It’s no surprise to anyone that the past few years have been challenging for the HOPE community. The closing and destruction of the Hotel Pennsylvania and the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic had a detrimental effect on so many of us. We were also devastated by the loss of close friends and organizers like Kevin Mitnick, Cheshire Catalyst, as well as our HOPE core coordinator Greg Newby. Most recently, we were forced to leave our new home at St. John’s University over their recent unacceptable restrictions on speech.
After all this, the wise move might be to give up. And yet, we’re still here.
We want to proudly announce that the Hackers On Planet Earth conference is now officially a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. While we will always have a relationship with 2600 Magazine, HOPE is now its own independent entity. The possibilities are significant.
Many of you have been asking over the years how to contribute to HOPE and make it even better. Now we have the means to receive tax-deductible contributions from individuals and organizations. Every hurdle we have struggled with in the past can now be surmounted with the help and support of the community.
What exactly does all of this mean? We’re still figuring much of that out. But we believe this major milestone will open up some doors that were closed to us in the past. Becoming a non-profit was a dream of Greg Newby’s, and one of his last acts was to guide the organization into this status by meticulously going through all the required paperwork. Another one of Greg’s dreams was to see us return to a hotel in Manhattan and bring back the enthusiasm of years past. This is just one of the possibilities we’re currently working on and it’s dependent on the level of excitement, support, and knowledge that we’re able to produce here. While we’re still working on details, the future is bright.
We invite you to be a part of that future. Please consider donating via the links below and, if you like what you’ve seen from the past 16 conferences, please volunteer to help make our 17th happen. HOPE is nothing without all of you.