NY Tech Weekend Recap: Rebuilding After Sandy, Carving Out The Future of Meat

NY Tech Weekend Recap: Rebuilding After Sandy, Carving Out The Future of Meat

NY Tech Responds and Hack Meat challenged hackers in different ways but both produced great apps worth mentioning. From SMS based volunteer management apps to web enabled scales that gather data on different cuts of meat there were many impressive hacks. Here are some highlights from the jam packed weekend.

NY Tech Responds
New York Tech Meetup organized its massive community together to build solutions to common problems faced by Hurricane Sandy Victims from finding shelter, to locating warming stations, to getting connected with volunteer groups.

• Voluntarily streamlines communication among groups of volunteers by gathering survey data and sending it back to their headquarters via SMS and voice.

• Sparkrelief coordinates volunteer efforts for disasters worldwide by displaying where people need help and how you can help. Those in need can easily locate food, shelter, and medical supplies on a map, and volunteers can easily find where assistance is needed.

To check out more Hurricane Sandy apps see our previous post. To donate to the victims of Hurricane Sandy visit the Red Cross website here.

HackMeat
HackMeat challenged attendees to help improve the environmental and financial ecosystem between meat distributors, butchers, farmers and consumers. Key concerns at HackMeat were matching the supply with demand for organic meat, and matching the increase in meat production with increase in farmers’ profit. Attendees stepped up to the challenge to say the least.

• CARV, a smart scale that helps meat processors gather and manage data on the cuts of meat they distribute, took home the top prize at the hackathon winning $2,500 and a strategic planning session with Purpose. The scale is web enabled and streamlines the processors’ reports to the USDA and Food Safety Inspection Agency.
• Slot for Slaught grabbed second place, giving farmers an easier way to communicate with slaughterhouses and book appointments to manage the slaughter of livestock.
• Aptly named Meat secured third place with their Foursquare app that allows shoppers to request what cuts of meat they’d like to see in their grocery stores and stay informed when that request is filled.

For more information on NY Tech Responds, visit their website here. To check all of the carnivore friendly hacks from Hack Meat visit their website here, and The Next Web’s coverage.