Wrapping up a month of APIs: API Strat & Practice

By Tyler Nappy

I just wrapped up an API heavy month, with our last stop in Chicago where we sponsored the API Strategy & Practice Conference.  It was three days of great talks, cool goodies, and a hackathon unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

While your typical hackathon is an intense weekend of coding and building one idea or MVP, API Strat’s speed hack was just as the name suggests, about speed. Teams were presented with a series of timed API challenges - over the course of 3 hours, sponsors would throw out various problems to solve. The best part was that teams could earn extra points from other acts of creativity and bravery, including dressing up in costumes and performing API-themed songs.

I had the pleasure hearing a remix of “Ice, Ice, Baby” that incorporated API-themed references in place of Vanilla Ice’s eloquent lyrics.  Another participant went on stage, busted out a ukulele and performed another great API themed song.  It was a very refreshing take on APIs, a great time for the judges and contestants alike.

While there, I also gave a talk on email parsing and how to integrate it into your app.  Some other great talks included Twilio with a live coding session on a new MMS feature they had just rolled out -- I have to say, it’s pretty awesome. Our friends at Traitify also presented on how users can benefit from using their API,  a Myers-Briggs test only API’ified.  There were so many more great, informative presentations - the list goes on.

In utmost conclusion - it was a blast meeting everyone at API Strat. Thanks for the great time, Chicago! We’ll be back in the area in late November for WildHacks.  Very much looking forward to being back in the area! Let us know if you'll be around.