Austin, TX, U.S.A.

RHoK Global June 2012

Random Hacks of Kindness is a global hackathon for social good seeks to make the world a better place by building a community of innovation. Twice a year, subject matter experts with technology needs team up with developers, designers, and managers to solve problems with local and global impact in the space of a weekend.

Each RHoK event is structured as a fast-paced competition where participants team up and have a set amount of time to solve the challenges they are given. At the end of the two-day marathon of hacking, a panel reviews each solution, and the winners will walk away with prizes, the chance to see their applications put to use on the ground, and the right to call themselves “RHoKstars” ever after.”

Bazaarvoice is proud to support RHoK #5 Austin on June 1 - 3 2012. Want to hack for humanity? Then sign up below! Like us on our Facebook page, and tell your friends about us by following and retweeting @RHoKAustin. For more information, check this page often for updates, or contact the event lead: Luveen Wadhwani

 

Registration Deadline: 
Friday, June 1, 2012
Reception Date: 
Friday, June 1, 2012
Reception Location: 
HomeAway Roof - 1011 W. 5th Street Austin TX 78703
Reception details: 
Enjoy food, drinks, and music with a great view of Austin downtown on the roof of HomeAway! Meet new people, learn about the problems we're going to be working on at the weekend hackathon, and hear inspiring words from our guest speakers. Location: HomeAway Roof - 1011 W. 5th Street Austin TX 78703. Time: 7 PM - 11 PM. Speakers: Max Thoene - Vice President at Rackspace Susan McDowell - Executive Director at LifeWorks; Christopher Schmitt - Author, Founder of Heatvision.com; Keith Casey Jr - Developer Evangelist at Twilio; Samantha Snabes - Advocate at NASA OpenGov; Michelle Mirsky - Family Liaison at Dell Children's Medical Center; Joe Merante - The Sheltr Project, Code for America Fellow; Tom Bisgiclia - Director of MIS at A Glimmer of Hope; Randy Mathisen - Founder of the FourTeachers Project; Erin Gilmer - Health 2.0, Attorney at Gilmer Health Law.
Hackathon Location: 
Cospace
Hackathon Details: 

Location:

Cospace (map)

911 West Anderson Lane, Austin, TX 78757

 

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JOIN OUR LIVE STREAM ON USTREAM!

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Schedule:

Saturday, June 2nd

  • 9.30 am - Breakfast, sponsored by Nuevo Mexico
  • 10 am - Kickoff & hackathon begins
  • 12 pm - Lunch, sponsored by Man Bites Dog
  • 6 pm - Dinner, sponsored by Cypress Grill
  • 10 pm - Late night snack fix

Sunday, June 3rd

  • Hackathon continues (through the night if you'd like)
  • 8 am - Breakfast
  • 12 pm - Lunch, sponsored by The Peached Tortilla
  • 2:30 pm - Hackathon ends & judging begins
  • 3:30 pm - Judging completed & prizes awarded.
  • (Unofficial) After party.

Judges:

  • Susan McDowell - Executive Director at LifeWorks
  • Christopher Schmitt - Author, Founder of Heatvision.com
  • Keith Casey Jr - Developer Evangelist at Twilio
  • Ripal Nathuji - Cloud Architect

 

Prizes:

  • 1st Prize - 5 iPads, sponsored by HomeAway
  • 2nd Prize - 5 Rokus, sponsored by Rackspace
  • 3rd Prize - 5 Bose headphones, sponsored by Rackspace
  • 4th Prize - AMEX gift cards, sponsored by Bazaarvoice

Sponsors:

Event Leads: 
luveenw
Problems We Are Working On: 
Empowering Teachers with Technology : Phase One - The Key
Empowering Teachers with Technology : Phase Two - The Cabinet
Empowering Teachers with Technology : Phase Three - The Lounge
Sheltr Project in Austin
Pledge for Hope
Improving Security at Dell Children’s Medical Center - Controlled access to patient units
Improving Communication at Dell Children’s Medical Center
Improving Navigation at Dell Children’s Medical Center
Access to Mental Health Care
Complete View from the ISS
Related Sponsors: 

UI/UX design support provided by Azavea

Event Updates

Jun 3

And the winners are... (in Austin, Texas)

Published by Thea Aldrich

The amazing experts, sponsors and hackers taking part in RHoKatx are celebrating the end of an amazing weekend of hacking and good company with a few beers, tacos and snacks. Each of the six teams produced working versions of their hacks. The winning hacks were:

1st Place: Dell Children's Access and Security - solved by WanderID

2nd Place: ForTeachers Desk 

3rd Place: NASA ISS Imaging

4th Place: Dell Children's Navigation

 

We would like to thank all of our amazing sponsors, experts and especially hackers for making this event one of the best in RHoK history!

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Jun 2

RHoKing Out in Austin!

Published by Thea Aldrich

Random Hacks of Kindness is in full swing at Cospace in Austin, Texas. Thanks to the amazing local organizers and sponsors more than 40 hackers are building solutions to nine problem definitions. 

The event is live streaming on Ustream. You can also follow the latest news coming from this event on Twitter at #rhokatx. 

 

The teams will be working through the night and all day Sunday. Prizes for the top four teams will be:

1st Prize - 5 iPads, sponsored by HomeAway

2nd Prize - 5 Rokus, sponsored by Rackspace
 
3rd Prize - 5 Bose headphones, sponsored by Rackspace
 
4th Prize - AMEX gift cards, sponsored by Bazaarvoice
Read More
Apr 8

Austin is Building Technology for Humanity, and You're Invited

Published by luveenw

Imagine a future where community and non-profit organizations have access to top-notch developer talent from around the world. In such a future, we could unleash the unlimited potential of technology to make it a better place. We could quickly build powerful and meaningful solutions to critical problems like natural resource management and disaster management, which could result in millions of lives bettered or saved. The Random Hacks of Kindess team is working to make this future a reality, today.

Twice a year, RHoK brings together developers, designers, and managers in cities around the world, who team up with local community representatives in search of technology solutions to local and global issues. Each RHoK event is structured as a two-day marathon of hacking where developers have a set amount of time to solve the challenges they are given. At the end, a panel of judges reviews the solutions. The winning teams are rewarded with prizes, and the chance to see their applications get massive traction in real-life situations.

While solving high-impact problems, one of the main aims of RHoK events is to make it engaging for people while they're at it.

  • Developers, designers, and product managers have the opportunity to network with their peers from the local community, showcase their talents, and engage in what they truly love doing.
  • Subject matter experts get to meet their colleagues and gather information about the broad range of efforts in the region. They also get to drive teams to build solutions to the issues they are most passionate about.
  • Speakers and judges have the opportunity to inspire a crowd of people to build solutions that are truly world-changing.
  • Sponsors of the event can represent their companies and spread the word about the work they do. If a sponsor is offering a data set or API to power problem solutions at the event, they also have an opportunity to generate some buzz about these.
  • Everyone gets free drinks, food, and a t-shirt!

 

The city of Austin will play host to yet another RHoK event on June 1 - 3 2012. The city is bursting with color and life at this time of the year, which aptly reflects the passion of its upcoming tech community. The first RHoK Austin event was held in December 2011, and was a resounding success. Some of the solutions that came out of the last event are:

 

RHoK Austin takes its fun very seriously. The event starts off with a reception where participants have a great time relaxing and meeting like-minded peers. The fun continues into the weekend, developers typically working through Saturday night with their fill of coffee and snacks. And after the winners are announced on Sunday, the after-party begins! This is the time for participants to unwind and celebrate their achievements over the packed weekend.

We are currently looking for participants, subject matter experts, sponsors, speakers, and judges for RHoK Austin. If you are inspired by what this event has to offer, please get in touch with the RHoK team on our website. Come help us RHoK once more!

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