November 03, 2017
Media Advisory – HackSI
The giant Southern Illinois University Carbondale hackathon known as HackSI returns to the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, 1740 Innovation Drive in Carbondale, on Nov. 4-5. Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the event.
The hackathon brings together people of all ages as they work with computers to code and program original projects and/or solve problems in a short time period. Although some contestants are computer programmers or otherwise involved in the graphic or interface design, software development or related fields, many are just people with an interest in computers, programming, innovation and creativity.
Their challenge is to see what they can create in 24 hours. They conceive an idea, build a working prototype and present it to the organizers and other participants for judging. The winners will receive prizes. Some of the previous winners had no prior programming experience.
The inaugural SIU event was in 2013 and since then, interest has grown dramatically, with competitors ranging in age from about seven to 70. More than 120 people participated last year. Already about 185 people have signed up for this year’s competition and registration is still open at www.hacksi.org.
The competition runs from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day. Opportunities for good photos, video and stories exist throughout the competition. Competitors will make their final presentations at about 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 with the winner to be announced after the last presentation.
Sponsors include SIU, Liaison and Potentia Analytics along with Black Diamond Harley-Davidson, Carbondale Tourism, Krispy Kreme, the Ultimate Gaming Championships, Rend Lake College, Saluki Screen Repair, OpenSpace and Lost Decade Games.
For more information about HackSI, visit www.hacksi.org or contact Lynn Andersen Lindberg at lindberg@siu.edu or by calling 618/453-6754. Media who are planning to cover the final presentations should contact Lindberg to verify the starting time as it may be adjusted, depending upon the number of presentations.