Hacks/Hackers has grown in ways we never predicted. It was just over two years ago that the first event was held at a San Francisco bar. Since then, we’ve expanded across the U.S. and the world, and now have more than 9,500 members in Meetups across four continents.

We’ve long sought to bring everyone together and enable journalists and technologists to connect regardless of their geographic location. We also want to make sure Hacks/Hackers survives as a sustainable movement long into the future. To make that happen, we’re applying for the latest Knight News Challenge to connect and grow the Hacks/Hackers network. 

We want to help people to connect online to collaborate, making the network stronger as a collective with the wisdom of all hacks and hackers. And we would like to bring together people from across the world for an in-person gathering at some point early next year for the first-ever global Hacks/Hackers unconference.

This isn’t about imposing a top-heavy structure over what has been a grassroots movement. Part of the strength of Hacks/Hackers comes from the fact that anyone interested in news and technology can be a part of it, and that it exists apart from any company or media organization affiliation.

We also want to hear from you about what you’d like to see, and strongly encourage you to comment on our application at the Knight News Challenge Tumblr site: http://newschallenge.tumblr.com/post/19479493999/connecting-the-global-hacks-hackers-network. Our chances of success there depend in part on showing we can rally a network to our cause, so please help us by expressing your support.

Thank you,

Burt Herman, Jennifer 8. Lee, Chrys Wu