Scene from the KeyLimeTie Hackathon
On April 23, 2010, KeyLimeTie employees came together to present their entries from the first KeyLimeTie Hackathon, our first ever internal development and innovation contest. Most Hackathons span a short period of time—from 24 to 48 hours from start to finish. We gave each of the three KeyLimeTie teams several weeks to design, develop and deliver their projects. Teams were handpicked based on role and skill level, and we intentionally placed people who seldom interact on projects on the same teams.
The Rules
The contest was simple; teams were to pick at least two APIs from Programmable Web and create something interesting. To keep things original, teams could not use the same APIs as competing teams.
For some of the employees, this was a rare chance to be creative and go beyond their normal roles and responsibilities. The experience yielded market-ready products and tools, and some great laughs and memories.
Personal Reflections
I have organized and participated in several developer Hackathons and can easily attest to their role as a catalyst for innovation, creative problem solving and community building. The KeyLimeTie Hackathon was no different. We gave a talented group of people some raw materials and a little encouragement and were blown away with the results. You can do the same.
Incidentally, you will see the applications built during the Hackathon integrated into the KeyLimeTie Content Management System (CMS), as well as available for integration into your own websites. You can stay tuned for updates by following us on Twitter or Facebook.
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