This Week's Hi-5:
Recycling Myths, Track Meet Champs, and Hackathon Wisdom
Alex Hillman
Happy Friday, and happy SPRING to Philly.
Fingers crossed it sticks around this time.
Between a sold-out panel by Green Philly about recycling in Philadelphia, a Hackathon debrief that’s still rattling around in my brain, and the crowning of a new Track Meet champion, this was a really good week.
Here’s 5 quick things that made us wanna share a high five.
1. Green Philly Sorted Us Out
On Tuesday night, our friends at Green Philly brought their Sustainability in Motion series to Indy Hall, a coworking community in Philadelphia, for a packed panel on recycling in Philadelphia. They debunked a bunch of myths about the recycling system in Philadelphia, acknowledged the city’s shortcomings and mistakes, and invited the community to get involved in tackling Philly’s trash problem.
The energy was excellent, and a lot of us walked away rethinking our bins.
If you missed it, keep an eye out for more Green Philly events at Indy Hall and across Philadelphia.
2. Track Meet Season 2 Has a Winner
Track Meet is Indy Hall’s own version of “Music League” for members, using YouTube as a music source instead of requiring a Spotify account. Each week a new theme is announced, people submit the songs they think best represent that theme, and then the group votes on their favorites.
We just wrapped up our second season, and we have a winner!
Congrats to Walt Zielinski for taking the Season 2 crown with 60 points! It was a tight race - Victoria Adams (57), Graham (56), Neil Bardhan (51), and Lou (50) kept it close all season. We had 70 tracks submitted, 368 total votes across 5 weeks of themed rounds.
3. “I Wouldn’t Do Another Hackathon Without a Writer”
I can’t stop thinking about something from this past weekend’s Good Neighbors Hackathon at Indy Hall.
For the first time, many repeat Hackathon participants had people with a wider range of skills, like writing and marketing on their teams.
Chris Alfano put it perfectly when sharing about having writer Katie Arrosa on their team:
“I wouldn’t do another Hackathon without a writer on my team - it was so valuable being pushed to think through the project ideas narratively.”
Creativity is better with diverse skills and backgrounds, and this is the core thesis of Indy Hall and the Hackathon.
People who typically work together the least would benefit from it the most. Choose your teams wisely!
4. Spring Cleaning at the Clubhouse?
Now that spring is (theoretically) here, I’m thinking the Clubhouse could use a little love.
What do y’all think about a community spring cleaning day in the near future - like a neighborhood cleanup, but for our own little indoor neighborhood?
Shake off some cobwebs, make some improvements and repairs, touch up the paint, and hang out while we do it.
5. Coming in April: Indy Hall Groove
Speaking of seasonal transitions, we know that a lot of folks have been hibernating for the winter. Especially with some of the ridiculous weather we’ve experienced, I don’t blame you!
At the same time, we know how hard it can be to rebuild the habits of leaving the house, so we wanna try and make it easier this spring.
Stay tuned for a new experiment we’re calling Indy Hall Groove - a totally optional way to rebuild that rhythm on purpose and with other people.
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