SuperHappyDevHouse (a.k.a. SHDH) is an international series of social events that organizers originally conceived as parties for hackers and thinkers. It was founded by
Jeff Lindsay and
David Weekly
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(founder of
PBwiki) on May 29, 2005. SHDH in
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
began by hosting 150 to 200 people every six weeks at rotating venues throughout
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
and Silicon Valley, California. The unusual name derived from a popular 1991 ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' satire,
Happy Fun Ball, which lampooned TV commercials and the
NERF Ball. Weekly lived in a house nicknamed "SuperHappyFunHouse" after SNL's commercial parody, and that name was given yet another twist as SuperHappyDevHouse.
[
]
Global expansion
By 2008, SHDH had expanded globally with CocoaDevHouse (London); SuperHappyDevClub (Cambridge, UK); Cologne DevHouse (Cologne, Germany); SuperHappyDevFlat (Zurich, Switzerland); SuperHappyHackerHouse (Vancouver, Canada); SuperHappyDevHouse Aotearoa (New Zealand); PhoenixDevHouse (Arizona); BostonDevHouse (Cambridge, Massachusetts); and DevHouse Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).[Watkins, Cheree Renee. "What Is SuperHappyDevHouse? Party for Hackers and Thinkers Goes Global and Celebrates SHDH25," Suite 101, May 7, 2008.] There was a DevHouse in Hermosillo, Mexico in September 2008, marking the first Latin American DevHouse, followed shortly thereafter by a Mexico City DevHouse on November 1, 2008, GuadalajaraDevHouse (Guadalajara, Mexico) on September 6, 2009, and two years later by a Dev House on Mérida, Mexico on February 28, 2010.
People, whether technical or creative, gather at a private home for not-so-serious productivity and socialization. Organizers say they're trying to "resurrect the spirit of the Homebrew Computer Club." It is a non-exclusive event intended for passionate and creative technical people that want to have some fun, learn new things, and meet new people. There is no admission charge; the event is paid for by donations and sponsorships.
The original SHDH was in Hillsborough, California and later in Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...
.
As of August 2009, SHDH spawned HackerDojo to operate a Hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sc ...
in Mountain View, CA to allow for 24/7 programming, hackathons, classes, workshops, and lectures. SHDH now operates as an activity of Hacker Dojo Corporation.
References
Wired News commentary mentions DevHouse 10/25/06
Mercury News Business Cover Article on SHDH, 6/17/07
Boston Globe mention of DevHouse Boston, 8/11/07
San Francisco Chronicle: 11 Things: SuperHappyDevHouse 10/2/08
Fast Company: Does The Tech Industry's Obsessive Party Fetish Pay Off?
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Superhappydevhouse
Computer-related events
Recurring events established in 2005