SexTech Hackathon Comes to N.Y.

LOS ANGELES — A forward-looking group of innovators is set to tackle the future of sexuality at the upcoming SexTech Hackathon, set for Saturday, June 10, at the ThoughtWorks office, 99 Madison Ave., New York.

According to the organizers, the day will kick off with a round of lightning talks from inspiring mentors, after which teams of three-to-five will form according to categories of interests. Teams will spend the afternoon working together to bring projects to life and finish the day pitching their creation to a panel of mentors. A networking social ends the day at 7 p.m.

“Innovations in SexTech will allow us to experience, express, and understand our sexualities in ways we never thought possible!” exclaimed an event spokesperson, who explained that a hackathon can mean many different things. “The aim of the day is to bring together a diverse group of talent to test new business ideas, and, in some cases, develop early-stage technologies.”

Unlike other hackathons that may require coding expertise, the event is open to all skills and experience levels and culminates with teams pitching “a product or simply a vision of what you are going to create — as a presentation, website, app, prototypes, etc.”

Although the SexTech Hackathon is open to all, its intention is “to support new female-identified leaders to drive further innovation in the field,” and although its promoters recognize sexuality is a diverse field, they “will not be accepting hack teams for anything related to pornography or entertainment” — so it seems the future of SexTech may not be very entertaining at all…

“We welcome anyone interested in elevating the voices and perspectives of women in SexTech, whether you’re a designer, developer, marketer, entrepreneur, project manager or even therapist or sexologist,” the event spokesperson added. “We are especially seeking to make space for women-identified people, although we support inclusion of all genders and sexualities.”

The event’s promoters feel its focus on feminism is “urgently needed to change the patriarchal dynamic of the booming SexTech industry.”

“We believe this emerging field of technology is not only driven by women-identified technologies and thinkers,” the spokesperson concluded, “but also presents an opportunity to change the cultural conversation and attitudes toward female sexuality.”

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