Want to be inspired, humbled and embarrassed in the span of 28
hours? Attend a hackathon. I am woefully technically incompetent. Last week I celebrated the victory of
creating a bar graph in a spreadsheet without assistance. And my fix for any technical glitch is to
press the reset button. We all have our
strengths – homemade chocolate chip cookies are mine – but this weekend I got
to join our Tech team as they participated in UNC’s Pearl Hacks, an all-female
hackathon.
The Top 7 Take-aways
From My First Hackathon:
7. Our Technologists are super cool people
I felt like an outsider.
But, with patience and a smile, our Tech team gladly broke down big tech
ideas for my brain. I strolled the
hackathon late Saturday night to check in with everyone and I found one of our
Technologists working diligently beside a small team of hackers. They may speak a different language, but
Capital One Technologists get along with everyone!
6. Capital One IS a tech company
Given my role, I don’t see the coding and innovation and
tech conversations happening behind the scenes.
As a Capital One card holder, however, I feel the benefits. Working with our technologists this weekend,
I got to feel their passion behind our digital transformation.
5. Caffeinate.
Over caffeinate if you have to.
Do hackathons have an official coffee sponsor? They should.
4. There are a zillion ways to solve a single
problem
With 24+ hours, unlimited tech support, and free
candy/carbs/coffee, the hackers created 50 unique projects. Not quite a zillion, but 50 cool ideas is a
great start!
3. Kids these days
I remember my family unwrapping our first computer on
Christmas morning in the early 1990’s. I
say “unwrap” but there was no wrapping involved. This thing was a clunker that would have
consumed a full roll of wrapping paper if my parents had even dared to tackle
the desktop that my sister and I used to “paint” and explore the American frontier. Kids these days have technology coursing
through their veins. It’s the language
they use to communicate, the knowledge they absorb, and the presents they
unwrap under the Christmas tree. The
next generation will grow up having access to technology, information and
devices I couldn’t have dreamed of.
2. Nessie is a monster
I love a conspiracy theory.
And Nessie, Capital One’s
hackathon API, offers a monstrous amount of data that hackers can use to
“reimagine banking.” That’s fact.
1. The future is bright
I met brilliant high school students this weekend. I watched college students design projects
Capital One could implement for customers.
With only a few college-level coding classes under their high tech
gadgety belts, these students will
innovate beyond boundaries that limit us today.
I can’t wait to see what they come up with – and I can’t wait to return
to Pearl Hacks next year!
