Day 1 at the 2019 Topcoder Open in Houston

Day one of the Topcoder Open 2019 (TCO) at the Intercontinental
Hotel in Houston, Texas, had arrived. It was noon and already, 12 of the best
coders in the world were competing in the Marathon Match, a 10-hour competition
to create an algorithm to solve a chess-like problem better and faster than the
other competitors in the field.

This was no ordinary best-of competition where contestants
prance about, eyeing each other, flexing their skills in the hope of intimidating
the competition. Instead, walking in the main grand room, where the next day,
the Innovation Summit would be held, onlookers had to solve a different problem
of sorts. Where was everyone? This competition was stealth.

It took a moment to figure out that the competitors sat,
hidden behind twelve separate tall desktop stations, that did not look like
desks at all. Six on a top row, six on a row below, their coding monikers
listed in the upper left corner of each. “Are there really people sitting there?,”
an onlooker asked. “Yes,” was the answer, and quite by chance, up popped a
coder from Brazil, who walked down from the top row, across the vast room to
get a refreshment, returned to his station, and disappeared again to work on
solving the problem.

Two large screens flanked the stage—similar to when you are
at a rock concert—and pictures of the competing coders could be seen, ranked in
order of where they stood in the competition after five hours in. Twelve
computer screens, clustered together in the middle of the large room, showed
their real-time individual actions and progress through a screen share with
each competitor computer. The sense of community think was palpable to anyone
sensitive enough to pick up on the fact that some of the world’s most
impressive minds were quietly present, hunkered down, solving the problem.

Down the hall, as the coders developed their algorithms,
leaders from companies around the globe that work with Topcoder’s on demand
digital talent gathered for the afternoon to share insights and results from
their experience working this way.

Finally, at the end of the day after a stellar dinner and
lots of valuable business networking, coders and companies came together at the
Welcome Reception and Parade of Finalists to officially kick off TCO2019. After
an intro from Topcoder CEO Michael Morris, the competitors walked onto the
stage by country category (even one competitor from Nepal!) and were announced
by moniker and name, photos and achievements displayed on the big screen,
another rock star-like event.

As the audience of sponsors and company clients and coders
from around the globe hooted and hollered with each announcement, the moment
was at once starry eyed and humbling. These are the people who’ve helped make
strides in sequencing DNA; in improving treatment for cancer; in supporting
function and safety on the space station; in solving so many other problems
that are changing lives for the positive on a global scale. All this, together
in the same room. All this at TCO 2019. It makes one feel grateful to be here.