We’re very excited to invite you to join us at MLH Hackcon VI, hosted by GitHub. Our annual conference for hackathon organizers and hacker community leaders is returning on August 24 – 26, 2018 to Pocono Springs Camp.

MLH Hackcon VI is your chance to meet people from other campuses, share experiences and learnings, and collectively work to build the future of the student hacker movement. You’ll be housed on site at a beautiful summer camp in the Poconos with 450 other awesome hacker community organizers.

Ticket sales are open now. We know that it can be difficult and expensive to attend professional conferences as a student, so each ticket is subsidized by our sponsors so that they only cost $200 per attendee for students or recent grads. Each ticket is actually worth $1,000 each! Tickets include a shuttle to/from NYC, bunkroom lodging and food at camp, and access to the conference and camp activities.

To make it even more affordable for you to attend, we have lots of discounts available on top of the subsidized ticket cost. If you buy your ticket before April 1, you’ll receive an additional $25 off! Additional ticket discounts exist if you’re an MLH member event or have received a GitHub First Time Member Event Grant, email us at hackcon@mlh.io to claim them.

We’re dedicated to making the conference accessible for all, if you require additional financial assistance, we have scholarships available from our friends at GitHub that cover the cost of the conference ticket.

What Can I Expect at MLH Hackcon VI?

As an attendee you’ll get to participate in interactive workshops, talks, discussion groups, and fun summer camp activities. It’s a once-a-year opportunity for veteran organizers and newcomers alike to work together to share their perspectives and learn from one another.

If you’re curious about what we learned last year, check out some of these talks from our community members at MLH Hackcon V:

Jesse Peplinski shared with us how student hackathon organizers can get their school’s alumni engaged with their hacker community on campus.

Audrey Vincent and Kedar Vaidya shared their findings on building and fueling growth within Purdue’s hacker culture.

Kim Noel explored activities hackathon organizers can create to stimulate their community and generate continuous success beyond a single superstar event.

This year, we’ll be covering four important themes at MLH Hackcon VI. We’d love for you to submit your own talk, workshop, or discussion to share your expertise on these subjects with your fellow organizers.

• Supporting hackers beyond hackathons – Hackathons are only one part of being a hacker. We want you to share your expertise on how to engage your local community and help expand their skills outside of hackathons.
• Creating awesome hacker experiences – Share best practices and innovations on the hacker experience. You could cover ways to make hackers feel special, ensuring they make the most of their event experience, preventing surprises as an organizer, and more!
• Cultivating leadership – How do you build a strong team of leaders and future leaders within your community? Find leadership practices you can employ to make the best hackathon, workshops, and clubs.
• Including all hackers – Take steps to make everyone feel welcome and valued at your events and in your community. Move beyond just getting people to the party, but also asking them to dance. How do you and your team approach this and how can other organizers learn from your experience?

We look forward to seeing you in August. We’ll be sharing more details later this year about our plans to support European hacker community leaders and organizers. We’re working on some exciting updates to make our European organizer events more accessible for everyone who would like to participate!

Please reach out to our team at hackcon@mlh.io if you have any questions or concerns.