Event brings together Chicago-area coders and educators of all skill levels to build applications

cleverbridge to Host Hack to the Future Hackathon – Event brings together Chicago-area coders and educators of all skill levels to build applications that extend learning in the classroom

Chicago May 05, 2016  – cleverbridge, a global subscription billing provider, announces it will host the Hack to the Future hackathon to be held May 13-14 at the cleverbridge Chicago office. Chicago-area coders and educators of all skill levels will come together to build applications that extend learning in the classroom. The hackathon will be co-hosted by The Mozilla Foundation, who will also be providing an introductory computer science course for educator participants.

The event will kick off Friday evening with an ideation session and install fest where participants will get a chance to meet each other, brainstorm ideas, form into teams and install any software they will need to start coding. Saturday will be a full day of coding, starting with a two-hour introductory computer science workshop led by Mozilla. Designed to help educators with no prior exposure to computer science or programming, the professional development workshop will teach the skills and competencies required to read, write and participate on the web.

Teams of coders will then break off into conference rooms to begin building prototypes of their applications. Teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win one of four categories: Most Innovative, Most Likely to Increase Graduation Rate, Most Likely to be Seen in the Classroom or Best Pitch. The judging panel includes Craig Vodnik, co-founder of cleverbridge, Zarah Carranco, Dean of Students at Gary Comer College Prep, and a third judge to be determined. The Mozilla Foundation, 8th Light, and Chicago Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education program are also donating their time and resources as team leads and mentors, helping guide the participants in building out their prototypes and developing their presentations.

“Building off of the success of our recent women-in-tech hackathon, we’re excited to host Hack to the Future to help unlock the potential of Chicago-area youth through next-generation technologies,” said Vodnik. “No matter what field students pursue, having exposure to STEM and computer science will provide critical skills and training for success in their careers and in life.”

To learn more or register to participate in Hack to the Future, visithttps://hacktothefuture.splashthat.com. For real-time updates throughout the event, follow@cleverbridge and the hashtag #HackToTheFuture on Twitter. To learn more about cleverbridge, please contact inquiry(at)cleverbridge(dot)com or visit http://www.cleverbridge.com.

About cleverbridge

cleverbridge provides global subscription billing solutions that help companies build long-term customer relationships and grow recurring revenue streams. With its flexible, cloud-based billing and monetization platform, cleverbridge integrates seamlessly with client systems, simplifies subscription business models and delivers an optimized online customer experience. Leveraging cleverbridge expertise, technology and services, clients monetize products and services more effectively, rapidly expand their global subscriber base and maximize customer lifetime value. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, cleverbridge has offices in Chicago, San Francisco and Tokyo. For more information, visit http://www.cleverbridge.com.