Over this past weekend, a small group of exceedingly talented individuals came together to use their skills in an effort to better our world. This collective included urban planners, census takers, developers, and a few people who just wanted to help out. The Mayor’s office even sent someone to encourage and inspire those taking action to continue their efforts, and know that “it was not going unnoticed.”
The event took place during the National Day of Civic Hacking, called for by President Obama, and nationally supported by numerous government agencies and private corporations. Locally, Geeks Without Bounds and CODEMKRS organized an event called Random Hacks of Kindness. In an effort to find better disaster management and crisis response solutions, teams worked toward goals they set at the start of the event.
These teams chose to focus on trying to reduce crime rates by keeping kids in school, as well as reduce unnecessary rivalries between gang members open to confidential conflict resolution. While there was no shiny product ready to be put on shelves, the main objective was accomplished: Getting a group of civically-responsible members of the community in the same room, so they can start to make the world a little better than they found it.
When talented people with good intentions get together, some very exiting things can happen. New Orleans continues to foster this stimulating situation. Many (if not most) of our inspired individuals tend to (at least) consider the community throughout their daily life. With more and more of these likeminded locals being joined by others moving here to join in on the fun, we are marching down the road of economical and social strengthening. As long as we all continue to work together and keep up the good work, we’ll eventually give the world yet another reason to frequent our fair city.