Hack the MIX Hackathon

I have zero knowledge about how to make a mobile device application. I'm sure I could learn. It's not terribly hard. Shoot, I wish I had invented one of those super sensational apps that turned some kid in his Mom's basement into a multimillionaire, but alas, I've probably spent way too many years buried in the realm of academia neck deep in books - you remember those things. No electricity required. Drop them accidentally in the toilet, and all you need do is rinse them off, dry them, and you can still use them. No need for warranties, or insurance packages that garner $99/year to protect. You get the drift.

I'm no Luddite either. I use my mobile device for just about everything. In fact, I don't even call it a phone. I call it a camera with extras. Mainly, I use my handset to shoot pictures whenever I fancy. I also use it to check my email, respond quickly or park them if I need to mull over a more thoughtful reply. I use it to check my Roth IRA portfolio, log into linkedIn, facebook, twitter, google +, 4Square, Vimeo, Youtube, and a whole mess of GPS driven applications to track my daily morning bicycle commute, find a new location to which I've never been (never mind the #fail of Apple's replacement for Google Maps). There are even days where I don't even turn on my desktop machine because I do most of my work "out-of-pocket."

The point here is that everyone, and I mean everyone, is going mobile. Why not the MIX? Sure, I could call up the web browser on my handset and log into the MIX that way, but that's clunky. One thing I can't do with an application on my mobile device - or perhaps there is one and I don't know about it - is log into the MIX and mine it for fantastic ideas about how to fix a problem I'm facing right now at work. Why doesn't the MIX have an "App?"

Think about it. If the MIX were truly useful, it would deliver just-in-time solutions to real managerial problems to any managers handset or pad of some sort (I'm technology agnostic, btw, and believe that if you are going to build a piece of software it should run on any platform). Got a sticky issue your dealing with? Call up the MIX app, and see if some one else has wrestled the same demons. Even better if it was socially connected. I could post my problem and how I was solving it, and see what others thought in real time. Perhaps I could post a chart, graph or video plea for help. Now of course, this would require some humility (of which some managers find in very short supply, particularly when they get up into the loftier stratosphere of the pay scale - and I sure wish I had a job that paid out a 7 million dollar a year salary, but alas academia doesn't even pay a bonus at Christmas). People would have to be willing to air their flaws in public, or at least admit they have a problem to begin with. And, every counselor knows, the first step in solving any problem is admitting that you have one.

So, rather than simply post this as an ordinary idea, I'm issuing a challenge. Call it the first ever Hack the MIX Hackathon Challenge - if you like.

Instead of writing a comment to this hack saying you agree or disagree with this idea, think of it this way: If the MIX were to build a mobile application (app), what would, should or could it do? It would have to be downloadable free (unless you think it would be so compelling that people would pay for it), and be sustainable in some way, necessarily after all, the main goal of all organizations is to a) employee good people, and b) generated enough revenue to sustain the organization in perpetuity. So, if you are game.

Have at it: If you were to build the MIX app from the ground up, what would it do so that it doesn't hit the dustbin of never downloaded applications on the iTunes app exchange?