Hackathon Aims to Crack Global Challenges

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 19:14:43 +0000

Hackathon Aims to Crack Global Challenges

(Madison, WI) – ��ñ�� Campus Web Ministries is partnering in the Indigitous #Hack happening on November 4-6, 2016, in cities and universities around the world, connecting tech students with missions organizations. This global hackathon is aimed at convening thousands of students, technologists, digital specialists, and media leaders to collaborate around missional technology projects.

“You don’t have to be a programmer to get involved,” said Bret Staudt Willet, director of ��ñ��’s Ministry in Digital Spaces. “We need designers, photographers, writers, project managers, social media gurus—creative thinkers of all types. The most important skill sets are the abilities to work with others and find ways to solve problems.”

��ñ�� Missions director Tom Lin, the newly named next president of ��ñ��, was pleased to note that Indigitous #Hack builds on the success of Hack4Missions at ��ñ��’s Urbana 15 Student Missions Conference last December. “I’m pleased to see the great number of organizations who are working together to support this event,” he said. The other ministries involved in Indigitous #Hack—Cru, Jesus Film Project, One Hope, Quite Uncommon—have most recently been joined by Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Educational Media Foundation, parent organization of Air1 and K-LOVE radio networks.

More ministry partnerships and participants are being sought. There are a number of ways to be a part of Indigitous #Hack:

Help spread the word. Tell the story and get people excited for what’s happening. Contact people who will care about this vision and want to support it, sponsor it, or build something awesome at it.
Lead an event in your city. Anyone who is well-organized, good at delegating, and able to pull people together can be a local host! Hosts could be college students, young professionals, campus staff, or anyone with a heart to see the local community jump in on this vision.
Be a mentor. We are looking for mentors to participate the weekend of the event. The best mentors are people who ask good questions and help people iterate and improve their work. They serve as a resource person for participants to help with ideation, untangle thorny issues, define team roles and workflow, and prepare for final presentations.
You can hack! We are all in this because we want to create something.

The initial round of host cities for the Indigitous #Hack event includes seven cities in North America, two in Africa, one in Europe, and 11 in Asia. The invitation is open for more cities and more individuals to get involved. Find out more at www.indigitous.org/hack.

For more information:
Mark Breneman
Campus Web Professional
mbreneman@intervarsity.org
(608) 443-4582

News Keywords

Tech Challenges

Hack for Missions