Re: [UG-ADMINS] Hackathon as a second monthly meetup

Thanks to all for the great responses so far.  So I think I was wrongly 
using the term "hackathon", when what I really meant was something along 
the lines of a "hack night" where anyone (hopefully multiple people) can 
bring in a problem they are having or something they are struggling to 
learn, and as a group we can all help solve the issue through teamwork 
and/or pair programming.  Does this explanation change anyone's thoughts?

Please allow me to ask some questions about the other ideas shared. (I 
am including the entire list because I think there may be others that 
can benefit from the answers.) I like the ideas shared, and I think most 
of us have heard them before but become intimidated when faced with the 
"how".

@Rafael Dohms: The "testfest" sounds very interesting...how would it 
work? What would we test? Pick a project that needs tests and turn 
everyone loose?  Would it be writing unit tests in PHPUnit, or more like 
"black box" testing?

@Keith Casey: Lightning talks have come up many times, and it seems to 
work when done well.  Would I create a meetup and inform that anyone who 
wishes to talk for 10 to 15 minutes? What if no one prepares a talk?  I 
suppose I would need to have those interested in talking let me know, so 
I would know ahead of time if there are no talks.


Regards,
Adam Culp
561-870-6361
Twitter: @adamculp
MojoLive: http://mojolive.com/profile/adamculp
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamculp

On 07/17/2012 02:28 AM, Rafael Dohms wrote:
> Both in PHPSP and now in AmsterdamPHP we held hackathon-like events, but
> mainly we did TestFests.
>
> It worked very well and was very productive, we had a good amount of people
> and even more tests on both cases.
>
> However its a day long thing, no use trying it in a meeting as there is a
> lot of "setup" time before its actually under way. Maybe since you are
> doing a "series" and you take that into account, take one meeting for setup
> and separating into groups, net meeting "how to contribute" then some
> actual contributing.. make it a process not just a one time hackathon, that
> could work if you have a solid group and less stray cats.
>
> Anyway. its awesome, but it needs time, so think about it.
>
> *Rafael Machado Dohms*
> *Developer, Evangelist, Gamer
> *
> *http://doh.ms*
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 8:06 AM, Sandy Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I saw it. It was fun. My name was Warhammer. This may have contributed
>> heavily to the fun.
>>
>> On Jul 17, 2012, at 1:29 AM, Richard Lynch wrote:
>>
>>> 30 Talks in 60 minutes :-)
>>>
>>> Oh. Wait. Only somebody into the Chicago off-off-off Broadway theater
>>> is going to get that one...
>>>
>>> If you are interested in something like Second City at top speed, and
>>> skits in random order, with an entry price of $9 + $ (roll of a
>>> six-sided die):
>>>
>>> http://www.neofuturists.org/
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Sandy Smith - mojoLive http://mojolive.com/
>> @SandyS1
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>