PAYETTE Hackathon Goes to Houston

If you are attending the 2016 Laboratory Design Conference in Houston, Texas – be sure to hear our discussion of our first ever PAYETTE Hackathon! 

The Story behind the PAYETTE Hackathon

In September 2015, we held PAYETTE’s inaugural hackathon (inspired by the Equity by Design Hackathon led by Rosa Sheng at the AIA Convention). The rapid prototyping format consisted of small group discussions that led to new ideas and modes of problem solving. The style of connection and innovation was ideal for PAYETTE’s think tank style studio environment, and the format allowed us to bring people together from different project teams and departments throughout the firm.  The first-ever event consisted of five teams of 4-5 people each. We provided an imagined client brief and allotted three hours for teams to work. At the end of the three hours each team had an opportunity to present their key idea(s) to a panel of three judges. The judges then selected a winning team. The teams were judged on the clarity of their ideas . The event was a huge success and gave an outlet for people to stretch their creative wings and connect with new colleagues throughout the firm, so much so that we organized our second Hackathon this past November.

Next month we’re sharing our experience and the winning idea at the 2016 Laboratory Design Conference being held in Houston Texas April 25-27, 2016.

Hacking the Lab of the Future
In the session at the 2016 Laboratory Design Conference, PAYETTE will show a behind-the-scenes look at the impetus for the hackathon, the process of planning and executing a hackathon, the design challenge we put forth and how we cultivated collaboration across firm hierarchies and knowledge bases. In Part 2 of the session, you will hear from members of the winning team about what worked well in the hackathon process and insight into their winning ideas.

Details:
Tuesday, April 26 | 2:00-3:30pm

Speakers:
James Collins Jr., FAIA, LEED AP, Principal, PAYETTE
Karen Robichaud, Communications Editor, PAYETTE
Robert Pasersky, AIA, PAYETTE
Jeffrey Abramson, AIA, LEED AP, PAYETTE