---
title: "Hackference 2018 Recap"
description: "Hackference is a three-day conference and hackathon for attendees to learn something new. Auth0 sponsored this year, with Jeremy Meiss giving a compelling talk on using Identity Management providers instead of building your own, on Friday"
authors:
  - name: "Luke Oliff"
    url: "https://auth0.com/blog/authors/luke-oliff/"
date: "Oct 22, 2018"
category: "Developers,Events,Hackference"
tags: ["hackathon", "conference", "sponsor", "auth"]
url: "https://auth0.com/blog/hackference-2018-recap/"
---

# Hackference 2018 Recap



This year, Auth0 attended [Hackference](https://2018.hackference.co.uk) as a sponsor. Besides [Jeremy Meiss](https://twitter.com/iamjerdog) giving a great talk on [power and value of identity providers](https://auth0.com/blog/5-reasons-your-company-needs-identity-and-access-management/) at Friday's conference, we remained on hand for the rest of the weekend to support the Hackathon.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Interesting stuff from <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJerdog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IAmJerdog</a> on Modern Identity and security best-practises <a href="https://twitter.com/auth0?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@auth0</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hackference?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hackference</a> <a href="https://t.co/ItwKmwMAcn">pic.twitter.com/ItwKmwMAcn</a></p>&mdash; Nimvelo (@Nimvelo) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nimvelo/status/1050750593214636033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hackference returns for its 6th year, ran and founded by the amazing [Mike Elsmore](https://twitter.com/ukmadlz). Its purpose is to provide a unique and hands-on learning environment free of any negative influences.

## What You Missed at the Conference

This year, the conference included two tracks: Innovate and Develop. Across these two tracks, speakers included [Doug Sillars](https://twitter.com/dougsillars) on modern image delivery techniques, [Karina Popova](https://twitter.com/kary_key) on geospatial analysis of Twitter content, [Alex Lakatos](https://twitter.com/lakatos88) on natural conversation pieces with bots, and [Jessica Rose](https://twitter.com/jesslynnrose) on a common issue in tech, Burnout. These are to name but a few. [Check out the schedule to see what you missed](https://2018.hackference.co.uk/#schedule).

## Hackathon Winners (of Auth0's prize)

Anna, Carol and Jamie of team "Who Dis?" built an advanced identity service designed to be self-hosted. Based on the IndieAuth login system, their app was created as a custom Auth0 identity provider. When accessing the app, authentication is requested via Auth0's centralised login page where you could select their custom identity provider which could then verify identity.

![Anna, Carol and Jamie of team "Who Dis?"](https://images.ctfassets.net/23aumh6u8s0i/10bWa7pxjl7Kc1xg7VG2d6/4c1ff2871859aaede3f9d42e267cfeb4/hackference-auth0-winners-who-dis)

## Hackathons

Hackathons are an important part of the development world! True innovation and creativity can be expressed in a supportive and collaborative environment, often with the added incentive of some amazing prizes.

Some famous features and products have been born from hackathons. Most notably, the [Facebook “Like” button and Facebook Chat](http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-hackathons-2017-6) were both born at company internal hackathons.

In an environment where innovation and creativity are nurtured, amazing things can happen.

These sites will help you find hackathons near you.

-  [Major League Hacking](http://www.mlh.io/)
-  [Hackalist](http://www.hackalist.org)
-  [Hack Club](https://hackathons.hackclub.com/)
-  [Devpost](http://www.devpost.com)
-  [Hackathon IO](http://www.hackathon.io)
-  [HackEvents](http://www.hackevents.co)
-  [HackathonsNear.Me](http://www.hackathonsnear.me)

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