We have an exciting announcement! Though we’re a very, very young company, we decided to start/sponsor a MeetUp group to meet our peers in the industry, or at least, in the Detroit area. After getting 3 offers from organizations to host our MeetUp, and discussing what we hope this group can accomplish with those parties, I was asked by Blackstone Launchpad at Wayne State University to teach a break-out session during this weekend’s HackWSU Hackathon, which is sponsored by and kicks off Detroit StartupWeek. HackWSU sponsors a hackathon a couple of times a year for WSU students but routinely brings in experts to teach subjects throughout the year, so I’m honored to be asked to present. The nice people of Blackstone also offered tasty catered pizza and drinks that the hackathon contestants will be dining on, so even more reason to show up!
Schedule:
7:00 – 8:00pm – Food is served! I will give a break-out session/demo to any hackathon participants or MeetUp members willing to watch. More details below.
8:00pm – 9:00pm or later – BotMakers Detroit Official MeetUp. Agenda details are below but please feel free to suggest or feedback…
Break-out Session Overview and Demo:
Title: Return of the Chatbots, and How You Can Make Your Own Bot Today
Summary:
Bots, Bots, Bots, Bots! With Slack’s booming bot industry and Facebook’s official launch of the ChatBot API, the next wave of technology and user interfaces has truly arrived to the masses. Thanks to developer tools like #BotKit and other platforms like Kik, Telegram, Twitter, etc., the App World is quickly being replaced by a Bot World. Messaging platforms have all embraced some form of bots or commands and there are now more opportunities for companies to connect with customers while leveraging existing architecture than one can imagine. This is also a great time for developers to enter this space as the opportunities and needs of employers and clients are endless. This demo will introduce you to the world of bots, the platforms they operate on, the world of possibilities they offer, and, and your instructor, Alex Khanukov (http://avikaido.com), will demonstrate how you can quickly build and launch a bot in minutes using the #BotKit SDK from Howdy.ai.
Agenda:
– Meet/Greet, Intros, Small (Bot) Talk, etc.
– Defining Bots Discussion. A script? An interface? AI? Virtual and/or physical (robots, cars)? Something new or a rehashed buzzword with wings?
– Technologies of BotMaking. Quick primer on platforms, languages and architectures. Group submissions welcome now and then.
– Resources for BotMaking. Links, slacks, etc. (Will be stored here as well.)
– Future of Bots Discussion.
– Show and Tell! Tell us about your bots and/or projects.
– Collaboration/off-line discussion break-outs (optional).
Location and Parking Info:
WSU College of Engineering
5050 Anthony Wayne Dr., Detroit, MI 48202
Parking: Out front in the street with electric meters (cash or credit). Operating Saturdays until 10 p.m.
Additional Links and Resources:
HackWSU – http://hackwsu.com/
Detroit Startup Week – http://detroit.startupweek.co/
Blackstone Launchpad @ WSU –http://blackstonelaunchpad.wayne.edu/
WSU College of Engineering –http://engineering.wayne.edu/
BotMakers Detroit MeetUp –http://www.meetup.com/BotMakers-Detroit/
AviKaiDo – http://avikaido.com/
BotMakers Slack Team – https://botmakers.org/
BotWiki – https://botwiki.org/
Howdy.ai (#BotKit) – https://howdy.ai/
Hope to see you there!