Organizer Brett Neese hopes that Hack Night DSM will become a monthly event.
Wednesday marked the inaugural Hack Night DSM, an “unhackathon” born out of a Facebook post by Iowa State student Brett Neese following a recent Startup Weekend.
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Sponsored by Hatchlings and hosted at the Goodsmiths office in West Des Moines, more than 50 people, Neese estimated, drifted in and out of the five-hour event.
“The energy in Des Moines during Hack Night was at least as vibrant as the energy in (Chicago coworking center) 1871, and certainly more community-oriented than much of the energy I felt in NYC,” Neese said today in a blog post. “I admit I’m not near as well-traveled as many, and maybe I haven’t given NYC or San Fransisco a fair chance. Even then, I’m not sure we could have accomplished what we did in any other city.”
With participants munching on pizza, collaborating on projects and well, hacking, the event brought out the usual members of the tech community along with a handful of students and new faces.
“When people ask why I love Des Moines… this is it,” Neese said. “New York is fun, San Francisco is an adventure. But Des Moines—where the default answer is ‘let’s do this, I’ll help’? Des Moines is home.”
Neese said Wednesday that he hopes to organize Hack Night DSM on a monthly basis.
For more on Hack Night, read Neese’s post: “This is why I call Des Moines “home.’ ” And for more from Neese, see our post: “ISU student builds Chrome extension to tip Medium writers via Dwolla“.
Credits: Hack Night photo by Levi Rosol. Brett Neese photo from Twitter.
