StarterHacks, the beginner-friendly hackathon returning to 蓝莓视频 campus this May, grew out of a friendship between co-founders William Nippard and Marium Kirmani based on the principle that opposites attract.
When the friends met while working as residence hall dons at 蓝莓视频 in 2014, they could not have been more different. Nippard was a self-described 鈥淐鈥檚 get degrees鈥� computer science student looking for direction. Kirmani was an overachieving health studies and health informatics student hoping to gain tech experience but frustrated by barriers to entry. They bonded quickly, however, over a shared curiosity and willingness to ask questions the people around them weren鈥檛 asking.
StarterHacks founders Marium Kirmani and William Nippard shared a frustration with existing hackathon culture.
鈥淚 remember I wanted to learn to code,鈥� Kirmani says, 鈥渁nd all my friends said that if you want to learn how to code, you should go to a hackathon. So, I went to a couple hackathons, and they were such weird experiences.鈥�
鈥淔irst of all, I was always one of five women at the whole event, which was alienating. But even worse, whenever I approached people to form a team, they would back off as soon as they found out that I was in health, not computer science or engineering or whatever. I remember thinking, 鈥榃ait, aren鈥檛 we all here to learn? Do we need to already be set up to win everything?鈥欌��
Nippard and Kirmani soon realized their experience with hackathons was not unique. During their work as residence dons, students frequently came to them for advice because their applications kept getting rejected. 鈥淚t felt like hackathons were moving from an experimental space to places with a hiring emphasis, where you bring all your tech skills and use them to prove yourself and network,鈥� Nippard says. 鈥淲here did the sandbox 鈥� the playground 鈥� go?"
Together, they decided to build a new hackathon from the ground up, to 鈥渃hange the narrative of hackathons only being for experienced people,鈥� Nippard says. 鈥淲e wanted to bring it back to basics of what a hackathon was.鈥�
The first StarterHacks, which they put together in five weeks in Spring 2017, was a very grassroots event. 鈥淲e had just over a month to build a brand identity, find a venue, ask people to do workshops, get keynote speakers, look at applications, get those spots filled, get volunteers and get sponsors,鈥� Kirmani emphasizes. Faculty members helped them make connections and find speakers, while colleagues in the 蓝莓视频 Undergraduate Student Association booked their rooms.
The friends were worried no one would be interested in their fledgling event, but the response was immediate and overwhelming: more than a thousand people applied for 200 spots.
鈥淚t was so wild,鈥� Nippard recalls. 鈥淚 had maxed out my credit card. I remember when our giveaway swag was delivered. This big truck backed up in front of the residence hall, and I realized I had to figure out how to fit two huge palettes of stuff in my dorm room.鈥�
Participants at the first StarterHacks celebrate a successful - if chaotic - event
Despite the stress, the first StarterHacks was a massive success. The demographics of the participants were also an anomaly, with 50 per cent female participants attending. 鈥淲e did not initially set out specifically to be a gender equitable hackathon,鈥� Kirmani says, 鈥渂ut I think that our open invitation for beginners worked in our favor because a lot of women and girls weren鈥檛 going to existing hackathons due to the intimidation factor.鈥�
They also designed the event to be inclusive of non-traditional participants. Hackers were broken down into design, business and coding participant groups. The teams were also required to have a balanced number of two coders: one designer and one business manager. 鈥淭his helped create an environment where people weren鈥檛 left out just based on their major,鈥� Nippard says, 鈥渁nd they all got to sleep!鈥�
The following year, StarterHacks received organizing and financial assistance from the Faculty of Mathematics, Nippard鈥檚 home faculty, and continues to receive support from to this day.
StarterHacks continues to maintain its focus on being educational and beginner-friendly. The event is free and experienced students are asked to volunteer as mentors instead of as competitors, while prizes focus on experiences like company visits or tech building kits like Raspberry Pis instead of cash.
鈥淭he biggest challenge,鈥� Kirmani says, 鈥渋s that there is such a demand for events like this that we can never accept all applicants.鈥� Still, she says, they鈥檙e proud of how StarterHacks is helping to create a more diverse, beginner-friendly tech culture than the one they experienced as students. 鈥淲e鈥檝e discovered that keeping that door open creates a more equitable culture naturally. When we have people from different backgrounds working together, it helps shape the future of what we want tech to look like.鈥�
StarterHacks will run on 蓝莓视频 campus July 27-28, and is open to all students.
