Picture this… You’re locked in a room along with a group of developers and cannot leave until you have completed an extensive code writing project for the latest in supply chain technology. If you’re anything like me, you wouldn’t be able to think of a better way to spend the day, and this is why I was extremely excited to have been asked to lead Gravity Supply Chains’ first ‘code fest.’
My first experience with a code fest, came a few years ago while I was working at Google. I was part of a team of about 10 developers that were given three days to make a demo based on an idea that our product managers, developers, and even some users had been brainstorming over for a few weeks. The goal was to prove whether the concept was viable or not. We did not plan to write the code for production; it was merely an exercise to determine whether the idea was credible.
I found the experience to be a great way to test ‘proof of concepts,’ and it was also a fantastic team-building exercise.
Supply Chain Code Fest
The Gravity code fest began on Jan. 26, 2016 and we worked on some ideas for new features and capabilities of our supply chain apps. The fest gave us an excuse to break out of the normal day-to-day routine, and experiment while creating a useful feature for our app. It was also cool to get together, learn from one another, and work in a way that we usually wouldn’t be able to.
If you have ever participated in a code fest, or would like to, do you have any suggestions for how to make the most of our time and energies? If so, please post your recommendations in the comments section below.
