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Hello spring! (and hacking season!)

Okay, so there were a lot of hacks in winter, but let’s be honest … it’s a little more pleasant to travel and meet new people when it’s nice outside (and it’s gotten quite a bit nicer outside in Philly — or at least it’s thinking about it). Luckily, there’re lots of great events coming up. Here are a few that I plan to hit up:

BarCamp News InnovationRegister

As a cheerful person helping push journalism forward, this is definitely one I’m very excited about. It draws people from all over the country for an informal unconference and hack (“Start-a-thon”) to talk about journalism, open data, etc. Come visit Philly!

BarCamp NewsInnovation is an annual, one-day national unconference on journalism innovation and the future of news as explored by practitioners and friends. In 2012, for the second year, BCNI ran concurrently with a ‘News’ Hackathon presented by Tropo.

The event uses the BarCamp open-grid format where the attendees will set the schedule. In the main lobby of Temple University’s Annenberg Hall at 13th and Diamond streets, there will be a large schedule board full of blank index cards. The day’s schedule will be filled by attendees who invent their own sessions the day of the event. Simultaneously, hackers, coders and designers will be working to use data to create tools for journalists and citizens to make government services more efficient and transparent.

Transparency CampRegister

Not a hack, but one of the BESTEST events for people interested in open data, open gov, and general awesomeness.

TransparencyCamp is an “unconference” for opengov: an event where, each year, journalists, developers, technologists, policy-makers, government officials, students, academics, wonks, and everyone in between gather to share their knowledge about how to use new technologies and policies to make our government really work for the people — and to help our people work smarter with our government.

Random Hacks/National Day of Civic HackingPhiladelphia Info

You might remember that I’m a big fan of Random Hacks:

FAQ on RHOK
Random Hacks Dec 2012 – who are you going to help?
Hacking for Social Good Canvas, RHoK June 2012, and connecting problem-havers to solution-makers
Random Hacks of Kindness Philly Braindump

Random Hacks was my first hackathon and not to get all fluffy, but I think really epitomizes and captures the idea of software for social good. Even better, this year Random Hacks coincides with the National Day of Civic Hacking, a national event promoting open government, open data, and awesomeness. Go to one in your area.

Angelhack — Register (DC)

AngelHack is a big big big international hackathon with an entrepreneurial bend. This will be my first time going to one of these, and I’d love to see some friendly faces.

What’s your hack schedule looking like this season?

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