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Hackathon will benefit COVID-19 frontline workers

Image by noshad ahmed from Pixabay

43North may be best known for its annual startup competition and the hundreds of high-tech jobs it has helped create, but the organization holds other types of events as well. The second annual Code:Buffalo hackathon now underway is designed to benefit the community in more ways than one. 

43North Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Maura Devlin says as the community “comes together by staying home,” this year’s Code:Buffalo event is a “hackathon at home.”        

“A hackathon, generally speaking, is a competition where typically computer programmers and designers project managers come together to compete to create something typically in response to some kind of prompt or a theme. And for Code:Buffalo 2020,our prompt is to build something that supports Buffalo,” Devlin said.

Given the current circumstances, the hackathon will take place virtually. The challenge, she says, is broad by design.    

“Maybe someone will develop an amazing application. Maybe it's something that could help in light of COVID-19 and the things we’re experiencing out there in the world right now,” Devlin said. 

It’s free and open to everyone, from professionals to students. Teams of up to five people are allowed. The top prize is $10,000. While it’s meant to spotlight the tech community, Devlin says 43North and its partners also believe it’s important to support people who can’t stay home including health  care workers and first responders.        

“For each participant that signs up to Code:Buffalo, we're going to be donating a meal to Western New York Feeds the Frontlines. So just by participating, you have a chance to also say thank you and give back in a small way to all those people that are that are out there fighting for us right now.

The virtual event runs April 17-24 but participants can start building as soon as they register. The deadline is April 17.

 

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