CodeDay blog post

_posts/2014-2-26-codeday.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Why You Should Go to Meetups"
+date: 2014-02-26 23:47:47
+---
+![](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/12724038015_deb246a88c_b.jpg)
+
+Late in December of 2013 I was chatting with a friend of mine, [Zach Latta](http://zachlatta.com) and mentioned one of his many projects, organizing CodeDay Los Angeles. He explained the concept and I was interested. After checking CodeDay's website, I noted that Austin didn't have a CodeDay. Zach's solution was simple: "Plan one. Here's Tyler's email."
+
+## Planning
+
+A few days and a couple of emails later, I was in touch with Amyr. Amyr, a member of the [StudentRND team](https://studentrnd.org/team) in Seattle, was starting to plan Austin's CodeDay remotely. He made the offer to help find a venue, sponsors, and food along with showing me the ropes of planning an event like CodeDay. We set up a meeting and got to work. Over the past couple of months we contacted venues in Austin, emailed local companies, marketed the event to students, found judges, and went through the process of getting food for an event. It was a fast paced few weeks with only a few headaches and late nights.
+
+Planning the event introduced me to some interesting groups and people. James Renovitch, the gaming editor over at the [Austin Chronicle](http://www.austinchronicle.com/) invited me out to the [Juegos Rancheros](http://juegosrancheros.com/) meetup to help me find a few judges. He introduced me to some of the main developers behind games I spent weeks of my childhood playing and helped me make great connections that led to a couple of our wonderful judges at CodeDay.
+
+## CodeDay!
+
+![](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2841/12724187113_c78228b583_b.jpg)
+
+Running the event was thrilling. Seeing the first people arrive to code was the greatest possible validation that we'd made it work. Case knew what to do to get the event going and we spent the following 24 hours helping people get their projects going, DJing, making food runs, and ensuring everything went smoothly. It was a great event.
+
+I'm ready to get out and hack at some hackathons and help plan the next round of CodeDays. Expect to see some exciting stuff happening around May!
+
+![](http://distilleryimage1.ak.instagram.com/28fb2eec973011e39b1a0ac99e922831_8.jpg)
+
+
+I'd just like to thank our sponsors [Rackspace](https://www.rackspace.com/), [Splunk](http://www.splunk.com/), [HubAustin](http://hubaustin.com/) and [Intellectual Ventures](http://www.intellectualventures.com/) along with our great judges: Andy Keil, Rusty Moyher, Sam Kapila, and Trent Polack. They all made CodeDay Austin possible.