Last week I attended the 48in48 networking event. The 48in48 team brought supporters, organizers, and sponsors together to mingle, shake hands, and exchange hugs. It was humbling to be surrounded by such a good group of people.
I feel compelled to write about this event because of how much I admire the founders of the event, as well as the cause itself.
Jeff Hilimire, CEO of DragonArmy, and Adam Walker, President and Co-founder of Sideways8, were the masterminds behind the 48in48 event.
Jeff and Adam thought about creating an event that would produce tangible deliverables for the small non-profits that need it the most in the community. They realized that in order to create momentum around the event, that it needed to be a goal that would push limits of what you would normally think is impossible.
What about a hackathon that would produce 48 websites for 48 non-profits within 48 hours? Okay, that sounds like a lofty goal. Let’s create an event around that.
[quote title=”Title” Text=”Nonprofits are so focused on helping others they don’t have time or funds to help themselves, imagine how much more good they could do with a great website to help them market themselves better? We hope to change that for 48 nonprofits this fall.” name=”Jeff Hilimire” name_sub=”Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 2015″]
With the help of multiple designers, coders, non-profits, volunteers, and sponsors (like IBM, Mailchimp, Delta, Mizuno, GoogleFiber just to name a few), they’re putting on the event Oct. 2-4, 2015 at General Assembly.
There are lots of amazing people dedicating their lives to great causes, and that is not limited to Atlanta, GA. So, the goal for the 48in48 is for the event to travel across the U.S. to a different city each year. Each year, 48 non-profits will be helped in a city that needs the event. It could be in a city near you.
In 10 years, the event will up level almost 500 non-profits country-wide. How great is that?
To learn more about the event and how you might be able to be involved, check out their website.
Check out an interview on 11 Alive with Jeff and Adam.