Founders Events
Live tools for Founders · Illinois Entrepreneurs events, at events.foundersillinois.org. Members join from their phones; organizers run the event from /admin.
Events
Each event has a folder with its full guide: how it works, the event-night checklist, and how it was set up.
| Event | Date | Guide |
|---|
| R&D Midpoint Pitch Evaluation, Fall 2026 | Oct 25, 2026 | rd-midpoint-fa26 |
To run a new event, copy the most recent similar folder and rename it to the new event's slug.
Running it locally
Never develop against the production database: it holds every past event's results. Get your own copy first: in the club's Vercel account, events → Storage → Open in Neon → Branches → create a branch named after you, and copy its pooled connection string. Or create a free Neon project.
npm install
cp .env.example .env.local # paste your DATABASE_URL, choose any ADMIN_PASSWORD
npm run db:migrate # creates the tables
npm run db:seed # optional: adds a demo event
npm run dev # http://localhost:3000, organizers sign in at /admin
Before opening a pull request: npm run test:db && npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run build.
How it's deployed
- Hosting: the Vercel project
events in the club's account. Merging to main deploys.
- Database: Neon Postgres, added through Vercel's Storage tab.
- Settings: two environment variables in Vercel,
DATABASE_URL and ADMIN_PASSWORD. Changing the password and redeploying signs every organizer out.
- Database changes:
- Add a new numbered file in
db/migrations/. Never edit one that has already run.
- Test it on your own database.
- Before merging, someone with Vercel access applies it to production:
vercel env pull .env.production.local --environment production, then node --env-file=.env.production.local scripts/migrate.mjs, then delete that file.
How to contribute, and who approves changes: see the org page.
Credits
Thank you to everyone who built this. If you contributed, add yourself here in your pull request, with a link to your GitHub profile.
