Humanity Hacked - Chatbot

Inspiration

At first, I was confused on how the presented prompt was related to computer science, and I was stuck. After thinking about it for some time, I realized that a generic, but good answer, was community service. With my project, I tried to help people create and connect with community service goals in a different way.

What it does

It is a chatbot rooted in facebook that helps people contemplate new community oriented ideas, find local volunteering projects, and connect with global charities.

How I built it

I used a Node.JS backend and connected that backend to 4 different APIs. I used Chatfuel to easily and elegantly create my frontend.

Challenges I ran into

I really wanted to use VolunteerMatch's API to help users find local and interest based volunteering options. I sent my request to use the API last night, but as of when I'm writing this, I never got a response. This forced me to find another volunteer oriented API on the web, and that was hard.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

As in a lot of these hackathon's, I'm proud of what I was able to create given the time constraint. I think added pressure and motivation of these events really brings out the best in me.

What I learned

I deepened my knowledge about Node.js, and json parsing within node.

What's next for Humanity Hacked - Chatbot

I want to integrate VolunteerMatch when I finally get an email back from them.

Other than that, I also want to use my FB Chatbot making skills to create FB bots for a lot of local businesses and restaurants. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and I think I really found something that I am passionate about in creating these little chatbots.

Built With

• betterplace-api
• chatfuel
• dosomething-api
• icanhazdadjoke-api
• node.js
• orghunter-api