The Filter Team Does Its Bit For Charity at Dev4good

Posted by David ⋅ June 3, 2011 ⋅ 1 Comment

Filed Under Auriol Kensington Rowing Club, Charity, dev4good, Hope and Play, Lavazza, microsoft, Nick Hornby, The Filter, The Filter Team, The Ministry of Stories

What Happens when you lock a team of software developers in a building with nothing but a problem, a tonne of energy drink, an endless supply of caffeine, and a weekend of dev time? “Explosive Development” say the organizers of dev4good.

The event, which will happen in London on the 2^nd and 3^rd July will bring together charities with talented developers over a weekend with the aim of coming up with viable solutions to advance their good causes. This year the chosen charities are Hope and Play – which provides children in need with places to play safely and educational materials to help advance their future opportunities – and The Ministry of Stories – which was founded by Nick Hornby to inspire young people to transform their lives through writing, offering them workshops and one-to-one mentoring.

Several developers from The Filter will be giving some of their time and expertise to help these noble causes. They will be joining other coders from all over the world at the Auriol Kensington Rowing Club for the coding marathon. Sponsors include Microsoft (which has provided giveaway prizes for participants) and Lavazza which will keep the much-needed caffeine flowing freely.

Teams are formed spontaneously, with people deciding who they want to hang out with and how much sleep – if any – they need. The schedule is intensive to say the least, with organizers describing it as a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ environment and with the problems/requirements of the charities not being revealed until things actually kick off. 2 days and approximately 48 hours of solid coding later and the completed viable solutions will be pitched to a panel of judges, with prizes being given to the winning team. Carrying on with the collaborative spirit of the not for profit event, all code written will be available after the event for others to use and develop.

“We are running dev4good to bring together talented thinkers and coders to collaborate in teams and create solutions that could change the way people live their lives,” say the organizers.

Everybody at The Filter is looking forward to it and we will be posting news and pictures here after the event.

About David

My name is David Maher Roberts. I have been involved in digital media for 15 years. First as publisher of .net magazine, .netDirectory and Connect back in 1997, then as Publishing Director of all of Future's games magazines (e.g. Edge, PC Gamer) and websites (including GamesRadar). In 2003, I founded and grew Future Plus - The Content Agency into a business generating £10m of annual revenue and was Digital Director at Future for three years. I am now CEO of The Filter, a world-leading recommendation and relevance engine for digital entertainment content. The company is backed by Peter Gabriel and Eden Ventures and our solution is used by over 200m Users every month through our network of customers that include NBC, DailyMotion, Nokia, Warner Bros. and We7. I am also the founding partner of Digital DNA - a consultancy that helps businesses develop and execute data-driven strategies. When I am not working I enjoy spending time with my wife and two kids, playing football and re-mixing music.

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