As we near the annual conference it's also time that I start thinking about the Hack-A-Way. For those not familiar with the Hack-A-Way it began as an attempt to keep up the momentum. With the annual conference the only time many of the developers got to see each other face to face there was a clear need for another event in the spring. As the last few years have progressed it's value has increased as some developers have told me that they are so busy with other obligations at the annual conference that the Hack-A-Way is more and more the main time they can focus on code with peers without distractions. It's also a time we can hash out large issues and get past roadblocks as we did with the future of the staff client last year.
As in previous years I will take proposals for hosting the event starting the day after the Boston conference. Who hosts and a poll among attendees determines much of the time line but we look at having the event in the September / October time frame. So, if you might be interested in hosting go ahead and start thinking about it. The number of attendees fluctuates but it's in the 10 - 20 range, not 100 - 200. We don't charge registrations but we do try to pick up a sponsor to help underwrite keeping the event as cheap as possible. We are perfectly amiable to a cheap hotel with a spartan meeting room so long as it has good wifi and caffeine available. I'm also asked each year about who this event is for. To be blunt it's for developers. That includes anyone interested in contributing code in the community. A few changes this year. One, we will be adopting a non-harassment policy. This has never been an issue, nor do I suspect it would be, but with awareness increasing among technology events we want to be firmly on the side of the good guys (and good gals) and good practices. Secondly, I'm always asked about events at the Hack-A-Way. This is an event for and by developers so we don't have presentations per se though we often do have break out sessions where developers present on a topic. I've personally enjoyed these in past years and repeatedly heard they were really informative. So, I want to encourage any developers attending to think about doing more of them whether on new development topics, existing best practices, or something else entirely. In the interest of this, once we announce location and developers start being able to plan attendance I will open a Google Doc for agenda editing. We don't want it to be a highly regimented event - it is for hacking on code after all - but I think it will be a good opportunity for attendees to share what they're interested in accomplishing out of it. In that spirit the Doodle poll will also feature some new questions this year about what folks would like to see break out sessions on and accomplish at the Hack-A-Way. This will probably be my only email about this until after Boston so ... see folks there! -- Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, York County Library System "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." -- Ray Bradbury <https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1630.Ray_Bradbury> "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -- C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis>
