starting to set in on Antarctica. Today we’re taking a closer look at what’s lined up in North and South America. We have meetups from the shores of Venezuela to the birthplace of the worst president the United States has ever had. We have meetups in Baltimore and El Paso, and from Silicon Valley to New York City.

The goal for these meetups is to find fellow hackers and tinkerers, suss out a few ideas on what you’re working on, and start a project for The Hackaday Prize. We’re wrapping up the first stage of The Hackaday Prize, Design Your Concept this coming Monday, where all you need is an idea. Saturday’s World Create Day is the perfect time to brainstorm your tech solution with some friends and get it submitted ahead of the deadline. If you have an idea for the next great Internet of Things, an application for the RISC architecture that is gonna change everything, or just want to show off your flubber prototype, this is the event to go to.

This is the opportunity to find some like-minded hackers in your neck of the woods, and it’s not an event to miss. If you’re looking for a meetup in your area, check out the map here. If you’re interested in hosting one of these shindigs, fill out this form and we’ll set you up.

We’ll take a closer look at the meetups planned on other continents as the week progresses. If you’re still thinking of getting your own meetup on the map, now’s the time!

The HackadayPrize2016 is Sponsored by:

First Hackaday Prize Challenge Closes In One Week

April 18, 2016 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

The first five weeks of the Hackaday Prize have flown by but many of you have already been busy, submitting over 400 entries! For those that haven’t (or for those considering a second entry) there’s still time. You have until 7am PDT on Monday 4/25 to Design Your Concept.

20 Entries Will Win $1000

This is the round that everyone should enter. It’s all about documenting your idea to solve a technology problem; showing you have a plan that will lead to success. From this first challenge, 20 entries will be selected to win $1000 each and move on to the final round of the 2016 Hackaday Prize.

Design with a Team During World Create Day

That’s right, you don’t need to build anything to be eligible for this round. It’s the perfect opportunity to get your engineering dream team together for an afternoon and come up with that impressive design concept. We’re making this even easier with Hackaday World Create Day. This Saturday, 4/23, there will be Hackaday Meetups all over the world. Show up, brainstorm your concept, and submit it as an entry. Many of the World Create Day meetups have more in store, like talks and socializing. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the Hackaday community in your town!

The HackadayPrize2016 is Sponsored by:

Hackaday World Create Day: The Hackaday Event In Your Town

April 12, 2016 by Mike Szczys 1 Comment

Not too long ago we announced the Hackaday Meetups. We were hoping at least a few dozen people would be excited to host a meetup in their town. What we got was hundreds of people and we couldn’t be happier about it.

If you are excited about Hackaday and you want to meet other community members in your area this is your chance. We have streamlined the process so that you don’t need to wait for us to start setting up your meetup. Here’s how you do it:

Submit this form
Set up your event here: https://hackaday.io/event/add
Here’s a template page with details you can use to create your own
You can use graphics from this link or upload graphics of your own

The first global event is on Saturday, April 23rd: Hackaday World Create Day. Get together and get to know the other community members in your area. Brainstorm a project and document it the concept as a Hackaday Prize entry. Many groups have already added other activities that day to make their meetup really special. What we’ve seen so far is really incredible, and when you get involved it will be even better.

Check out the Meetups map for one in your area. When you find one in your area, join by clicking the “Join this Event” button in the upper right of the event page. If you don’t see one in your area, take the plunge and set up your own!

Hackaday World Create Day: April 23rd

April 7, 2016 by Mike Szczys 14 Comments

It’s time to get out and have some fun with other Hackaday people in your area and we have the perfect opportunity. Be part of Hackaday World Create Day on Saturday, April 23rd. This is all about meeting others for an afternoon of creativity. You might even find your engineering dream team! As part of World Create Day you’ll and brainstorm an amazing creation and connect with the people in your area that round out your own skills (electrical, mechanical, design, etc.).

This is the first ever worldwide event Hackaday has organized, and it’s made possible by all of the people who volunteered to organize a Hackaday Meetup in their area. We have heard from more than 100 of you so far and [Liz Krane] has done an amazing job following up with each organizer to get everything set up. You can still sign up to host (or co-host) and use the map to join a meetup already organized in your area.

We’re just getting started but the first added are in Ottawa Canada, Lagos Nigeria, Lynchburg, Virginia, and Puducherrry, India. We have more on the way in Malaysia, Greece, South Africa, India, Cyprus, New Zealand, France, Mexico, China, and many locations in the USA.

We’re sending out World Create Day sticker packs — created by [Joe Kim] and [Michael Guilfoil] — as fast as we can set up the Meetup pages. We will be on the lookout for Hackaday Meetups and World Create Day projects to feature right here on the Hackaday front page. Carve out 4/23 from your calendar and get excited, you don’t want to miss this!

Lead A Hackaday Meetup In Your City

March 23, 2016 by Mike Szczys 11 Comments

If you love Hackaday and want to meet your community you should lead a Hackaday meetup in your city. This is fun and easy. Get ready, we’ll help you do it!

Fill out this form to let us know that you’re interested in leading. We’ll set up a Meetup.com page with you as the organizer, add an organizer badge to your Hackaday.io profile, and send a swag pack your way. Of course we’ll also help publicize the event so that everyone in the area knows it’s happening.

World Create Day on April 23rd

A meetup can take on a life of its own with the right group of like-minded participants, but it has to start with an initial meeting. We’re hoping to provide that spark by coordinating our first world-wide live event: World Create Day on April 23rd.

World Create Day lays down a design challenge. The people at your meetup will pick a technology challenge and brainstorm a solution for it. Leverage the skills of everyone involved to come up with mechanical, electrical, and design solutions. This is what the Hackaday Prize is all about and what you come up with at World Create Day should be entered in the first challenge.

We want to see pictures and hear about what interesting build ideas sprouted from your group. We’ll be picking the most spectacular design solutions to share on the Hackaday front page, and there will be prizes. But we also want to celebrate the fun of getting together in person with all of the people who make Hackaday a part of their daily ritual.

Hackaday Meetup Beyond

World Create Day is a single day event, but your meetup can live on if you want it to. We can help with ideas for future meetups of your group, you can pass it off to someone else, or you can make this a one-time event. It’s up to you. But we are always looking for active communities when organizing Global Meetups. This is a great way to show that the Hackaday community is alive and thriving in your part of the world. Maybe our next big event will be held in your city!