Creative and tech-minded people have the chance to hone their computer programming and team-building skills at Vernon’s new innovation centre next month.
Accelerate Okanagan will host its first North Okanagan Hackathon event on Oct. 29 at the Vernon Innovation & Entrepreneur Workspace (The VIEW), which opened its doors Sept. 1 to support entrepreneurs, business owners and creators in the local area.
Finding and retaining top talent is a key issue for business owners, and with that in mind the hackathon will throw participants a talent-based challenge to solve.
Teams will be formed and given a challenge statement before using a “design thinking” approach to create business models and prototypes in a matter of hours. At the end of the day their collaborative work will be presented to a panel of judges, and a winner will be crowned.
The VIEW will only be open to participants during the event, but the public can view the teams’ final pitches virtually by saving a seat on Accelerate Okanagan’s online event portal.
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“Events like the Talent Hackathon are just one of the ways we hope The VIEW will help bring the network of innovators and creators in the North Okanagan together,” said Alex Goodhew, community manager for Accelerate Okanagan. “The more opportunities for collaboration means increased innovation and that can only mean good things for the community.”
There is no charge to participate and you don’t need to be a developer or know how to code to join. Participants can register until Oct. 23 by connecting with Jessica Wicks, Accelerate Okanagan’s community lead in the North Okanagan, at jessica@accelerateokanagan.com.
Shaw, KPMG, Community Futures of the North Okanagan and the City of Vernon have come on board to support the event.
Companies or individuals who are interested in helping to support this event can reach out to Alex Goodhew at alex@accelerateokanaga.com for more information.
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