At Hack the Gap, we want to continue to serve where we can. As we are social distancing, we want to create a space and opportunity to connect and build solutions. In addition, we are partnering with organizations and government agencies to understand the various needs we are facing during this pandemic.
In place of our usual in-person hackathon, we are hosting our first virtual hackathon! We welcome participants to co-create technology solutions to address the challenges and opportunities they see in their communities.
Hack the Gap is aimed at creating a high-energy experience where women and non-binary people from all backgrounds and experience levels can enjoy an accessible, approachable, positive experience.
Schedule:
Because this is a virtual event, team will start the projects on Saturday 11th and demo the projects within one week, on April 18th. As a team, you can decide how you’d like to work together.
Kick-off:
Saturday, April 11th at 10am CST
10-10:15 am - Virtual doors open via Zoom
10:15 am - Kick-off event
10:30 am - Pitch ideas from the community (these ideas are already submitted)
10:45 am - Participants share their ideas
11 am - Vote on ideas and form teams
11:30 am - Start hacking!
End of day check-in
Check-in:
Sunday, April 12th 10am CST
10 am - Virtual check-in via Slack
End of day check-in
Team members will coordinate on how to engage during the week. We encourage that team members build as much of the project during the weekend.
Demo day:
Saturday, April 18th at 10am CST
10am - Virtual doors open via Crowdcast (link will be shared prior to the event)
10:05 am - Kick-off event
10:15 am - Hack the Gap team demos start
Community demos and community voting
11:15 am - Winners will be announced
Raffle Prizes: We will have raffle prizes throughout the weekend and the week so stay tuned via our social media channels
Projects:
Participants are welcome to come with their project ideas. In addition, we are partnering with organizations and government agencies to understand the various needs they are facing during this pandemic. You can review the needs as identified by the community (list coming soon). The list is just a starting point.
The technical solution of the project hack must be built during the hackathon timeframe. However, the idea or need can be identified prior. Please reachout if you have any questions.
All teams retain full ownership of what they created during the hackathon. Hack the Gap claims no rights to any of the ideas.
Teams:
Ideal team sizes must be at least 2 people and an ideal maximum of 6 people.
We understand that some folks may already know who they want to work with. If that’s the case, feel free to do so! Be sure to let us know when you register for the event or reachout to us at hello@hackthegap.com.
Prizes:
Cash prizes will be split across all registered team members.
We will have raffle prizes throughout the week!
Who:
This virtual hackathon is for woman-identified and non-binary people. We use an inclusive definition of “woman” and “female” and we welcome trans women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people. Please email us at hello@hackthegap.com if you have any questions.
PRIZE CATEGORIES
🏆 We are working on getting prizes so stay tuned! 🏆
Thanks to our sponsors and community partners
Want to be a sponsor or share a prize?
Email hello@hackthegap.com if you’d like to donate a raffle prize or be a sponsor.
Want to support?
Email hello@hackthegap.com if you’d like to support this event in other ways.
COMPETITION RULES
You’ll need to show your technology live, even if parts of the applications aren’t working. Please share a link to the tech.
Please provide a one pager or video overview of the project. This will help us understand how you approached the need.
Be sure to state how each team member contributed to the project.
JUDGING CRITERIA
The projects will be judged by problem solution; the technical impressiveness; and the impact of the idea of community, the market or the end users. No one of these categories will have more weight than another.
There will be a panel of judges. Each judge will rate the team presentation of the project with a 1 through 5 for each of the categories: innovation, technical impressiveness, and impact. The total score of each team will be tallied up and the judges will decide which team takes first, second and third prize.
How to support or engage
Be a mentor for the teams
We invite community members to demo projects they’ve been working on
Show up for demos
demo day:
We are excited to host our first virtual demo day on April 18th. In addition to demos from our Hack the Gap participants. We invite all community members and allies who have been working on projects addressing the impact of COVID-19.
To all of our prior hack the gap participants and community members, thank you for being a part of our community. We hope that you are able to engage and participate in the virtual hackathon. Together, we're breaking down barriers and amplifying the voices and talents of people as well as showcasing the work of individuals.
