“Hack the Midwest” Developer Challenge Builds on Kansas City’s Technology and Entrepreneurial Leadership

• 

Attendees enjoying Hack The Midwest - a Hackathon in Kansas City

"Even by New York standards, this would be a huge hackathon," said developer and
NYC resident Ricky Robinett

Kansas City, Missouri (PRWEB) June 12, 2012

Adding to Kansas City’s growing reputation as a hotspot for technology and entrepreneurship, “Hack the Midwest” brought together more than 100 software developers and web designers to compete for $5,000 in cash and prizes.

Organized by a grassroots tech community called Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP), the hackathon gave teams 24 hours to create, build, and demo applications for web or mobile platforms.

"Even by New York standards, this would be a huge hackathon," said developer and NYC resident Ricky Robinett, who served as a judge for the event.

With more than 25 apps submitted, several strong ones emerged including Qup.tv, which won $1000 from OpenAir Equity Partners for "Best in show". The service, which sends email when Netflix Instant adds new releases, was recently covered in GigaOM.

Other top winning ideas included "Booky Book," an app to increase children's literacy, and "Where Da Spot," a mobile app that aims to help users locate and pay for parking.

"Rather than just talking about ideas, this event got people to take the first step of building them. Doing things like this helps encourage more entrepreneurship and innovation in Kansas City, especially as we leverage Google Fiber in the future," said KCITP founder Michael Gelphman.

About Kansas City IT Professionals: KCITP’s grassroots community of 8,700+ members collaborates to advance technology-related disciplines, promote professionalism, and inspire innovation throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.

To learn more about KCITP, visit their website: http://www.kcitp.com/.

PDF Print