February 2018 - Recap - Jam Sessions

I’m sure I’ve already stated this a few times on Twitter, and probably on my personal account as well, but I’m really stoked to have Jam Sessions up and running again after our brief (10 month) hiatus–it’s crazy to think that my daughter is already 10 months old, and looking forward to when she can participate in Jam Sessions as well!

I don’t think I could have imagined a better group of people or projects to kick things off again. We had about 11 people participate throughout the session. I say “about”, because a few of the people couldn’t attend the full session, but were able to jump in here and there to contribute and ask questions and share insights with the members sharing. Here’s a quick overview of who attended and the projects and topics we discussed.

Ryan Hefner

@ryanhefner - Rock Kick Co.

I kicked things off, sharing the most recent project that I’ve been working on, Tapslock. Tapslock is a writing app that I’ve been building to fit my needs. It’s a Markdown editor, offers side-by-side preview, is currently a web app–but I will probably build out native iOS/Android apps if it makes sense–and allows you to set a writing goal and receive notifications that try to help you keep that goal to build up a streak. The goal is to build a really light-weight writing app that is inclusive and isn’t tied to any one platform.

Members recommended that I check out 750words.com, since that app offers some similar features when it comes to writing goals. I’m going to be reviewing that while working towards the early launch this month–that I promised to the group, so I’m trying to stick to my word. A few expressed their interest in using it and helping me test the product, so I provided an invite code to the group and a few are using it and putting together their feedback.

David Taylor

@dtaylorus - Hot Chai Productions

David shared the most recent game he has developed, SlideWords. It’s a fun–extreme–word puzzle game that is like a word game wrapped around a Rubik’s cube. David has a custom game development stack that allows him to easily write and distribute his games across a variety of platforms–iOS, Android, Amazon, Microsoft and the Mac App Store. He’s currently working on a few updates to roll-out for the game and is exploring ways to optimize the feedback cycle so he knows what people feel about the games and how he can make them better, along with exploring analytics platforms that will help to evaluate engagement and if there are any issues on a platform that may be impacting the experience.

James Linder

@jameshlinder

James is focusing on building developer tools, the first being a tool that integrates GitHub and Slack and will help development teams to work more effectively by streamlining a few of the common development tasks that occur daily.

Alfonso Castro

Alfonso is developing an alumni directory for his alma mater. He’s building it in React and already has a lot of it spec’d out and built, but is currently looking for better ways to get feedback from others in the client organization and fellow alumni that use that site.

Sas Ponnapalli

@sponnapa90 - Beam Health Group

Sas is an industry expert in the healthcare space, formerly the CTO of San Francisco’s, PlushCare. He recently moved back to the East Coast and is currently consulting with local healthcare practices, gaining more knowledge and insights into how they operate their practices and any issues that they are currently dealing with in order to better inform the future product(s) and services that he plans to build for that industry.

Dan Farrelly

@djfarrelly - Buffer

Dan is Director of Engineering at Buffer and is always looking for ways for optimizing their remote team’s approach for communication and collaboration. He’s currently exploring tactics on how to more effectively align the team’s efforts based on data and analytics, and how that alignment and collaboration is handled both within individual teams and across the organization.

Matthew Voshell

@matty652 - matthewvoshell.com

Matthew is a Jam Sessions veteran and has been exploring many things, from establishing design practices with a foundation on research and quick iterations to exploring ways to apply design to urban issues such as garbage collection and commuting efficiency. He’s currently applying that background to the healthcare space and envisions a future of a happier, healthier and more efficient experience when seeing health practitioners.

Sylvia Heisel

@heisel_co - Heisel

Sylvia was recently accepted into an accelerator that is focused on the intersection of fashion and 3D printing. She’s currently working on ways to apply current 3D printing capabilities to fashion, while exploring ways to revolutionize 3D printing to be a viable solution for apparel manufacturing in the future.

Jonathan Baillie Strong

@jonbstrong - Podcasting Consultant

Jonathan shared his podcasting resources site that he’s in the process of building/expanding, #podcasters. It’s a directory that includes courses, podcast networks, production service agencies, and more. Along with a directory of members, ranging from podcast hosts to those looking to start their first podcast. It's a one-stop-shop for all your podcasting inquiries.

What have you been working on?

We’d love to hear what you’ve been exploring and working on. If you’re interested in participating in the Jam Sessions community, check out our site and feel free to join our Slack channel where we share useful links and keep up with one another in-between sessions.

We have our next meetup scheduled for March 27th, 2018 at Projective Space. Hope to see you there!

Jam Sessions

February 2018 - Recap

by Ryan Hefner

Tuesday, March 13th 2018