Expedia.ca to Host First Ever Hackathon in Montreal

MONTREAL, QC--(Marketwired - May 6, 2015) - Expedia.ca is proud to be hosting its first ever Hackathon featuring Expedia's global APIs. This exciting event will happen on May 22-24, 2015, at Notman House, Montreal's renowned technology hub. "Expedia.ca is thrilled to be hosting this first ever company Hackathon in Montreal as an opportunity to highlight the exceptional talent found in the Montreal area," said Sean Shannon, Managing Director of Expedia Canada.

The Expedia Worldwide Engineering team and many software developers and innovators will gather together for a weekend dedicated to developing new ideas and programming concepts, and experimenting with Expedia's global software. Participants will bring their creative ideas to a working prototype in just two days thanks to access to some of Expedia's latest Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Final products will be pitched to a panel of judges consisting of members from Expedia's technology team and Montreal-based industry authorities Bruno Guglielminetti (General Manager of Digital Services at the Just for Laughs Group), François Bédard (professor at UQAM's School of Sciences and Management and Director of the Department of Urban Studies and Tourism) and Robert Bonneau (Senior Partner of Décarie Executive Search). Winner prizing includes over $7,000 in cash prizes and lots of Expedia+ rewards points.

"Expedia.ca is proud of the global Expedia software developed here in Montreal, which has positioned us as a pioneer in travel software. We intend to continue our ground-breaking work with the help of creative minds who are willing to take up the challenge in this upcoming event," said Philippe Deschênes, Director of Technology at Expedia's global offices located in Montreal. This year Expedia Canada celebrates its 15^th anniversary, with the Montreal office not far behind, having been established 13 years ago. "We are very proud of the work coming out of the Montreal office, including Hotel Information Management software, Geography software, and much more. This team is continually reinventing the tourism software landscape, attesting to the level of technology leadership to be found in our beautiful city," he added. The Montreal office, which has seen a personnel growth of 150% over the last 3 years, houses 80% of Expedia's Canadian software development team whose focus is on R&D and innovation for all of Expedia's worldwide brands.

Everyone is welcome, but space is limited: register early as participants will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Registration is available online at montreal-hackathon.challengepost.com. Deadline is Friday, May 22, 2015 at noon EDT and doors open at 5:30 p.m. for check-in. Teams must be formed by Friday at 10 p.m., and will present their projects to the judges on Sunday, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

More information about Expedia Montréal Hackathon 2015 requirements, rules and judging criteria on montreal-hackathon.challengepost.com. Hashtag: #HackExpediaMtl.

About Expedia Canada
Expedia.ca is the nation's most-visited full-service online travel provider. To help Canadians plan and purchase travel, Expedia.ca offers the best combination of scheduled and charter flights, car and hotel reservations, vacation packages, destination activities, cruises, and travel insurance. Expedia customers are supported by customer support agents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a toll-free number and email response.

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Expedia.ca is owned and operated by Expedia, Inc. Expedia, Expedia.ca and the Airplane logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2015 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-5030