This post is an explanation of why we are hosting Cereal && Code, a hackathon for local Chicago folk on Nov 3. You can sign up here. Check out the BIC Event page here.
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I'm going to reveal something deeply personal: I'm a nerd.
I've always had a suspicion this was true, but only confirmed it recently. How do I know this?
- On a typical Saturday, I write code. Not all day, but more than so-called "normal" people understand.
- I really dig old school cartoons.
Childhood Saturday Mornings
My friend CG and I were musing about what happens as we grow up that makes us abandon those carefree Saturday mornings of our youth. I don't know about you, but my Saturday looked something like this:
7:15am : wake up (no idea why I woke up so early as a kid...)
7:16am : think about brushing teeth
7:17am : decide its not worth it. Run downstairs and grab a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (yeah, easily still the best cereal on the planet).
7:19am : wake up parents because I spilled milk.
7:22am - 2pm : plop down in front of my living room TV for a marathon cartoon session that includes Captain Planet, Tom & Jerry, Sylvester and Tweety, Droopy, Roadrunner and Wile E Coyote, Popeyes, and more.
I miss those days.
Now the glowing terminal of my Macbook Air has replaced the far more amusing antics of the Looney Toons crew. But can't the two worlds live in harmony?
As a developer, I sometimes find it too solitary an experience to shuffle from cafe to cafe and I think it'd be great to be able to hack with others, side by side, even if we're not working on the same thing.
One thing missing from with most of the events around town is that they're either:
- Networking focused, so developers can't get actual work done
- Expensive hackathons where developers have to pay ~$100 bucks just to work on their ow damn computers (I personally find this ridiculous).
Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you just need a place to plop down, get some work done in the company of other hackers, and satisfy your Frosted Flakes craving.
Come stop by Cereal && Code on Nov 3 -- Just a fun little event for hackers to hack together instead of all by their lonesome, with a cereal buffet that the 10 year old version of you could only dream for, and a continuous reel of your favorite childhood cartoons.
Hack. Meet a few like-minded folk. Indulge that inner nerd child.
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Eric is the founder of Rocket Lease, which provides online apartment applications for leasing agencies and landlords. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is his favorite cereal, and his text editor of choice is vim. Pinky and the Brain is his favorite childhood cartoon. *NARF*
