NYC Hip Hop Hacks Hackathon Rocked!

Now that Jayda is totally into computer programming and wants to learn how to build video games and apps, it is my job as mother, teacher, after-school coordinator and guidance counselor to get her plugged in with other like-minded people!
One of the ways that I have done this is by researching hackathons in our area. Now before you get all worked up over the word hackathon--let me first explain what a hackathon is. Google has the following definition:

hack·a·thon
ˈhakəˌTHän/  : an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming.

So no, this is not a gathering of kids learning how to break into other people's computers--although I have met people there who know how to do that! There are usually hackathons for professionals and separate ones for middle and high school students. If your child is in middle school you can usually get permission for them to attend a hackathon for older people but make sure they are mature enough to handle the environment and plan on chaperoning.

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Recently Jayda and I attended Hip Hop Hacks (http://hiphophacks.org ) held at Spotify. The format was different from other hackathons in that it included speakers from the music industry and attracted a variety of people from the music and tech world.  I loved how we were challenged to connect our love for music and tech together, in order to create something useful for the world.

There were great workshops to attend and lots of cool people to meet. I would encourage anyone interested in getting exposed to the tech world to attend a hackathon--they are happening everywhere!

Here are a few sites to get you started:
https://codeday.org/
http://www.hackalist.org/ 
http://hiphophacks.younghackers.us/ 

Check out the Hip Hop Hackathon photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskxKoih5