Local Tech Initiatives We Support at Hack Upstate
Our mission at Hack Upstate is to advance and support the advancement of Central and Upstate NY’s tech community. Many of you know that we launched our coding bootcamp, Careers in Code, earlier this year to help combat poverty in central New York and train local talent for equal opportunity for jobs in the industry.
We also just held our 14th biannual weekend hackathon in early October. The free 24-hour event brings together tech folks of all levels to collaborate and build really amazing projects. We received nearly 20 submissions, but only one could walk away with the grand prize. See the results of Hack Upstate XIV here.
While we had an amazing year getting our first cohort prepared to enter the tech world and hosting our second hackathon of the year, Careers in Code and Hack Upstate are just two of our many initiatives to help develop a robust community of technologists in our region.
Here are the events that we proudly support:
Maker Faire Rochester
This annual event brings together curious folks who love to learn and share their craft. Attendees come from all different fields — artists, scientists, and engineers, too. Maker Faire takes place November 22–23 and kicks off with a Student S.T.E.A.M. Fest, a special sneak peek of the event for 3rd-8th grade students. Learn more here or apply as a maker here.
Syracuse JavaScript Meetup
This local meetup group hosts lots of free and accessible classes and workshops on coding. The group typically meets on the third Tuesday of each month, and each event has both a learning and interactive portion. Whether you’re an experienced JavaScript programmer or just getting started, all proficiency levels are welcome. The next event’s topic, Hacktoberfest, is on October 29.
Women in Coding
We also sponsor this monthly meetup hosted by Upstate Interactive’s Zoe Koulouris, as well as Annalena Davis and Christy Presler. It is a free workshop-style class every second Saturday of the month. Rather than having an instructor teach a specific topic, these workshops give you the chance to work on a project or work through an online curriculum at your own pace. Even if you’ve never coded before, you are welcome to attend, and there will be at least one mentor there to provide support and answer questions. The next meetup is on November 9.
Salt City Code Podcast
Two of our Careers in Code graduates, Kelly Corey and Karin Thorne, among others, are launching a new podcast in November. They plan to interview local web developers and technologists to learn more about the local community and will talk about their experience as bootcamp grads as well. They are currently looking for guests! If you are interested in being on the show, email saltcitycode@gmail.com.
Coffee and Code
Kelly Corey also has plans to launch her new book club, which will meet once a month locally. She’s on the hunt for a location, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted when she’s ready to launch!
Code for Syracuse
A local chapter of Code for America, Code for Syracuse partners with local nonprofits and government build a better Syracuse for everyone. They host a monthly night of civic hacking where folks work together on web-based projects related to issues in the Syracuse area. The current projects are focused on housing. Learn more here and follow them on Twitter.
Major League Hacking Technology Learning Day Conference (Local Hack Day) — October 19, 2019
This conference allows the community to pick up new skills by experiencing a professional day of learning first-hand. We’re excited to say that several involved with Careers in Code are organizing the event, including graduate Dana McMullen, Teaching Assistant, Jennifer Tran, and Student Success Representative, Jason Scharf. Join us on October 19, 2019 at ShareCuse here.
