Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon

I am having a nice break.

Here is a little news item on an exciting and profitable upcoming event to let you know I am still alive.

Let's start with a brief historical flashback:

Autodesk Exchange Apps Portathon September 13-14, 2013

Last year, we held the first Autodesk Exchange App Portathon:

This year, it is bigger and better, of course:

Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon September 20-21, 2014

Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon 2014

We proudly announce this online event providing an opportunity to receive up to US $100 per app published and win one of eight iPad minis!

The 2014 Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon is similar in concept to the Portathon that we held in 2013. However, this event is bigger, better, has new competitions and great prizes. Anyone can participate from anywhere in the world and at any time both before the event and during the Hackathon days. We've assembled a great line up of speakers to give presentations and demos on hot topics that will help your overall application development, and technical experts will be on hand to help and guide you.

What is the Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon?

The Autodesk Exchange Apps Hackathon is a virtual web based Hackathon. It's a community event that gives you the opportunity to work closely with other members of the software development community and Autodesk engineers in real time, developing new apps for Autodesk Exchange.

The Exchange Apps Hackathon is for all types of apps – from simple to complex, from free to monthly subscription apps, from desktop to cloud apps. No matter what industry you are in – AEC, Infrastructure, Product Design and Manufacturing or Media and Entertainment – you can use the Hackathon to learn and profit.

The Hackathon will run from 9:00 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time (PT) on Saturday, September 20, 2014 to 4 p.m. PT on September 21, 2014. You can participate from anywhere via Internet access.

Why is the Hackathon Important?

If you've been thinking about publishing apps in the Exchange Apps store but haven't found the time, this event will give you the help you need to get them 'out the door'. It is your opportunity to join the hundreds of publishers that are already driving app sales and downloads and gaining great new customers. Exchange Apps is simply THE best way to gain exposure to Autodesk customers. As of July 31, 2014, 2,250,203 unique visitors viewed the site, made over 750,000 unique downloads and visited over 10 million pages.

The Hackathon gives you flexibility. You can publish apps for any of the existing Exchange stores. You can prepare an existing app to publish on Exchange or write a new one to publish. You can publish both free and paid apps, plus learn how to take advantage of the new monthly subscription feature or APIs for simple licensing. Or, you can spend the time learning how to improve your products and services by using a new Autodesk API such as one of our Cloud service APIs. Check the Agenda for all the great API sessions.

The Hackathon is a free event. Plus, there is a reward! For all new apps submitted to the Autodesk Exchange Apps store by midnight on September 30, 2014 and accepted for publication in the store by November 30, 2014, you will receive US$ 100 per 'non-Free' app and US $50 per 'Free or Trial' app for up to 5 apps per company.

There is no reason to wait! You can get started now – apps that you publish between now and the Hackathon event will qualify for the reward.

New Exchange App Hackathon Competitions

New for the 2014 Exchange Apps Hackathon:

In addition to the above cash reward, you can participate in the 'Cloud App' and 'Sustainability App' competitions. For the Cloud App competition your App needs to be a web service or needs to use at least one web service. For the 'Sustainability App' competition your app needs to deliver capabilities that enables designers and engineers to create more Sustainable designs.

More Information and Registration

Head on over to exchangeapphack.com for details on the event, a FAQ, the schedule and speaker line up, Rules and Registration link.

Participation in the Exchange Apps Portathon is governed by the Autodesk Exchange Apps Portathon Official Rules. By clicking the Register Now button, you are agreeing to the Official Rules and the Autodesk Privacy Policy.

Register Now. After registration, you will receive by email full details on how to participate in the Hackathon.

Learn more about how to publish your apps on the Autodesk Exchange Apps store at www.autodesk.com/developapps.

Please email exchangeapphack@autodesk.com if you have any questions on the Hackathon. We would love to talk to you about how we can help you get the most apps possible submitted by the midnight September 30, 2014 deadline.

BIM and the Beautiful Game

Let me close by pointing to this succinct and insightful article on the right business reasons for choosing BIM, BIM and 'The Beautiful Game', by Stephan Langella.

I wish you a wonderful continuation of your summer (or winter, as the case may be)!