See you on Sunday

Hello <<First Name>>,

I am looking forward to the hackathon at the Centre for Social Innovation on Sunday, and want to thank you for signing up. I think it's going to be an interesting way to spend our Sunday, learning about and improving on an important piece of Drupal code.

This email outlines a few things you need to know about the day - if you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me. Also, we have some space left, so if you know of anyone who might want to contribute, send them the sign up page.

We are starting at 10am at 215 Spadina on the fourth floor. We should have someone downstairs from 9:30, but if you need to come late, please call me at 647 405 3742 to get let in.

Here's an agenda for the day

9:30 Check in, coffee, snacks
10am Intro, go around
10:30 Technical introduction to the module and our priorities for the session
11am-6pm Assign and work on priority improvements
We will have breaks for progress updates, and optional breaks for lunch and foosball. Beer after if we are still standing!


What you will need:

• Access to a development environment (LAMP, MAMP or WAMP) with Drupal 6 installed, preferably with Connect installed as well http://drupal.org/project/connect
• Git installed - we are going to be using Github http://help.github.com/
• Some idea of what you want to work on: see some of the priorities below

Priorities for the hackathon
The priorities below are roughly organized by role. Developer ninjas, theme demigods, data wizards and documentation gurus are all welcome. There may be other priorities added, but these are the ones we know about now.

Developer
- Creating an easy-to-use "test" mode, where all functions work but message goes to a defined email address instead of target.
- A "personalized" confirmation screen after a message is sent, using the person's first name, the target's name and a set of "More things to do" including sharing on social networks.
- A quick way to view and export people who have taken action.
- Make it possible for senders to edit the subject line of the message sent.
- Widgetized version: create an online action from a central install, then paste code into their non-Drupal site to host an action.

Themer
- "Social proof" of the number of actions taken, in a graphical form.
- "Social proof" of latest actions taken: first name and city of last 3-6 senders.

Data wizard
- Connecting the module to the database of Toronto wards.
- Automatically tagging signers with their relevant riding or municipal ward.

Documentation
- An installation guide to the Connect module.
- A guide to creating and managing actions with Connect.
- Documenting how to integrate the module with CiviCRM.

Food will be provided
You can't code on an empty stomach, and we wouldn't be good hosts if we didn't provide good food. We will take lunch orders from local restaurants including Fresh, Ciccio's Pizza, or your choice from around here. (We'll even run down to McDonald's if that makes you happy)  So start thinking now about what you want to eat, and we'll do our best to oblige.

Questions? Comments? and Thanks!
If you have any questions about the day on Sunday, please let me know. And I want to say a huge "Thank You" in advance even before the event begins. Your contribution is much appreciated.

See you Sunday,
Eric. (eric@squair.ca)