About Compute Midwest

Compute Midwest is a 2 day convergence of tech: new people, new ideas and innovation in Kansas City.

With 1 conference, an all-star lineup of 8 tech leaders, a hackathon & 2 parties, Compute Midwest provides a fantastic opportunity to connect you with 400+ forward thinking tech minds.

Engage in conversation about the future, exchange/build new ideas and gather several takeaways that can move your career or company forward!

Compute Midwest is hosted by Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP), a tech community of over 9,000.

Kickoff Party! Nov. 8th

6-9pm at The Cashew - 2000 Grand Kansas City, MO 64108.

Imagine the Future! Nov. 9th

Get inspired at our conference, happening at the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts: learn about what's next in technology - straight from tech leaders, startup founders & visionaries.

Hear the inspiring stories of innovators who are building companies that change our life, our work & our business.

Gain insight into their vision for the future, learn where technology is going and discover how Kansas City can capitalize on Google Fiber.

Interested in becoming a sponsor?

Closing Party - Sponsored by Github! Nov. 9th

8pm-12am at Fuego (KC Power & Light District) 1323 Walnut Street, Kansas City MO 64106

Create the Future! Nov. 10-11th

Developers & designers: Ready for an EPIC hackathon in Kansas City?

Join us November 10th for the FIRST 24-hour app-building challenge EVER on Google Fiber at the Google Fiber space!!

Build your app solo or with a team of up to 5 people (teams can be pre-organized or you can find fellow coders at the event). Present it and compete for thousands of dollars in great prizes as well as community recognition!

We've got several ways to win, including categories for: best next-generation apps to leverage Google Fiber in Kansas City (example: apps that can improve digital inclusion), best apps that use our hackathon partner APIs, and several other categories to be announced soon!

Click for More Information About the Hackathon

Join us November 10th for the FIRST 24-hour app-building challenge EVER on Google Fiber at the Google Fiber space!!

Build your app solo or with a team of up to 5 people (teams can be pre-organized or you can find fellow coders at the event). Present it and compete for thousands of dollars in great prizes as well as community recognition!

We've got several ways to win, including categories for: best next-generation apps to leverage Google Fiber in Kansas City (example: apps that can improve digital inclusion, and more), best apps that use our hackathon partner APIs, and several other categories to be announced soon!

Get the FAQ

What is a Hackathon?

A Hackathon is a fast paced event where teams of developers design and build a software project within a very small timeframe. In the case of CMW, it is a mere 24 hours.

Why would I want to go?

Hackathons are a great way to learn, create, and collaborate on the fly - plus there are always prizes too! After Hack the Midwest, we found that a lot of people really enjoyed the experience and were eager to join the next one. Above all, past hackers said that they enjoyed the fast-paced environment and being about to connect with like-minded people.

Do I need ideas coming in?

Nope! Frankly though, everyone always has ideas - whether they think it's a good one or not is another issue. Most attendees usually come up with a basic idea, then their team refines and strategizes around it, honing it into something even better. Plus, if you don't have an idea yourself, you'll be sure to find someone else who has an idea you like as well.

Am I only allowed to use the APIs you list?

You can use any APIs you want to build your apps, but if you want to compete for some of the listed prizes - you'll need to use one of those listed APIs. NOTE: We'll have separate prizes awarded for apps that aren't tied to a particular API, and will announce this soon.

Do I have to pre-organize a team?

Not at all. We'll give you a hand finding team members if you don't already have some in mind.

Whoa, I'm not really a hacker, am I?

Who knows, right? Truth is you don't need to know diddly about security holes or meshnets to be a tried and true hacker. In the programming world, a hacker is defined as "a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and stretching their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary." So fire up your favorite IDE and let the bits fly.

Awesome Prizes

You can win prizes one of two ways (or both!).

The first is a Special Award Category for apps that aren't tied to usage of a particular API. These include best app(s) built on Google Fiber and *might* also include "Best Mobile App" or "Best Design", etc.

The second way is to use one (or more) of the listed APIs for an attempt to win the corresponding prize

Macbook Air 11"

Special Award Category [TBA]

AppleTV

Special Award Category [TBA]

Nike FuelBand

Special Award Category [TBA]

Jawbone Jambox

Special Award Category [TBA]

FitBit Zip

Special Award Category [TBA]

Up to $500 of Amazon Gift Cards

Given to the best app that's been built on the Sendgrid API.

A Brand New Shiny iPhone 5

Given to the best app that's been built on the Singly API.

iPad Mini + 100gb Box Storage

Given to the best app that's been built on the Box API.

iPad3

Given to the best app that's been built on the Tumblr API.

(2) Google Nexus 7

Given to the best app that's been built on the Strenuus API.

Parrot AR Drone 2.0

Given to the best app that's been built on the Pusher API.

Kindle Fires/Sphero Robots

Given to the best app that's been built on the Twilio API.

Mystery Prize Worth $500

Given to the best app that's been built on the Dwolla API.

iPad 16gb WiFi

Given to the best app that's been built on the BIRT API.

HD Hero2 Camera: Motorsports Edition

Given to the best app that's been built on the Iron.io API.

Judges

Mike Farmer

CEO & Co-Founder, Leap2

Jonathan George

Fmr CEO, Boxcar

Justin Graves

CEO, Infegy

Pete Thomas

CIO, Pollenware

API Partners

DA RULES

What follows is a summary of the Compute Midwest Hackathon competition rules for contestants. Before entering, you'll be asked to accept the full legal contest rules.

Programming Languages Aren't Limited

There are no restrictions on the code you use. You'll get mad props though if you can build a cat meme rating app in assembly using VIM.

We Demand Fresh Code

No production assets of any kind can be created until the start of the official competition period illustrated above. This includes "ready to slice" graphic design assets, application code, and user stories / test cases. Some individuals have asked about frameworks and libraries - yes these ARE allowed, but 3rd party only. When in doubt: Plan, don't create.

Team Organization

Your teams should be comprised of between one and five individuals. No more than five people are allowed on a team. You can pre-organize a team or we can try to help you find one at the event.

Time is Ticking - 24 Hours Only

Your team has exactly 24 hours to develop a mobile or web based application. After the initial 24 hours are up, you’ll be judged on what you’ve completed. No additional features or bugfixes are allowed during this period, or you will be disqualified.

Sweet Sweet Source Control

We’ll provide your team with a private Git repository, so we can ensure your code is fresh. As you develop your application, push progress to the assigned repository regularly (“commit early, commit often”) in order to demonstrate progress. HackTheMidwest organizers will be observing checkins throughout the event.

Oh, Don’t be tricky and try to develop your app in its entirety ahead of time, rebasing it and pushing it in at the last minute. Doing so could will get you disqualified. Before the contest ends, you must mark your entry as complete on your assigned Git profile and tag a release of your code with the word ‘ComputeMidwest.’

Ownership, IP, and Open Source

We’re just running a competition here…..so what you do with your source once the competition is over is on you. We encourage participants to open source the codebase of their applications for the benefit of the community. However, if you choose not to open source your application, well, that’s you decision.

Please note that the competition organizers will have access to your code base throughout the competition, in order to make sure that no cheating occurs (as outlined previously).

We won’t steal anything from you, promise! However, we do reserve the right to use your application’s likeness as a promotion for this or future contest.

Judging Criterion

All judging will occur from the perspective of ‘joe average web jockey’. That is, code quality will not be judged. We believe code quality to be a highly subjective affair, and thorough reviews are extremely time-intensive and not in the best interests of this competition.

Your application will be judged based on it’s visible merits, such as:

Completeness
User Interface
Originality
Usefulness

Each judge (both expert panel members as well as peer judges) will be able to rate each application on a scale of one to five (1-5) on these criteria and comment on recommendations / possible enhancements, errors, and other issues that they experienced.

Other judges will be able to review these comments. We strongly encourage contestants to use development best practices but in the end judges are expected to rate applications based on their visible merits.

Compute Midwest organizers reserve the right to disqualify any team that is believed to be cheating or not competing in the spirit of the competition.