Backcountry.com Seeks Female Software Engineers for First-Ever Women’s Hackathon

Jan. 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Park City, UT (Jan. 29, 2013)—The Backcountry.com (http://www.backcountry.com) Women’s Leadership Coalition will host the first-ever Women’s Hackathon in Park City, in an effort expand the presence and influence of women in their software engineering department.

A hackathon is an event that gathers people within the software development field under one roof to collaborate on a software project and showcase their skills.  At the Backcountry.com Women’s Hackathon, participants will be building projects completely from scratch, without a set assignment, allowing them to maximize creativity and express what they are passionate about. After 24 hours, the finished projects will be judged.

In the spirit of empowering women leadership, the Backcountry.com Women’s Hackathon is 100% women-powered from planning to the execution and delivery of the event.  All women, ranging from undergraduate student to seasoned professional, are encouraged to attend.  The goal of the event is to heighten awareness of the Backcountry.com brand to women technologists and encourage more women to pursue engineering opportunities at Backcountry.com.

“As a leader in the outdoor retail online space, is important to Backcountry.com that we foster leadership opportunities for women and increase their influence in business, particularly fields where we are underrepresented, such as software design.  Through Hackathon, we also hope to encourage more women to join our team at Backcountry.com, in an underlying effort to give the site more appeal to the female consumer,” said Jill Layfield, Backcountry.com CEO. “We look forward to seeing creativity unfold and talent showcased throughout the weekend as these tech savvy women collaborate at this friendly competition.”

Jill Layfield and other backcountry.com executives will comprise the judging panel. An iPad Mini will be awarded to each member of the winning team at a closing award ceremony.

Throughout the Hackathon, scouts will be keeping an eye out for outstanding participants who demonstrate an interest in joining the Backcountry.com engineering team.  

Women’s Hackathon Event Details:

•    Who can attend? The event is open to female Backcountry.com employees and the public. No professional experience is required - university students are welcome.

·      Where: Backcountry.com administrative offices in Park City

·      What to expect: A team consists of 1-4 people. There will be four categories of teams:

a)    All women teams using Backcountry API

b)    All women teams

c)    Women led teams (Female product or lead engineer) using Backcountry API

d)    Women led teams (Female product or lead engineer)

·      Date: Friday & Saturday, March 22-23, 2013  

·      How to participate: Register at bc-hackathon.com. This event will accommodate up to 30 software developers. Register now before teams are filled!

·      What to bring: Bring your favorite device to hack on and any necessary computer components

·      Network access and food will be provided

For more details about Hackathon or to register for the event, visit: http://bc-hackathon.com.

About Backcountry.com
Backcountry.com is the largest online specialty retailer of premium outdoor gear. We create remarkable customer experiences on all fronts — through the quality and breadth of our product, the ease of use of our site, the knowledge and empowered service of our gearheads, the lightning speed of our fulfillment, and the shared gear knowledge of our Community. Backcountry.com, Inc. operates ten specialty stores: Backcountry.com, SteepandCheap.com, Dogfunk.com, WhiskeyMilitia.com, Competitive Cyclist, RealCyclist.com, Bonktown.com, HuckNroll.com, Chainlove.com, and DepartmentofGoods.com. Backcountry.com is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Interactive Group (Nasdaq- LINTA, LINTB).