Collaborate in the First Virtual Hackathon – #Commhacks For Communications Pros
Here’s something fun to add to your May activities … My friend Sarah Evans emailed me last night to let me know that Tracky had just launched the first Virtual Hackathon called #Commhacks for communications professionals.
When I asked Sarah how #CommHacks came to fruition, she explained, “We created the hackathon because there’s no reason to keep doing things that don’t work. The communications industry has so many nuances and it’s a time intensive role, especially for those who create content. With the advent of social collaboration, we can host this communications hackathon virtually and share the wisdom with the masses.”
I couldn’t agree more. We need to collaborate and share and then learn together. Here are the details, so you can get involved:
Anyone who works in the PR, marketing, journalism or content space is eligible to participate in #CommHacks and doesn’t need formal training as a developer. It’s a hackathon based around #workhacks, or things that make a frequently used communications task easier, more efficient or, perhaps, eliminated altogether.
The hackathon went live yesterday and runs through Sunday, May 12. Tracky has partnered with sponsors, like Sincerely, Inc. (Postagram), Casetagram and Pitchengine to offer a wide range of prizes to five winners. Top prize receives an iPad Mini along with other perks. All of the best #workhacks will be packaged together in a free e-book following the end of the hackathon.
Hackathons are typically associated with computer developers or those with a deep knowledge of software, but #CommHacks encourages virtual collaboration to improve the entire communications industry. If someone created something from scratch, hacked together two or more tools or used an API to create something new, then they’re eligible to submit an entry.
You can submit #workhacks for one, or more, of these “Areas of Need:”
- News
- Community relations
- Government relations
- Media relations
- Content marketing
- Editorial calendars
- Monitoring
- SEO
- Social networks
- Overall communications (e.g. internal, email)
- Wild card
Here’s where you can find out more about #CommHacks:
- Announcement post: http://sarahsfav.es/2013/05/02/commhack/
- Overview page: https://tracky.com/commhacks
- Submission page: https://tracky.com/commhacks-submit
Good luck and have fun with your #workhacks!