AOP & Mozilla Hack Day

Videos of all the projects and judges' comments Hack Day Storify - photos, tweets, links and updates from the first day. Winners announced ‘A dynamic day of fast-paced real-time software development, an experiment in demonstrating the future of publishing, today’ The Association of Online Publishers and the Knight-Mozilla News Technology Parnership are looking for AOP Member designers, developers & journalists for a dynamic day of fast-paced, real-time, software development -- an experiment in demonstrating the future of publishing, today. A ‘hack day’ explained

• A hack day brings together Web developers, graphic designers and journalists - people with a hankering to build new tools and explore new ideas.
• Participants team up for a day of brainstorming & prototype building with the aim of demonstrating how publishers can take advantage of the open web and engage with audiences in new ways. 
• It's a two day event where participants think up ideas, pitch concepts to each other, and form teams to quickly build as much as they can.
• The 2nd day will run alongside our main event of the year – the AOP Summit, with results presented to our panel of expert judges, and prizes awarded in front of the leading lights of UK media (ie – the main room of delegates attending our flagship event!)

Hack day Goals

• Hack day events set out to do three simple things:

1. Generate great ideas at the intersection of technology & publishing
2. Provide an opportunity to take ideas from concept to code
3. Make software demos & reference implementations of the best ideas and experiments

• On top of that: It’s a great way for participants to make new connections, learn skills, and get feedback from mentors and peers.

HTML 5 – focus of the hack day

• HTML5 highlighted by our members as a key area of learning for developers - allowing them to be better able to devote the resource, and take valuable learnings from the event.
• In Mozilla’s latest round of suggested hack day topics, HTML5 is the most immediately relevant to the majority of AOP members
• With feedback from the AOP Product Development Committee, it was decided that the specific focus of the 2 day event should be:
• HTML5 - enabling you to develop dynamic applications and websites that work on all platforms, for all of your users - no matter which device or OS they choose.
  
• AOP hack day products should solve a real world problem or opportunity currently facing AOP members' businesses.

A short note on IP

• Code will be produced by teams of developers from different AOP member companies
• To be considered by the judges, the code needs to be publicly available and under an open-source (CC) license
• What is developed in 1-2 days is rarely ground-breaking enough to warrant any other considerations. 
• In the collegiate spirit of AOP, everyone will then be able to benefit from code/tools available under a Creative Commons (CC) license
• The first day of the Hack Day will be attended only by the developers/designers/journalists signed up for the event
• The second day of the Hack Day at the Summit will take place in a strictly-enforced boss-free and recruiter-free area

How it works The two-day event format is roughly as follows: 13/10 - Day 1 at Incisive Media, Broadwick St, Soho 8.00-9:30 Breakfast, introductions
9:30-10:30 Individuals pitch their hack day ideas & teams are formed
10:30 Teams begin their work
12.00 First team updates due
13.00-14.00 Lunch
15:30 Team updates due
17.00 Final team updates are due 14/10 - Day 2 at the AOP Digital Publishing Summit, Westminster Bridge Park Plaza 8.15-9.00 Breakfast
9.00-12.00 Hacking continues
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-14.00 Team preparation for presentation of final product
14.00-15.30 Teams present their projects; judging by an expert panel & prizes awarded
17.00 Event wrap-up in the main Summit room – winners announced and prize giving in front of the main Summit audience Results

• A successfully-facilitated hack day will result in:
• A gallery of demonstration projects that were built in 1.5 days using the provided tools, parter APIs, and promoted services
• A chance for publishers and sponsors to meet talented local developers
• An opportunity for publishers to see tangible examples of new web technologies in action
• The space to "stop yammering, and start hammering" -- this event is about building, making, and demonstrating the future

Judges Ross Bruniges, Client side web developer, Mozilla Foundation
Jay Stevens, VP & GM International of Rubicon Project
Helen Clifford-Jones, VP of Sales EMEA, Maxifier
Tom Jenen, Commercial Director EMEA, Admeld