SXSW 2012

It all happened so quickly: you arrived at the hack-a-thon, got excited, met interesting people, came up with a great idea, built a prototype (in less than 12 hours) and presented to an adoring crowd.Then everyone went home. Slept. Ate. And lost momentum...Hackathons are evolving: from a room filled only with developers, to rooms full of social innovators -- developers, designers, planners, journalists, civic leaders and more -- coming together to address pressing urban issues (transportation, community development, energy use etc). This is exciting, and produces potentially groundbreaking ideas. But too often, the hackathon finishes and projects never see the light of day. The good news, is that it is relatively easy to turn these 48-hour geek-chic fests into events with lasting impact. This conversation will allow hacker organizations, government, businesses and citizens to discuss the value of hackathons and how to leverage them to kick-start change-making movements in cities.