New Tech Hackathon Spotlight: HackSea coming up on 10/27

Each week in the New Tech Newsletter we feature a Spotlight Q&A with founders, angels, New Tech alumni presenters, and other people or companies in our community we believe you’d like to learn about. Reach out if you’d like to recommend a startup, founder, angel, accelerator, or New Tech alumni presenter for us to spotlight for the PNW tech community!

This week we caught up with Angela Chan,  Co-Founder of Hackathons International.

Amazon and Hackathons International have partnered together for the third time to bring the hybrid hackathon experience to Seattle and Bellevue. #HackSEA will take place on Oct 27th-30th. Hackathons are a powerful tool that can bring together some of the best entrepreneurial minds and tech savvy individuals under one roof for the betterment of their own community. Come join us and compete against like-minded participants and show off your best tech skills and talent. We will see you at the end of this month!
If you are interested in learning more use the links below:
#HackSEA Website: https://bit.ly/HackSeaSite
#HackSEA (Free) Information Session: https://bit.ly/HackSeaInfo
#HackSEA Main Registration: https://bit.ly/HackSea

1. What inspired creating Hackathon International?
#HackSEA’s primary focus is dedicated to bringing the community together. Seattle is a huge tech hub and Bellevue is the next up and coming location. Therefore, we are advantageously using this opportunity in order to showcase these areas top and diverse talent. Through my participation in Hackathons, the community has helped me refine my skills in the tech space, even without a degree in IT, and I am confident it will offer the same, if not more, opportunities for our participants. Success here requires everyone to engage with the broader community to accomplish their short and long-term goals.

2. How does your hackathon serve the tech community?
The technology landscape has changed over the recent years, because it is no longer solely focused on software developers. Roles including product leaders, user experience designers, research scientists, and data analysts are just as vital. Our Hackathons gather talent from all aspects of technology to ensure we are serving a meaningful purpose to advance the tech community on a global platform.

3. What’s the most innovative or interesting thing about this year’s hackathon?
According to the Bellevue City government website, over 39% of its population includes people who were born in over 90 different foreign countries, and about 43% speak a language other than English at home. The Seattle area is expanding into Bellevue and I am very excited about seeing how we can collectively participate in creating an infrastructure that is not only more open and diverse, but also assists Seattle in continuously growing in the right direction to benefit everyone.

4. What do you love the most about Hackathons?
My favorite part of each Hackathon has been the people I have met and had the opportunity to work alongside with. When I attended my first Hackathon, I had no tech background or experience, only grit and perseverance. At that time, I had no idea what a startup was, or what was required to be successful in a ‘corporate’ job. The learning, or FLEARN-ing (having fun whilst learning) I’ve had has been exponential in both my personal professional growth, and I am confident that everyone who participants in our Hackathon will also experience these pivotal opportunities.

5. What is one of the highlights, or memorable moments, for you in doing this work?
Usually at the start of each Hackathon, it is a bit nerve-wrecking for everyone. Similar to your first day in school, you don’t know anyone and you’re putting yourself out there in hopes of gaining more knowledge amongst other people who share a similar passion but may have a different thought process. However, it is important to remember that leaders are those who disregard being slightly uncomfortable and instead take a chance to innovate through their thoughts and ideas. They put themselves out there to learn new things and meet others who may not part of their day-to-day routine. I thrive on seeing how our participants have evolved during their weekend experience, watching friendships formed, and being a part of new ideas being put into motion.

Reach out if you’d like to recommend a startup, founder, angel, accelerator, or New Tech alumni presenter for us to spotlight for the PNW tech community!

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