From Nov. 16 to 17, Davis is hosting a Startup Weekend sponsored by Hacker Lab and Davis Roots. Hacker Lab is an organization that travels to different cities and partners with local organizations to host Startup Weekend Hackathons.
Davis Roots is the local organization that Hacker Lab has partnered with. It is a nonprofit startup business accelerator that attempts to promote early forward thinking.
A Startup Weekend is a weekend-long program that gives entrepreneurs or people with a good idea an opportunity to see if their ideas have any merit and if they could possibly succeed in the business world.
Allyson Shoemaker, a fourth-year human development major, said she believes Davis is the perfect place for a Startup Weekend because of the general attitude of UC Davis students.
“There is a large population at UC Davis that is known for involving themselves in forward thinking research and developments,” Shoemaker said. “It would be a good thing because there is no business major or school at Davis, therefore it would allow students who would have liked to be focused on business to have the opportunity to do something hands-on within their interests.”
The cofounder of Hacker Lab, Eric Ullrich, seems to agree with Shoemaker and said he believes that Davis will present exciting opportunities that other towns would not offer.
“The way Hacker Lab works is we pick a place to host the Startup Weekend and then find local people to speak at them. This is the first and only time we will probably come to Davis. We thought Davis was a good location because it is a college town and there is a big engineering program with lots of students,” Ullrich said.
When asked if most of the people signing up were Davis students Ullrich said it’s split evenly.
“We are expecting around 100 participants and they are programmers designers and more. We have a bunch of workshops all weekend and Friday night we have an opening part and that’s when ideas are formed and people start working,” Ullrich said.
U.S. News & World Report 2013 stated that the UC Davis undergraduate engineering program is ranked 32nd nationally and tied for 17th among public schools with North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Their program has grown over the past several years.
Dashiel Barrett, a third-year engineering major, agrees that the engineering department will provide many participants for the program.
“Davis definitely has a large enough engineering program to support a Startup Weekend. It seems like events like this that cater to innovative students go well in Davis,” Barrett said.
Madison Monaham, a first-year communication major, has only lived in Davis for several months but believes she can already see the initiative students seem to take on in response to events such as this.
“I believe Davis students are presented with amble opportunities that help spark creativity. Our school is in fact now ranked ninth for public schools. We are lucky to be in such a strong scholastic environment. This event will provide students with the perfect opportunity to vocalize their creativity,” Monaham said.
The ticket prices vary from $34 to $54 depending on whether or not the ticket is bought before Nov. 16. The program starts Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. and ends Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. and is located downtown at 212 F St.
