I went to an R meetup last night at Smith College and Becky Sweger was there to talk about Hack for Western Mass.  I will be attending, and I encourage anyone who is interested in this to attend.  Here are the details: 

On the weekend of June 1-2, students, developers, designers, and local organizations will gather at UMass for Hack for Western Mass. This event is one of almost 80 happening around the country as part of a White House-initiated weekend of civic hacking.

On Saturday morning, June 1, we’ll be hearing “challenges” from local organizations that can be solved through technology. Then we’ll break into teams and get to work. The projects will depend on the challenges and could range from visualizations and maps to APIs or customizing open source apps created at other hackathons.

Civic hacking has gained momentum across the country. For this movement to be a success in Western Mass, we need participation from the student, faculty, and staff communities, and we need your help getting the word out. In other words, we need you and would love to see you in June! 

Registration is free but required, so please sign up if you’re planning to join us: http://hackforwesternmass.eventbrite.com/

More details and contact info on our website: http://hackforwesternmass.org
Twitter: @HackForWestMA