The inaugural monthly Hack & Tell series kicked off February 28th at Barkley in downtown KCMO. Michael Gelphman, founder of The Disruption Institute and Kansas City IT Professionals (KCITP), kicked off Hack & Tell by explaining the format and goals for the tech presentation series. The ultimate goal of the monthly meet up is to bring innovators together to network, present programming/ tech ideas and potentially create novel solutions for local business owners and companies.
Each presenter was given five minutes to present a “hack” or customized programing language, App program or customized software solution he/ she has developed, and then be subjected to a five-minute question/answer session. The presentation format is vaguely reminiscent of @1MillionCups, but more condensed.
Notable Presentations
TEDx – Chris Riebschlager of Barkley’s Innovation Lab presented several prototype software programs developed for TEDxAustin’s Illuminated You portrait series. Typical TEDx event attendees love to have a take away and to prove that they were at an event so Chris came up with the Illuminated You software to capture an image and the themes of the TEDx event.
Chris has shared other interactive projects in collaboration with the Nelson Atkins on the Worlds Fair exhibit where he and the Barkley team created the patron stations for the Interactive Displays, Create Your Own Poster and Augmented Reality 3D display of exhibition objects. Chris also created the interactive displays for the Rodin and Monet exhibitions…where patrons could become the Thinker statue or “Paint Like Monet” on interactive displays.
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Homeade Smoker – Besides being a software programmer, Joe Andaverde is a meat-smoking enthusiast. He presented a program that controls an outdoor smoker’s heating elements to regulate the burner speed and keep the smoker temperature consistent. The program could also be used to control various appliances, turning them off and on or regulating their speed. It was a great demonstration of a practical programming application. More info on Joe’s smoking program and homemade smoker can be found here.
Be aware if you are a business owner or non-programmer, portions of the event may be a little too techy. If you have staying power, you might discover you can learn more about the technology community and the powerful things they are doing in Kansas City. Who knows, maybe in a few months someone will develop a hack that is exactly what our city needs!