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HackerNest
Founded1.11.11 (incorporated 12.12.12)
Typenon-profit organization
HeadquartersCanada Toronto, Canada
Location
  • Worldwide
ServicesUniting tech communities, socially beneficial hackathons
Members
35,000+
JJ Beh, Robin Toop, Shaharris, Chloe Kagan
Key people
Splinter cell organizers, Teresa Shih, Ryan Sykes, Annika Thurlow, Sheena Casselman [1]
Websitehackernest.com

HackerNest is a federally incorporated Canadian not-for-profit organization and global movement founded on January 11, 2011.[4] The organization unites local technology communities around the world through community events and socially beneficial hackathons[5] to further its mission of economic development through technological proliferation. It is the largest, most prolific technology community in Canada[6] with growing international popularity.

Background

HackerNest was founded on the belief that the best way to improve the world is to build supportive local technology communities characterized by honesty, trust, sharing, and respect - everywhere.[6] The rationale is that a city's technology community is the cornerstone of economic development that enables collaboration, innovation, mentorship, knowledge-sharing, recruiting, and scientific progress.[6][7] Growing and strengthening the community helps businesses hire better, make more money, and create more jobs, ultimately putting more food on the table.

The organization's ideology is deeply rooted in chaos theory, the idea that minor differences at the start of a process in a dynamic system can have major, unexpected impacts on end results. Similar to how the seemingly-insignificant act of handing a child a pencil culminated in the artistic legacy of Pablo Picasso decades later, HackerNest reasons that making a new friend at a Tech Social could result in a partnership that one day cures cancer.[4] With that in mind, HackerNest "splinter cells" (chapters) regularly host social gatherings open to anyone interested in technology called "Tech Socials". The events vary by city, but maintain the same core tenets: all are nonpartisan, unpretentious, anti-elitist, and pitch-free.[7]

The first Tech Social was held in Toronto on Monday, January 31, 2011.[8] HackerNest Toronto is currently the world's largest Meetup group for programmers[9] and Canada's largest technology meetup (both in terms of group membership and number of attendees at events).[5][10][11]

As of May 2016, HackerNest splinter cells have run over 300+ events in 28 cities across 14 countries on 5 continents.[4]

Activities

HackerNest generates revenue to fuel its nonprofit mission by offering hackathon production and consultation services to companies, organizations, and governments.

In 2014, HackerNest produced Construct, Canada's largest hardware hackathon[10][12][13][14] and DementiaHack for the British government,[15][16][17] the world's first hackathon dedicated to helping people with dementia and their caregivers.[18]

In 2015, the organization produced an internal innovation hackathon for Deloitte as well as DementiaHack[19][20][21] Toronto 2015 with Facebook as the lead sponsor[22][23] and support from the UK government, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

In 2016, HackerNest produced CourtHack[24] with the US National Center for State Courts in Salt Lake City at the Utah Supreme Court (and featured Supreme Court Justice Constandinos Himonas on its judging panel). HackerNest produced the Hack4Equality[25][26][27] LGBTQ hackathon with Grindr[28] in Los Angeles in September 2016 using White House Promise Zone and Opportunity Project data.

The organization is developing a community platform called "Unite" that intends to bring together a city's entire technology community by featuring regionally-specific jobs, companies, events, classes, funding sources, and more, all in one place. A pilot of the platform is currently being sponsored by the City of Toronto with an open beta slated for 2016.

HackerNest Unite was a finalist in the 2015 Canadian Global Impact Competition.[29]

Splinter cells

HackerNest refers to its chapters in different cities as "splinter cells", most likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to the eponymous popular video game franchise. Splinter cells are independently managed by volunteers and generally produce Tech Socials monthly or bi-monthly.

North America

  • Boston, USA
  • Calgary, Canada
  • Dallas-Fort Worth, USA
  • Detroit, USA
  • Edmonton, Canada
  • Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada
  • Las Vegas, USA
  • Los Angeles, USA
  • Mississauga, Canada
  • Montréal, Canada
  • New York, USA
  • Ottawa, Canada
  • Peterborough, Canada
  • Phoenix, USA
  • Salt Lake City, USA
  • Seattle, USA
  • Toronto, Canada
  • Vancouver, Canada

Asia

  • Colombo, Sri Lanka[30]
  • Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Manila, Philippines[31]
  • Singapore, Singapore

South America

  • Bogota, Colombia
  • São Paulo, Brazil

Europe

  • London, UK
  • Manchester, UK
  • Niš, Serbia
  • Tbilisi, Georgia

Australia

  • Auckland, New Zealand
  • Melbourne, Australia

Affiliations

Past HackerNest sponsors include BlackBerry, Microsoft, and OANDA. Notable companies that have donated office space as venues for Tech Socials include Google (Kitchener-Waterloo), Facebook (Seattle), Microsoft (Kuala Lumpur), Techstars (New York), and Twitter (New York).

HackerNest actively participates on the City of Toronto's Innovation & Technology Advisory Committee and the Young Entrepreneur Council Advisory Body established by former Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly to help shape the city's interaction with the technology community.[32]

HackerNest is a resident organization of the Ryerson Digital Media Zone.[33]

Awards

The City of Toronto's former Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly recognizing HackerNest for contributions to the city's technology community.
  • Tufts University presented HackerNest with the Boryana Damnyanova Award for Corporate and Social Responsibility on February 20, 2016.
  • HackerNest was recognized by the City of Toronto for contributions to the technology community on July 28, 2014.[34]
  • Conversely, on September 28, 2015, HackerNest recognized Councillor Kelly with the "Nerd Champion" award for his support of the city's technology community.[35]
  • HackerNest Unite was a finalist in the 2015 Canadian Global Impact Competition.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Team". HackerNest. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  2. ^ "HackerNest". Google Plus. HackerNest. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  3. ^ "♥ to HackerNest Tbilisi!". YouTube. HackerNest. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "About". HackerNest. 15 Nov 2013. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  5. ^ a b Emrich, Tom (16 Oct 2013). "HackerNest Sees Global Expansion Thanks To Their No-Douchebag Policy". Betakit. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Choo, Ching Yee (17 Oct 2014). "Operation HackerNest". The Ant Daily. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  7. ^ a b "HackerNest FAQ". HackerNest. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  8. ^ "Toronto Hacker Nest / Coder Collective / Tech Paradise". Meetup. 31 Jan 2011. Retrieved 22 Dec 2014.
  9. ^ "Programmers Meetup Groups". Meetup. Retrieved 25 Dec 2014.
  10. ^ a b Czikk, Joseph (14 Jan 2014). "HackerNest's Mind & Motion Hackathon Next Month Focuses On Wearable Tech". Betakit. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  11. ^ Farshchi, Jamie (October 2013). "HackerNest Taking Tech Social To Foster Community". MISC Magazine. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  12. ^ Lam, Eva (4 Jun 2014). "Forget Silicon Valley, Here Comes Toronto!". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  13. ^ Huffman, Ashley (3 Mar 2014). "What a hackathon can teach your company about agility". ITBusiness.ca. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  14. ^ NewsDesk, TechVibes (20 Feb 2014). "HackerNest to Host Hardware-focused Hackathon in Toronto". TechVibes. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  15. ^ British High Commission Ottawa (25 Jul 2014). "Toronto hackathon to target dementia challenges with innovative ideas". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  16. ^ Lewis, Rob (5 Sep 2014). "Actor Seth Rogen Wants You to Attend DementiaHack". TechVibes. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  17. ^ Usborne, Simon (22 Oct 2014). "Handy hacks that make life easier: New book reveals how to rid your inbox of spam, protect your passwords and amplify your iPhone". The Independent. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  18. ^ "DementiaHack 2014". HackerNest. 16 Oct 2014. Retrieved 23 Dec 2014.
  19. ^ Leung, Wency. "Toronto hackathon seeks new solutions to help dementia patients". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  20. ^ Campbell, Meagan. "Facebook invites tech nerds to hack dementia". Maclean's Magazine. Maclean's Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  21. ^ NewsDesk, Techvibes (19 September 2015). "Facebook and HackerNest to Host Hackathon to help those Affected by Dementia". Techvibes. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  22. ^ "Facebook and HackerNest to Produce World's Foremost Hackathon to Help Those Affected by Dementia". Yahoo Finance. Energi PR. Sep 15, 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  23. ^ Leung, Wency (Nov 5, 2015). "Toronto hackathon seeks new solutions to help dementia patients". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  24. ^ Burke, Troy. "NCSC partners with HackerNest for CourtHack Hackathon". Extract Systems. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  25. ^ Honigman, Brian (Sep 20, 2016). "Lessons In Corporate Philanthropy: Grindr Connects Nonprofits And LGBTQ Advocates With Tech Talent". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved Sep 30, 2016.
  26. ^ Dickey, Megan Rose (Sep 16, 2016). "Grindr wants tech people to combat LGBTQ inequalities". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved Sep 30, 2016.
  27. ^ Hudson, David (Sep 19, 2016). "Grindr partners with White House to run hackathon for LGBTI equality". Grindr partners with White House to run hackathon for LGBTI equality. Gay Star News. Retrieved Sep 30, 2016.
  28. ^ "Grindr collaborates with the Opportunity Project on an unprecedented hackathon" (PDF). Hack4Equality Media Alert. Grindr. Jul 21, 2016.
  29. ^ a b Kintanar, Justine (24 March 2015). "Meet the Finalists of the 2015 Canadian Global Impact Competition". ventureLAB. ventureLAB. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  30. ^ README (21 May 2014). "HackerNest Launching with Techkatha Meetup". README. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  31. ^ "Tech Startups Come Together To Connect N' Collaborate At The HackerNest Manila Meetup". 14 Oct 2014. Retrieved 15 Dec 2014.
  32. ^ "Deputy Mayor's Innovation and Technology Roundtable" (PDF). June 23, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  33. ^ "Ryerson Digital Media Zone Current Partners". Ryerson Digital Media Zone. Ryerson University. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  34. ^ "HackerNest News". HackerNest. 17 Nov 2014. Retrieved 22 Dec 2014.
  35. ^ McBride, Jason (16 December 2015). "The Norm Show". Toronto Life. Toronto Life Publishing Company Limited. Retrieved 16 Dec 2015.
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