Testimonials
A collection of reviews from our events and initiatives. Thank you sponsors, partners, clients, attendees, members, organizers, & volunteers for your care and involvement.
[↑ - no, we’re not always outside, that was a SuperConnect rapidfire icebreaker. We ran out of space that one time!]
“At HackerNest Tech Socials, you can have open and honest discussion with anyone without having to worry about their motives. We often drift from technical topics and end up discussing the personal thoughts and feelings that are on the minds of the community. You don't get that elsewhere. HackerNest fills that niche missing from all the other tech events. I'm enamored by the work that you guys do. You’re doing an excellent job at fulfilling your mission. ”
— Michael O.; Tech Social attendee
#
“was really interesting to visit #hackernest yesterday as a volunteer and meet some real interesting fellow web developers. Definitely some ideas on how to progress my career!”
— Carl; Tech Social Attendee
#
“Day 2: Started the ‘MERN Stack Front to Back’ course on Udemy. It’s interesting learning about Node.js, most of my experience has been with Django. Also went downtown to the #HackerNest meeting, it was very crowded! #100DaysofCode”
— Adam; Tech Social Attendee
#
“..absolutely amazing. Thanks to the organizers and sponsors for bringing so many awesome people into one place. Loved it!”
— Tony; Tech Social Attendee
#
“It was terrific! So many wonderful people, I’ve learned a real lot just by talking to them briefly, so many bright minds”
— Anthony; Tech Social Attendee
Tufts University’s Boryana Damyanova Program for Corporate Responsibility was presented to HackerNest for representing complex issues of capitalism, integrity, and corporate citizenship.
“I just wanted to send a quick note to express my gratitude for being part of Sunday’s Fishackathon. What a fabulously designed and organized event and I feel very luck to have been a part of it.”
— Brianna L. Bailey-Gevlin; Vice Consul, U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, Nigeria
#
“Considérez-le #piraté! Félicitations à tous les participants de #Fishackathon de cette année! Super d’avoir travaillé avec @HackerNest sur ce fabuleax événement”
— Péches et Océans (Fisheries & Oceans Canada)
#
“..a great event. I’m really glad to have attended and appreciate the opportunity to mentor. Congrats on a successful and meaningful event”
— Todd Myers; Environmental Director, Washington Policy Center
“We’ve had great success sponsoring HackerNest. We get a good volume of people signing up from the Tech Socials, but the icing on the cake is the fact that we hired at least 3 people from one event last year! ”
— Anton Mamine; Acquisition Specialist, Hover
Discussion on international tech communities, the evolution of hackathons, and how the world’s foremost dementia hackathon came to be.
“I worked with HackerNest on two unorthodox projects testing new ideas, and in both cases the HackerNest team proved to be highly capable, agile, and professional. We would not have been able to deliver either project without HackerNest, and they made both events far more successful than we had hoped. They would be my first choice of partner for any technology-related project. I need to be able to trust that my partners will do what they say they’re going to do, when they say they’re going to do it, and raise any issues immediately. This, in my experience, is HackerNest’s strongest asset – they deliver, no matter what.”
— John Preece, Ph.D.; Sector Development Officer, City of Toronto
“…the air in the room felt electrified, there was a feeling of sheer excitement and everyone was pumped. I thought that on the second day, this atmosphere would have dwindled, but it didn’t. If anything, it had increased …I would like to finish by saying that this was one of the greatest events I have ever attended. I was on a personal high for days after this event. It has made me personally strive to do better in the work I do for Alzheimer’s. If ever I was asked to participate again, I would jump at the chance to do so. No matter where or when, I would go just to experience this totally awesome experience again. I would also recommend to anyone asked to participate to say yes – this is something that I feel everyone should do at least once in a lifetime. As an off-note, my granddaughter attended and she was so amazed she has since decided to change her major in university. No matter what your age or your ability, this is an event to participate in, your youth returns while you are there and for a few days following. It definitely changes the way you see things. ”
— Phyllis F. M.L.A., R.N., S.A.N.E.; Ontario Dementia Advisory Board, DementiaHack Mentor & Finals Judge
#
“Facebook is proud to partner with HackerNest. Their experience, dedication, and enthusiasm helped ensure things ran smoothly and it was a pleasure working with their team.”
— Jordan Banks; Managing Director, Facebook & Instagram
The White House Opportunity Project
Unleashing the power of open data to build stronger ladders of opportunity for all Americans the expansion of this project allowed HackerNest to use data from the DOL’s OpenSkills API and the Office Personnel Management’s USA JOB’s API to help users identify and navigate potential careers in the federal government.
“The British Consulate-General in Toronto has collaborated on a number of high-impact tech events and campaigns with HackerNest. Their tech, social science, and community savvy, coupled with their global platform, enabled the British Government to deliver innovative outcomes in dementia research and cooperation between Toronto, London, and other global cities. ”
— Kevin McGurgan, OBE; British Consul-General Toronto, UK Government
#
“Facebook is proud to have been the presenting sponsor of DementiaHack. It was an honor and a privilege for me, as Chair, to have helped guide the event towards such a positive outcome. Anyone can run a hack event, but it is an entirely different thing to produce the world’s foremost dementia hackathon, which is why we chose to partner with HackerNest. Their experience, dedication, and enthusiasm helped ensure DementiaHack ran smoothly and it was a pleasure working with their team. ”
— Jordan Banks; Managing Director, Facebook & Instagram
#
“In case anyone wondered, *this* is what a #hackathon looks like. #DementiaHack #awesome #inspiring.”
— Amanda Wilson.; Executive Director & Director General, Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Public Health Agency of Canada
CourtHack was a US Justice System Hackathon to benefit the administration of justice.
Produced in Salt Lake City, this hackathon tackled problems in access to justice, fairness in courts, support for families in crisis, and other challenges in the justice system. Watch the short video here.
“CourtHack was amazing. I loved the creativity that each team brought to the challenge sets. We, as court leaders, often fall into the trap of conceptualizing problems the same way. These hackers brought different perspectives to the issues and solved small problems (which is all they can really do in 24 hours!) in ways that we typically don’t think of or prioritize. But, in so doing, they opened our eyes to new possibilities. As a mentor, it was especially rewarding to watch their ideas evolve. I was impressed with their intellectual curiosity and their ability to rapidly adjust their designs to accommodate legal and operational realities that the mentors helped them see. Had this hackathon been in Southern California, I would have instantly offered paid internships to half a dozen impressive young coders.”
— Snorri Ogata; Chief Information Officer, Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County
#
“The CourtHack event was the first time I’ve gotten to see court administrators and judges working closely with scrappy software engineers and dynamic product teams to solve major industry problems. I sit in between public and private sector stakeholders, and was amazed to see the two come together and create some excellent ideas over a 24-hour period at CourtHack. HackerNest and the NCSC did a great job of getting the right people in the room and I think we need to see more of this type of collaboration of ideas and skills to break down barriers in this industry. ”
— Noah Aron; VP & General Manager, One Legal
#
“CourtHack was unique and something that needs to be experienced up front!”
— Richard Gatchell.; Senior Manager, Federal Civilian Programs, Solutions Sales for Government, Harman AMX
“I had the pleasure of being invited to the Data Professionals Elite Meet, the first of its kind [...] we shared laughs, stories, and wonder [...] from PhDs to CEOs of successful companies to highly ambitious, capable "humans with heart", Shaharris created an atmosphere unlike any other to celebrate triumphs and hurdles alike in a unique and humbling way. I had the best impression of the professional yet down to earth format of my first ever HackerNest event.”
— Cherrol X.; Product Analyst/Coordinator, Roadpost
#
“...9 of us [...] from impressive CEOs to brilliant PhDs and [...] incredibly humbling to be included in this group of very accomplished people! [...] Never before have I had the privilege of being surrounded by so many of that caliber. Every person I had the pleasure of talking to was simply phenomenal. I'm still not quite over it if I'm being honest. I've only met a handful of people at quite that level in my life; being around such a high concentration of those sorts of people was a real treat.”
— Eric L.F.; Machine Learning Researcher, SortSpoke
#
“[The] event was fantastic, thank you again for organizing and please share my thanks with the SkipTheDishes team. [...] It totally surpassed my expectations - you really did assemble an amazing cast of characters.”
— Andrew K.; Internal Audit Senior Manager, Hydro One
Hardware hackathons are one of the hardest to plan and produce.
“Thanks for doing such a great job hosting the (Elite Meet) evening. It was a lot of fun [...] we'd like to proceed moving forward with similar events. Thanks again!”
— Arlin D.; Director of Talent Acquisition, SkipTheDishes / Just Eat
#
“..thank you for setting this up and being a phenomenal event manager! [...] thank you all for your stories. I personally left the room with some new aspects and ideas in mind, I am going to pitch some!”
— Abbas H.; Senior Tech Manager, Data Systems, SkipTheDishes / Just Eat
“… provided strategic direction & tactical support throughout the program … valuable perspectives … very committed to our success. They continue to enhance the program with deep insights … helped support our drive to a changing culture within Deloitte …. confident in their abilities. ”
— Keyur S.; Deloitte
Send us your feedback!
Want to share your HackerNest experience with the world? Send us a note (maybe a pic or video too) - we’d love to hear from you!