Building a More Vibrant Elyria, Together!

The City of Elyria is proud to collaborate with Case Western Reserve University, Dataswift, Kinetic by Windstream HAT-LAB, NEOLaunchNet, Lorain County Community College and the Ethical Tech Alliance on Elyria’s first “Hack-a-thon.” The Hack-a-Thon will be held the weekend of October 22-24, virtually.

A Hack-a-thon is a relatively new concept and is NOT strictly defined by computer hacking and coding. A Hack-a-thon is a crowd and talent-sourced “working conference” that breaks participants into teams to work intensively on developing a novel solution to a community-wide problem. In this case, participants work over the weekend to “hack” together a solution to a community-wide issue in Elyria. The winning team will receive prize money.

As a revitalization thought-leader, the City of Elyria is hosting the Hack-a-thon to empower its residents, business owners, and community leaders to design a more vibrant community. The winning ideas will have the opportunity to be considered for potential funding under the American Rescue Plan dollars. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the weekend-long intensive event. Teams will problem-solve with the support of a mentor, a subject matter expert, and a design consultant. Participants do not have to be from Elyria.

The City will accept solution ideas for the following community issues:

• Community violence intervention;
• Access to social and emotional mental health services;
• Improvements or expansions of local parks;
• Small business assistance or entrepreneurship development;
• Access to out-of-school childcare;
• Job training assistance; and
• Revitalizing the local travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

All solutions submitted must use technology or data to drive measurable improvements.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

There are many ways to get involved in the Hack-a-thon. First, start by telling friends and family about the Hack-a-thon. Those interested in participating in the Hack-a-thon can begin thinking of a solution to a societal issue that Elyria residents are facing. Ideas can be submitted starting in late September through October 15, 2021. Ideas can be submitted on the hackfromhome website at www.hackfromhome.com/elyria. Next, plan to register and attend opening night on October 22. Then join a team and take a “hack” at a problem.

Friday night – welcome, idea presentation by the committee, team selection, and orientation to idea development from Case Western Reserve University design specialists.

Saturday morning/afternoon – morning team work, lunch break is a speech and interview with Tony Thomas, CEO of Windstream with Mayor Whitfield, followed by team time finalizing ideas.

Sunday afternoon – Presentation of ideas and plans of action from the teams

Winning teams will be announced on Monday November 1, 2021 and the prize money will be divided among the team members.