Would you like to take part in a programming competition under the spotlight?

A candle show, lasers straight out of the 80s, web programming and 350 people expected to attend, it didn’t take much to intrigue me. I met Ivana Markovic, a member of the team behind the Code in the dark event.

Code in the dark, what’s that?

In a few days’ time, a very special Web programming competition will be held in Montreal. A group of people will have 15 minutes to replicate a screenshot of a Web site using only HTML and CSS. But be warned, they won’t be allowed to preview anything! The public will watch the code take shape and vote on who will go on to the next round, ultimately deciding who will become the champion! Code in the Dark is an event concept imported from Sweden by web agency OSEDEA in Montreal since 2017. Ivana Markovic explains: “It’s not always useful to reinvent the wheel”. At OSEDEA, they like to take inspiration from innovative ideas that can be found all over the world; like organizing in-house hackathons to realize an idea or test a technology, or allowing employees to work 4 days when they’re paid for 5.

The agency wanted to organize an event that would allow it to get involved with the community and position the agency as a key player in the Montreal tech ecosystem. Diversity and inclusion are very important values for OSEDEA, and they’re making sure they’re reflected in the event.

Code in the dark values

“The first competition was won by a woman, Charlotte Habre, among the 100 participants!” Ivana proudly points out. There is still a lack of female representation, and parity has not yet been achieved among the competitors. Even if the team wants it and is working towards it.

OSEDEA, whose team is 27% female, half of them in technical roles, has adopted a code of conduct inspired by that of the Manifesto of Women in Technology in order to be as inclusive as possible. The team also works closely with a number of techno communities with diverse backgrounds. It does not hesitate to train, educate itself, form partnerships and take a global approach to diversity. “We believe in diversity and we do it,” says Ivana.

New this year, the Code in the dark event is associated with a cause in which OSEDEA has been involved for five years: the fight against school drop-out. They have even created their own foundation: the OSEDEA Academy. The Code in the dark event is free of charge, but all those attending will be able to make a donation to the foundation.

OSEDEA Academy
Montreal’s Saint-Henri school has the highest dropout rate in Quebec. The agency is located in the same neighborhood and decided to do something about it. They approached the school’s management and offered to create a programming and UX/UI training program for these youngsters. We know that motivating extracurricular activities help people to stay in the system. Helping these young people by introducing them to careers in programming and design is one way of combating this phenomenon. The agency has made this a real battle.

For the past five years, Osedea has partnered with the local high school to offer programming and design courses for two hours a week for eight weeks after school, on their premises. The main objectives of this project are to stimulate young people’s interest in programming, user experience and user interface design; and to encourage them to pursue post-secondary studies in a technical discipline, while quickly giving them concrete results and introducing them to the world of work.

Ivana tells me that the students really enjoy the office atmosphere and getting to know each other. They’re motivated to learn more. The idea is not to become a junior programmer, but to explain the technology, discover the office atmosphere and understand the basics of programming.

Since the program began, some 70 students – as many girls as boys – have been trained, and the feedback has been very positive from both students and teachers at the school.