Business & Tech

Programmers Crack the Code for a Jersey Shore Comeback

Developers competed in a 24-hour hackathon, creating applications to support businesses impacted by Sandy.

Tech talents from across the state pulled an all-nighter in Asbury Park last weekend, contributing code to help restore the Shore.

The Jersey Shore Comeback-A-Thon, a 24-hour hackathon sponsored by Marathon Data Systems of Wall, challenged developers to create an application to benefit the local business community in the first summer following Superstorm Sandy.

“There’s nothing like coding for a good cause,” said Cory Cardio, a Long Branch resident who teamed up with Margaret Kim of Fort Lee and Gary Kagan of Sebastain, Fla. under the moniker “Team Mango.” The trio’s crowd-sourced application allowing community members to give and receive up-to-the-minute location-based information was selected as the hackathon winner. Cardio, Kim and Kagan received a $1,000 prize from Marathon Data Systems.

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The members of Team Manago were among 20 developers who gathered at CoWerks, a flexible workspace facility, for the event on Saturday and Sunday. Local business owners Dave Fernicola of Days Ice Cream in Ocean Grove and Just Another Days in Asbury Park and Francis Kiernan of EdgeKnowledge in Red Bank spoke to the developers about the challenges they faced following Sandy and gave feedback about the kinds of applications that would best help them.

“Dave told them that he gets calls all the time asking about whether they’re open, and basically, anything that gets the word out to people would be a huge help,” said Eric Farr, vice president of engineering for Marathon Data Systems.

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In addition to helping out storm-damaged areas, the event allowed developers to showcase their skills.

“I like coding something under pressure,” said Kim, who has participated in several area hackathons including Hack Jersey. “In the end, you’re trying to help users do something quicker or more easily.”

Other noteworthy applications included Long Branch resident Ken Richlin’s wiki for users to submit and consume local information, which is available at asburyparkwiki.com. Red Bank Regional students Michael Terpak and Jeremy Comeo, both seniors and Union Beach residents, produced a website application utilizing Google Maps that allowed businesses to alert patrons that they have reopened.

Marathon Data Systems President and CEO Chris Sullens said he was impressed by kind of applications produced in the 24-hour time frame.

"We were really excited to see what the teams came up with in such a short period of time," Sullens said in a press release. "The ideas and work generated during this event could go a long way toward benefiting the local community. We look forward to hosting similar events in future that challenge participants to use technology and creativity to create something of benefit to the community."


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