This Sunday, February 22nd, join us for the final reveal of Press Play: Data-Journalism Hackathon. The event takes place at the downtown Green Bean Cafe (300 Ouellette Ave) from 1-3PM. Student teams are working this week to create interactive visualization about open data from Windsor. This event is free and open to the public.
This event is in celebration of Open Data Day and encourages Windsor students to take a look at the local data available to them. Teams, made up of one coder and one journalist, are taking the data and creating news stories within interactive visualizations. This is Hackforge’s first hackathon with a journalism element.
Teams will be competing to win Best Use of Windsor Data, Most Creative Project, Best Piece of Journalism, and Best Overall Team. Our judges determining the winners will be:
Bob Price – Technical Support Analyst at the City of Windsor Aisling Douglas – UI/UX Designer & Computer Girls Program Facilitator and Instructor Donald McArthur – Assistant Managing Editor, Digital at The Windsor Star Blake Roberts – Program Chair of Digital Journalism at the University of Windsor
Press Play was created by University student Lauren Hedges and Hackforge, with support from EPICentre, Open Data Windsor Essex, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) and WEtech Alliance.
Sunday, February 15th kicked off Press Play: Data-Journalism Hackathon at the Windsor Public Library. Four student teams were assembled to take on a week-long challenge of creating interactive visualizations based on Windsor data.
The day also included a panel discussion with community experts on the topic of open data and technology in journalism. Our panelists will also be the judges for the hackathon. The round table included:
Bob Price – Technical Support Analyst at the City of Windsor Aisling Douglas – UI/UX Designer & Computer Girls Program Facilitator and Instructor Donald McArthur – Assistant Managing Editor, Digital at The Windsor Star Blake Roberts – Program Chair of Digital Journalism at the University of Windsor Dylan Kristy – Web Wrangler for the Windsor Star
Moderator: Douglas Sartori: Board President of Windsor Hackforge
We’ll keep you posted for more Press Play news as we continue towards the big reveal day on Sunday, February 22nd.
Press Play was created by University student Lauren Hedges and Hackforge, with support from EPICentre, Open Data Windsor Essex, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) and WEtech Alliance.
In celebration of Open Data Day, Press Play: Data-Journalism Hackathon brings together local post-secondary students around government open data. Starting Sunday, February 15th at Windsor Public Library, teams made up of one journalism student and one computer science student will be given assignments with unique local data sets. They will have one week to create an interactive visualization using Windsor data.
Interactive visualizations bring complex data to life. The reader is able to explore facts and figures in a way which merges technology and design. Digital content is becoming increasingly fundamental to news institutions. Interactive visualizations utilize the potentials and creativity of the online medium. Check below for a few examples.
The hackathon aims to partner students from the University of Windsor and St. Clair College. Students will experience real world deadlines and assignments. Mentors are made up of local professional computer programmers, journalists, and graphic designers. Students will have various opportunities to learn from and network with them.
Press Play is brought to you with support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation and is organized by University of Windsor Journalism Student, Lauren Hedges and Hackforge.
Registration is free and open to any post-secondary student with an interest in either journalism or computer science.
Start date:
Sunday, February 15, 2015
2-5 PM
Fred Israel Room, Windsor Public Library Central Branch (850 Ouellette Ave) Includes round table discussion from industry professionals on data journalism and the role of open data in Windsor.
You have week to complete the interactive visualization.
Teams are made up of two post-secondary students: one team member for coding, the other for journalism.
If you don’t have a teammate in mind, you will be paired up on February 15th.
There will be three assignments to choose from with varying degrees of difficulty.
All assignments involve open data about Windsor, Ontario.
Reveal Day:
Sunday, February 22, 2015
1-3PM
Windsor Star Green Bean Cafe (300 Ouellette Ave)
The reveal is Sunday, October 26th, starting at 12PM at the Windsor Star Green Bean Cafe (300 Ouellette Ave). The afternoon is free and open to the public.
The hackathon kicked off on Friday, October 17th at the Windsor Public Library. Teams, both professional and student, have been working all week using science data and will demonstrate and present their projects to the public and judges.
Judges include Bob Price, Analyst Programmer for the City of Windsor; Renee Pare, Sales Director for Next Dimension; and Frank Abbruzzese, President of AlphaKOR Group.
Teams are competing for the titles of Best Professional Project, Best Student Project, Most Creative Project, and Best Use of Science Data.
Celebrating National Science and Technology Week, Hackforge and WEtech Alliance are collaborating on HackWE 3.0, a hackathon focused on open data from the sciences. We’re looking for teams of tech students or professionals to compete, and science people to help competitors interpret the data and solve useful problems with it.
Artists and designers are also welcome to form or join a team – teams with cool visualizations will have a leg up.
Student teams are eligible for prizes. Professional teams are competing for bragging rights.
Participating teams will come together for the “draft” and a series of talks on science and technology on Friday, October 17th. The teams will present their completed projects on Sunday, October 26th.
This Hackathon is in partnership with St. Clair College, the University of Windsor, and Open Data Windsor Essex.
Friday, October 17 @ 1pm to 5pm
Windsor Public Library – Central Library
850 Ouellette Avenue
MID-WEEK CHECK IN:
Wednesday, October 22 @ 7PM to 9PM
Hackforge with the Software Craftsmen’s Guild
850 Ouellette Avenue
REVEAL:
Sunday, October 26 @ 12PM – 5PM
Green Been Café @ Windsor Star
300 Ouellette Avenue
TOP PRIZES:
Exclusive Dinner with Expert in the Commercialization of Apps
Admission to App Commercialization Seminar
Smartwatch sponsor by Next Dimension
