Carla Swank Fox, Author at TechFed Nashville

Nash Hack Weekathon to Stand in for BarCamp Nashville This Year

August 1, 2018 By Carla Swank Fox

A new week-long tech event that culminates in a 48-hour community hackathon will substitute for BarCamp Nashville this October.

Nash Hack Weekathon will be held October 13-21, 2018. It’s a new event created by the organizing team behind BarCamp Nashville.

Since 2007, BarCamp Nashville has been an important part of Nashville’s tech ecosystem. This new event is designed to be a fresh way to connect to the grassroots tech community in Middle Tennessee. Although BCN will be in hiatus this year, Nash Hack Weekathon offers an opportunity for developers, designers, product managers, and marketers, to stretch their current skills or try out something new.

“We’re excited to launch this new event that has very similar objectives to BarCamp – to connect everyone within the grassroots tech community and bring us together,” said Jesse Page, Nash Hack Weekathon planning team chair. “We’re expecting teams to consist of participants from various disciplines in tech, so we’re excited to see what teams pitch and create during this weeklong event.”

The event will begin with a pitch competition, resulting in the selection of several featured teams. During the weekday evenings leading up to the hackathon, these teams will receive consultation from experts in the local tech community and meetup groups, with topics ranging from user feedback, UI/UX design, agile planning, and more to improve their project ideas. At the end of the week, the 48-hour hackathon will kick off; featured teams will pitch their updated project ideas, recruit team members, and start building. At the end of the hackathon, the featured teams will present their projects for prizes.

For those who are not a part of a featured team, there are still plenty of ways to participate in the event. The weeknight meetups are open to anyone interested in learning more about the designated topic. Additionally, all are welcome to create their own teams to participate in the hackathon, or simply come and work on a project of their own. Everyone is invited to demo their work in a science-fair style event at the conclusion of the hackathon.

Learn more about Nash Hack Weekathon, Nashville’s hackathon, at nashhackweekathon.org or ping one of the organizers in the #hackathons channel on NashDev Slack. Sign on to help by emailing volunteer at nashhackweekathon.org.

Nash Hack Weekathon is organized by volunteers, led by planning team chair Jesse Page, VR developer and sound designer at BlackBox Realities, and is backed by TechFed Nashville.

Lunch & Learn Series Shares Product Development Expertise

June 4, 2018 By Carla Swank Fox

TechFed Nashville, in partnership with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, will present a monthly Lunch & Learn Series designed to connect tech startups with experts in the local product development community.

The Lunch & Learns will feature leaders and doers in Nashville’s business, entrepreneurial, and tech ecosystem. Whether you are a software developer, designer, product manager, marketer, entrepreneur, or business leader, these seminars are designed to help you gain a deeper understanding of the best ways to design technical solutions for challenging business needs.

“With this series, we aim to reduce the gap in communication and understanding between business leaders and their tech talent,” said Bob Batcheler, organizer of the TechFed Lunch & Learn Series. “We hope attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the mindsets, cultural factors, and practices that generate alignment around the delivery of customer value.”

The first Lunch & Learn seminar, “Top Five Lessons Learned: A Career at the Intersection of Business and Product,” will be held at 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 13, at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. The presenter will be Daniel Norton, co-founder and former CTO of LeanKit. An accomplished software developer, technologist, and business leader, Daniel has a unique perspective and boundless enthusiasm to share from his experience. He is currently pursuing an MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Business.

Lunch & Learns are free and open to all members of the Nashville business and tech community. You do not need to be a member of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center to participate.

Doors will open at 11:30 am at the Entrepreneur Center. The program will begin at 12:00 pm, and end promptly at 12:45 pm. Parking is FREE with validation. A light lunch will be provided, courtesy of sponsors for each seminar.

Registration is FREE, but seats are limited.

The Lunch & Learn Series is organized by TechFed Speakers, an initiative of TechFed Nashville which helps connect organizations and events looking for presenters with a curated list of experienced speakers from the Middle Tennessee grassroots tech community. Additional Lunch & Learns are planned for August through November.

TechFed Nashville Launches to Support Grassroots Tech Talent

October 14, 2016 By Carla Swank Fox

Founded by community organizers Chuck Bryant, Jacques Woodcock, and John Wark, the Technologist Federation of Nashville — known as TechFed Nashville — provides support to existing tech meetups and events in Middle Tennessee and helps new groups form and thrive through mentorships and support on the business side, including legal, accounting, and marketing services.

“I’m proud and amazed every day by how much our local talent gives back and how active our community is,” Woodcock says. “It is this passion that TechFed Nashville aims to encourage and help grow by removing the many hurdles grassroots organizers face in their efforts. It is our goal to let them know they are not doing this alone.”

TechFed Nashville will also serve as a membership organization, as technologists in Middle Tennessee can join for free to stay up-to-date on events and community happenings. There will be a paid level for those who wish to support the community financially as well.

“These are the people who are powering our local tech economy, who turn out to events to learn, share and network, and who influence and lead their colleagues and peers,” Bryant says. “We want TechFed Nashville to not only become the go-to resource for discovering opportunities and getting involved, but to provide back-end support for organizers so that they can focus less on logistics and more on content programming.”

TechFed Nashville will make its debut this weekend at the tenth anniversary of BarCamp Nashville, which is one of the organization’s 11 initial partnered groups and events. The first BarCamp Nashville was held in 2007 and led to the growth of additional technology-focused events and groups in the region.

“The local grassroots community has worked for close to a decade in making Nashville one of the most diverse and inviting tech communities in the nation,” Woodcock says.