SPARC Has Great Success in Mobile App Hackathon - The APPocalypse

CHARLESTON, S.C. - September 8, 2011 -- SPARC, LLC, a Charleston, S.C. based software product development and systems integration company, recently held its first annual developer Hackathon -- The APPocalypse at their Headquarters on Clements Ferry Road. The 10-hour computer programming event hosted 17 development teams from across the southeast. SPARC and its sponsors provided the participants and spectators with round-the-clock food, caffeine and adult beverages, plus $5,000.00 in total prizes: mobile tablets, giveaways and more. The event also featured activities for spectators, including: xBox competitions, hacker movie screenings, nerf gun battles and more.

"Our primary goal for this event was to extend SPARC's company culture to the community, in the form of a competition. SPARC wanted to provide a venue for those that share our passion for technology and innovation, while building camaraderie and competing for fabulous cash and prizes! We had a ton of fun and are already looking forward to next year's event!" - Amanda Noyes, S/W Engineer & Event Organizer

Teams randomly selected mobile application ideas previously submitted by the community. The judges panel, which included Ernest Andrade, Executive Director of Charleston Digital Corridor; Joel Jackson of RedHat; Eric Wages of Google; and Eric Bowman of SPARC rewarded winners in 7 different categories. Team Razzle Dazzle was pleased to accept Best Overall Winner, winning $1,100 cash along with two tablets of their choice. The team built a Road Trip Manager mobile application for iOS. The application allows you to plot your travel plans, and provides information related to construction and speed traps known to be along the specified route. Razzle Dazzle chose to donate all of their cash winnings to charity with a majority going to East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO) www.eccocharleston.org and a small donation also going to Chase after a Cure www.chaseafteracure.com.

All of the functioning developed mobile applications will be given back to the community through free or open source applications with a GPL v2 license. Please visit hackathon.sparcedge.com for photos of the event, details on the winning applications, as well as a link to submit suggestions or feedback for next year's event! Hackathon sponsors included: Charleston Beer Exchange, The Party Music, Dog & Duck, Reaction Apps, Operation Boot Camp, New Moon Pizzeria & Pub, Cupcake, SignSource, Uncorked, Iacofano's, FHTM, Thaxton Insurance and Daniel Island Wine & Spirits.

About SPARC SPARC provides full software development life-cycle support and software product development services with customers in the commercial, federal, and defense contracting industries. SPARC offers a broad range of solutions in order to enhance customer-focused results in an industry driven by state-of-the-art technology. We infuse our services with robust scientific methods, complimented by modular information management technologies. Check us out online at www.sparcedge.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter @sparcedge.

Media Contact: Cara Florence 843.628.5425 contactus@sparcedge.com