The AWS Portland team is happy to announce that we're hosting our first AWS Portland Hackathon in February. The goal of this free event is to invite AWS enthusiasts from the Portland community (that's you!) to team up with fellow technologists for a day of learning, building, and friendly competition powered by the AWS platform. All are welcome, from cloud newbies to seasoned AWS experts. 

This event will take place at the AWS Elemental building from 8 am - 8 pm on Saturday, February 22, 2020. We will form into teams of five. On the morning of the event, we'll unveil several challenges for teams to choose from. Together with your teammates you will pick a challenge, decide on your approach, and then design, build, test, and refine your solution. At the end of the day, the teams will demo their solutions to our judges panel. We'll close out the day by announcing the winners and awarding prizes.

We'll provide AWS experts to answer any technical questions, food, coffee, and of course AWS swag. All you need to bring is a technical background, and the desire to network, learn, experiment, build, and of course have fun! Previous AWS experience is of course helpful, but is not required.

For those who are interested in career opportunities at AWS, we will also have recruiting and local hiring managers at the event to meet and talk to. But just to be clear, our primary goal is to host a fun event by and for the Portland tech community.

Schedule

7:30 am -   Doors Open (Coffee   and Light Breakfast)

8:00 am -   Opening Session  Challenges Revealed

8:30 am-   Team Formation

9:00 am-   Coding Commences

10:30 am-   Snack

12:30 pm-   Lunch

3:30 pm -   Snack Served

6:00 pm -   Submission Deadline   /Judging Begins

7:00pm-   Judging Complete

7:30pm-   Winners Announced

8:00pm-   Closing  Remarks

What to Prep: Make sure you've created an AWS Account before you arrive, so you save time. Don't worry, we have you covered with credits for every team member who comes to hack! We've created a Hackathon Quick-Start Guide with tutorials, tools, SDKs, and more to help you get started. Also, be sure to visit the new AWS Developer Center.

• Originality
  How unique is the product offering? Is it better than other solutions in this space?
• Feasibility
  Can the product be launched in the next 12-18 months?
• Originality
  How unique is the product offering? Is it better than other solutions in this space?
• Feasibility
  Can the product be launched in the next 12-18 months?
• Usability
  Is the experience simple and easy to use? Are the expectations of the user clearly articulated and met throughout the interaction?
• Engagement
  Does the product experience encourage users to re-engage over time (repeatable), or is it just a one-time experience?
• Go-to-Market
  Did the team present a compelling go-to-market strategy? Was there a promotional plan?
• Business Impact
  Does the product identify and solve a well-defined customer problem?