Getting Amped for Eval24—Happy Hours and Hackathons

We’re getting excited for the annual American Evaluation Conference in Portland in a few weeks, as the conference is always a great opportunity to get the latest download on all things eval. Collaborators from The MERL Tech Initiative and members of The Natural Language Processing Community of Practice (NLP-CoP) are active this year with multiple presentations and professional development experiences, which we will highlight in a blog post next week, so stay tuned. 

Today, we are sharing news about two side events MTI is co-hosting to make new professional connections and develop new skills. 

Eval & Tech Mixer

The MERL Tech Initiative and Mercy Corps are excited to present the Eval & Tech Mixer, a lively conclusion to the annual American Evaluation Association poster session Wednesday night. Join us for an evening where evaluation expertise mingles with tech savvy in a relaxed, social atmosphere.

As the first day of conference activities winds down, we’re ramping up for two hours of creative connections, innovative activities, and engaging conversations. The event will include music, refreshments, and two byte-sized activities designed to spark conversation and creativity:

1. Platonic Polycule: A twist on speed networking for quick, meaningful connections.
2. AI Headline Hysteria: Test your ability to distinguish real AI news from clever fakes.

Join us to meet new colleagues, discuss the latest in MERL Tech, reflect on conference learnings, or simply unwind with fellow attendees. Whether you’re a data enthusiast, an evaluation professional, or simply curious about the intersection of tech and evaluation, you’ll find something of interest here. No technical expertise is required—just bring your curiosity and openness to new ideas.

Event Details:

• Date: October 23, 2024
• Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Location: Mercy Corps Headquarters 45 SW Ankeny Street, Portland, OR 97204

Space is limited, so we encourage early registration. We look forward to computing the perfect blend of insights and interactions with you! Secure your spot and RSVP here. 

The Evaluators’ No-Code AI Hackathon: Innovate, Create, Evaluate!

The AEA and The MERL Tech Initiative are excited to announce “The Evaluators’ No-Code AI Hackathon: Innovate, Create, Evaluate!” This week-long event, running from October 23-30, 2024, marks the beginning of a formal strategic partnership between AEA and MTI. The hybrid hackathon challenges in-person conference attendees and remote NLP CoP members to create ethical AI-powered solutions for real-world evaluation problems.

Taking place in a common area at the conference venue, the hackathon will be staffed by volunteers from Wednesday to Saturday. They’ll support adventurous participants in using a range of free, easy-to-use no-code AI platforms such as Claude, GPTs, and Hugging Face Assistants to create evaluation-specific guides, chatbots, and tools. Seriously, no coding experience is required to participate!

Participants can tackle challenges in various categories including evaluation planning and management, evaluation lifecycle support, and evaluation capacity development. The first 100 participants to submit an entry will receive free swag, and there will be $500 in cash prizes for hackathon winners. Judging will be based on a community popular vote and an expert panel, considering criteria such as innovation, usability, relevance to evaluation practice, ethical considerations, and scalability.

To ensure everyone has ample time to submit their entries, the hackathon will officially close the following week. As we approach the launch date, we’ll publish a full concept note detailing the event, along with a tutorial for participants. To prepare, join our October Sandbox webinar on October 16, from 12-1pm ET, featuring Zach Tilton and Sarah Osman, who will demonstrate how to create a no-code chatbot in just 5 minutes.

Whether you’re participating in person or remotely, we invite you to join us to experiment, learn new skills, and compete for prizes and bragging rights. Following the event, our NLP CoP Sandbox working group plans to host a show-and-tell webinar in November, giving participants the opportunity to present their submissions and reflect on the experience.

We look forward to seeing your innovative AI-powered evaluation solutions!r innovative AI-powered evaluation solutions!