Speakers, sponsors and more

Hi friends,

This will be a mostly practical rather than philosophical email, because I’m really excited to share a bunch of updates about the hackathon event I’m planning. I’ll share more detail about each below, but here are the highlights:

• I booked two incredible speakers

• I found an amazing, perfectly aligned sponsor and I’ll be giving away one of their products at the event

• I launched a website with more information about everything: designtechhackathon.com 

Speakers

Dr. Jay Olson - Smartphone addiction researcher

From the very beginning of this idea, it was obvious to me that it would be important to have an expert speaker to kick-off the event. The problem of addictive technology is certainly not new and many solutions have been attempted. I don’t want people to feel like I did in high school science classes when we were repeating experiments that had already been performed a million times. Why even bother?

I want participants to know that there is potential for real innovation. Dr. Jay Olson from the University of Toronto will share the latest research on phone addiction, including what researchers have learned about which tactics are more and less effective to combat it. The hackathon attendees will use the latest research as a jumping off point to design solutions that could really make a difference.

Ian Keeling - Public speaking teacher

Towards the end of the hackathon, each team will have the opportunity to pitch their projects back to the rest of the group, with a chance to win an award from the expert panel and get feedback from your peers.

Obviously, pitching ideas persuasively can be helpful in many areas of work and life, so I wanted to create an opportunity for people to practice and improve on that skill. On the second day of the event, Ian Keeling, who teaches public speaking at The Second City in Toronto, will give a 30 minute workshop on pitching ideas persuasively. He will also be available throughout the day to answer questions and help teams refine their pitches.

Sponsor and prize

Light phone is an incredible company that has been working on the problem of smartphone addiction for 10 years. They build phones that are designed to help you give up your smartphone without giving up the genuinely useful tools it provides.

Their phones have calling and texting, of course, but also gps, music and podcasts, an alarm, and more. But, importantly, they exclude all of the addictive features. You can’t get social media, games or a browser.

To support the hackathon, they are giving away a phone and some extra light phone gear as a prize for one person at the event.

How can you help?

I’m glad you asked.

There is some momentum building with tickets sales, but I still need quite a bit more to achieve the right vibe at the event.

Do you want to come? Get registered! 

Do you want to come but you’re not sure if you have the right skills? Everyone is welcome, you don’t have to work in tech. You will be working with a team and guided through the entire design and development process by industry leaders. A diversity of perspectives always leads to better solutions.

Do you know someone who might be interested? Please share the event with them.

Do you know of places or organizations in Toronto that might share it? Places that list events, or have a newsletter where they share local events, or anything else like that. Let me know!

I’m so excited about all these updates, and I’m so grateful to you, my community, for the support I have been getting as I do this for the first time.

Thank you,

Hannah

P.S. If you liked my last email about addictive conveniences and the impact on communities, you might like this TikTok video a friend sent me on a similar topic. Wild that I am sharing a TikTok video in a newsletter about combatting addictive technology, but It’s really, really good. I promise.