The hack is back: An invitation to get creative

We're organizing another hackathon! It's free, and it's for everyone — not just programmers. So mark your calendar for the weekend of 25 and 26 October, sign up with a friend, and come to Denver for the most creative 48 hours you'll spend this year. Then stay for the annual geophysics fest that is the SEG Annual Meeting!

First things first: what is a hackathon? Don't worry, it's not illegal, and it has nothing to do with security. It has to do with ideas and collaborative tool creation. Here's a definition from Wikipedia:

A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, or codefest) is an event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers and project managers, collaborate intensively on software projects.

I would add that we just need a lot of scientists — you can bring your knowledge of workflows, attributes, wave theory, or rock physics. We need all of that.

Creativity in geophysics

The best thing we can do with our skills — and to acquire new ones — is create things. And if we create things with and alongside others, we learn from them and they learn from us, and we make lasting connections with people. We saw all this last year, when we built several new geophysics apps:

The event is at the THRIVE coworking space in downtown Denver, less than 20 minutes' walk from the convention centre — a Manhattan distance of under 1 mile. They are opening up especially for us — so we'll have the place to ourselves. Just us, our laptops, high-speed WiFi, and lots of tacos. 

Sign up here.It's going to be awesome.

The best in the biz

This business is blessed with some forward-looking companies that know all about innovation in subsurface geoscience. We're thrilled to have some of them as sponsors of our event, and I hope they will also be providing coders and judges for the event itself. So far we have generous support from dGB — creators of the OpendTect seismic interpretation platform — and ffA — creators the GeoTeric seismic attribute analysis toolbox. A massive Thank You to them both.

If you think your organization might be up for supporting the event, please get in touch! And remember, a fantastic way to support the event — for free! — is just to come along and take part. Sign your team up here!

Student grants

We know there's a lot going on at SEG on this same weekend, and we know it's easier to get money for traditional things like courses. So... We promise that this hackathon will bring you at least as much lasting joy, insight, and skill development as any course. And, if you'll write and tell us what you'd build, we'll consider you for one of four special grants of $250 to help cover your extra costs. No strings. Send your ideas to matt@agilegeoscience.com.

Update

on 2014-09-07 12:17 by Matt Hall

OpenGeoSolutions, the Calgary-based tech company that's carrying the FreeUSP torch and exporing the frequency domain so thoroughly, has sponsred the hackathon again this year. Thank you to Jamie and Chris and everyone else at OGS!