Startup hack 2017

I woke up feeling mildly nudged by a train, and surprised at the feeling.

But yesterday was full of activity, much of it in the wonderfully warm sun, so perhaps it was not so strange after all. The main event was doing my little part for this year's Gothenburg startup hack. Unlike last year, I was not part of the group arranging the whole amazing affair. This time I just contributed by doing two little on-stage discussions with two of the meetup group organizers in town; Erik of the Sketch and design group and Erik of Bring your own project Gothenburg.

Some days I feel like everyone around me is named Erik.

I am really happy with both discussions, even with 24 hours to think of things to regret I only wish I could have caught on to a few more discussion threads and dug a little bit deeper into them. We did not have a very big audience, but for one it did grow, and for another with the way the sun was shining when we started I would have been more upset if people had not taken the opportunity to be outside just a bit longer before going into the tent for the evening.

Yep, we were in a tent. A sweet circus-like tent. Gothenburg startup hack has made unexpected locations one of its things, and this time it was two (one for the hackathon itself, one for other activities) circus tents right next to the opera. The setup seemed to work really well for everyone involved, and it was really cool to see the curious looks from people walking by on the street, totally not expecting to find 200 people and two circus tents were normally there is only grass.

It was great to get off stage, feel happy about my contribution and just be able to relax and socialize the rest of the evening. Quite the contrast from last year, when I needed to help keeping everything flowing and also pack it all down afterward. Much of the core team behind the hack has remained the same all four years, and both old and new organizers keep impressing me equally. Not only do they organize a great hackathon, taking care of applications, teams and schedules, they pick a completely new venue every year, make it work perfectly, they arrange a bunch of side events (like my discussions and a fantastic gig by Obsklassen), find sponsors to cover everything (the hack plus side events, after party and food and drinks was completely free to attendants), get everything set up and torn down, and do it all with a smile on their faces.

Phew. I skipped a bunch of things too.

To sum up: they make it look easy. Even from as close as I have seen the whole process for three years now, there is nothing but positivity and energy to create the very best hack possible for everyone involved. It is so inspiring, and I am happy to have got the chance to add a small piece of the puzzle.

I can not wait for next year. I can not even guess where it will be.

Back to today

Perhaps what I felt waking up was just picking up a bit of the load from the hack organizers. Happy to take it in that case. I have been in such low gear that I have not even felt a serious urge to put on headphones and listen to a podcast. Instead I have been taking in the actual sounds around me, processing all the impressions from yesterday and allowing myself to completely believe the impressions telling my mind that the summer holiday must have started.

Good thing there is so much fun coming during the week. The very first meetup at TimeEdit's office for example. (There are a few spots left! Come, hack on your side projects and get inspired by others) Plus other meetups, family visits and of course the usual dose of podcasting.

Man, things are good.