HackSoton X (2019)
Hey! Just so you know, this article is over 2 years old. Some of the information in it might be outdated, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm not saying it's not worth a read, but don't take everything in it as gospel. If you're curious about something, it never hurts to double-check with a more up-to-date source!
Central hall midway through the day
HackSoton X (Roman numerals were a great choice) has just passed us by on April the 1st, 2019. The event had a great turnout and a tonne of activities on for those of all ages.
I had a great time, and although I arrived with no concrete plans in mind, it was great to simply take a day to socialise with many familiar faces!
I spent most of my day working through my existing WordPress blog (the backend for this site) and updated every single 200+ blog posts to ensure all media was loading correctly in my new Gatsby site.
It was a great time to reflect on the changes I've made since arriving in Southampton. It was also kind of a bummer to see how much content I used to create and how little I have done since focusing on freelancing.
Aside from my own internal realisations, the event went on with other participants busy creating some cool new projects or refining existing ones.
Notable Mentions
#Michael Craddock
#Michael created a placeholder image generator that serves up images of unicorns in the height and width you request. It was great to see his project come to life at the event!
https://twitter.com/MobliMic/status/1112048299333292033
Lockpicking Sessions
#Although questionable why you'd want to learn how to lockpick, it was still cool to see transparent locks used to show the inner workings of a lock and how you can use tools to unlock them.
Kids Workshops
#Whilst the focus of my day was to socialise with friends and industry peers, the main focus of any HackSoton is to inspire and provide a platform for kids to explore their passion in tech!
I personally didn't check out the kids workshops as I'm well... an adult.
I did however, see a tonne of social media activity around the event that showed off some of the cool kids workshop sessions that local sponsors and communities put on at HackSoton.
Not only that, but at the show and tell, we got to see some of the end products the youth had put together. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed and that some of the projects the kids came up with were better than the adults!
https://twitter.com/TechAgeKids/status/1111929535497465856
Interested in HackSoton?
#If you are interested in HackSoton, want to attend, sponsor or do some more research into the amazing event, I'd highly recommend checking out their website and following them on Twitterfor any updates on future events!