My First Hackathon

As I said in my first post, have been a hacking fanatic ever since I went to MHacks6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I don’t think I would have ever discovered hackathons if it wasn’t for my sister. One day she went to this great event (MHacks5) and she told me all about it. My first impression was something more or less to the effect of “oh just some more Vanessa shenanigans that doesn’t apply to me because I’m an engineering major, not a CS or PR major.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. The more she told me about MHacks the more I wanted to go to the next one, so one thing led to another and I booked a flight to Detroit.

MHacks

After my arrival, I was simply stunned with how many people there were. It was one thing to hear about a 1600 student hackathon, but it’s another to walk into one. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people in hoodies and promotional t-shirts in my life. The atmosphere was lively and everyone was talking; Contrary to the typical hacker stereotype all these people were socializing and getting to know each other.

As I waded through the crowd of hackers (among the many hacker-veterans) I couldn’t forget the overwhelming sense of humility. Up until then I had always felt like one of those “tech people” in the masses. That’s when I realized if I was a tech person, then these people were like tech messiah. I don’t believe that, looking back, calling them “tech people” wouldn’t do them justice; Calling them hackers does.

After I was checked in, I started to take a good look at hackerspaces. I am sure that people must assume it looks a little like this: Dark room. Guy with his face covered. Some real serious shit going on. But as it turns out in the real world where people live (and where not everyone on a computer is trying to steal everyone else’s bank account number) hacking spaces are actually pretty fun places. They tend to look a lot more like this: Sometimes they are in lecture halls like this, And sometimes they are in regular rooms at tables, almost as though hackers are regular people who like to work with the lights on. Hacking spaces are basically always open spaces with lots of tables and extension cords, and it creates a harmonious atmosphere of productivity and socialization.

Once I finally settled and found a spot it was time to go swag hunting (heck yeah)! Like any big event, MHacks was full of amazing swag from all sorts of companies, (like Walmart, Soylent, and Goldman-Sachs) all of which were looking for potential employees.

Edit: Moved the ultimate takeaway to part two, also created part two.