Ascend Hackathon: Reviving Small Businesses

Blue Clarity

Revive small businesses and help them recover from economic loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sorry! Registration for this hackathon has closed.

THE HACKATHON CHALLENGE<a href="https://www.ascendevents.org/hackathon2021" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Ascend </a>and <a href="https://expeditionhacks.com/new-york-ny-onlinehackathon/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">#ExpeditionHacks</a> invites you to work with a selected small business or NGO partner for ONE WEEK to produce a functioning technical solution for your partner. Team projects should be designed to meet a specific need formulated by the partner small business or NGO and bring immediate and tangible benefit to the partner. A winning project will be one that successfully applies innovation to the partner’s day-to-day business through the utilization of cyber concepts, data science/visualization, AI/machine learning, or other advanced technologies. Teams may select their own partner* or they will be paired at event kick off.

TEAMS<ul><li>Teams can consist of up to five members. Each individual team member must register for the event. </li><li>All ages are welcome. Participants under the age of 18 will be required to complete a permission form.</li><li>Teams must have at least ONE Ascend member. </li><li>Team members can participate from anywhere in the world. </li><li>Each team must work on one solution for a specific partner (see below).</li></ul>

SMALL BUSINESS PARTNERS<ul><li>Must commit to personally engage with the team and to attend the hackathon event. </li><li>Must be a specific small business entity (any industry) or an NGO that directly supports small businesses such as local Chamber of Commerce, small business association, etc.</li><li>Large businesses with a group, entity or initiative that directly supports small businesses are also acceptable. </li><li>Teams can select their own partner from personal networks* OR they will be paired with a partner at event kick off. </li></ul>*Team selected partners will need to meet with hackathon organizers to ensure that the problem statement presented is an appropriate level of complexity for the competition.

WHYWith quarantining and social distancing measures in place for over almost a year now, communities everywhere have seen small businesses shutter their doors for good. Despite temporary financial support from public and private sources, the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many small businesses simply cannot survive without creating new revenue streams. Small businesses that lack technical savvy are particularly disadvantaged. Ascend challenges you to use your tech skills and business savvy to help small businesses survive, recover, and thrive again! During this event, your team will engage intensively with your selected partner business or NGO. Your partner will present a specific problem or challenge it is currently facing and your team will have one week to create a functioning technology solution to their problem. The goal of this hackathon is for your partner to walk away with an innovative, actionable, potentially scalable technology solution in hand. While the solution may require refinement after the competition, it should be something that is relatively close to implementation.

SCHEDULEThis virtual hackathon will take place on March 13 through 20, 2021. All times are in EST. Saturday, March 13, 2021: Virtual Event Kick Off. Link will be provided to registered participants.<ul><li>1:00 PM | EVENT START</li><li>1:15 PM | Keynote Speaker: Andres Angelani</li><li>1:40 PM | Business Partner Introductions &amp; Pairing</li><li>2:20 PM | Breakout Rooms for Teams and Partners </li><li>2:40 AM | Final Reminders, Submission Details, General Q&amp;A </li><li>3:00 PM | END OF EVENT</li></ul>March 13- 20, 2021: Teams work on projects with partners independently.Saturday, March 20, 2021:Live event link will be provided to registered participants.<ul><li>9 AM | Project Submission Cut Off
</li><li>1:00 PM | Live Event Starts
</li><li>1:05 PM | Team Demos
</li><li>2:20 PM | Speaker: Anna Mok (Ascend) &amp; Crowdsource Vote
</li><li>2:45 PM | Winners Announced, Closing Remarks
</li><li>3:00 PM | End of Event</li></ul>

PRIZESWinners of this hackathon will be selected on March 20, 2021 by our judges. Projects will be evaluated based on the criteria outlined below. Grand prize <ul><li>Tickets to Ascend’s National Convention in August 2021 for each team member (valued at $1000 each)</li><li>One selection from prize pool </li></ul>2nd place<ul><li>Ascend membership for each team member (valued at $125 each) </li><li>One selection from prize pool </li></ul>Crowdsource prize <ul><li>One selection from prize pool </li></ul>Most Valuable Hacker<ul><li>LinkedIn Learning Subscription (1 year)</li></ul>Prize Pool includes... (prizes subject to change) <ul><li>One mentoring session for the team with a venture capitalist</li><li>One technical mentoring session for the team with an Ascend leader from a tech company</li><li>One hour of mentoring with Ascend’s President or an Ascend Board member</li><li>Ascend membership for each team member (valued at $125 each) </li><li>Nintendo Switch console for each team member</li><li>$50 Amazon gift cards for each team member</li><li>Echo dots for each team member</li></ul>

SUBMISSIONSEach submission requires: <ul><li>Project submission in DevPost</li><li>Project demo for judges </li></ul>

JUDGING CRITERIA: Projects will be judged based on the following criteria:<ul><li>Impact: How impactful will this solution be to your partner?</li><li>Scalability: What is the potential for scalability? How costly would this solution be to bring to scale?</li><li>Creativity: How original is this solution? Does it set itself apart from other solutions through innovative or non-traditional methods? Does it demonstrate outside-the-box thinking?</li><li>Design: How well designed is this solution, from a UI/UX (Usability) perspective?</li><li>Execution: How well designed and executed is the solution from a technical perspective?</li></ul>

Register Now!Teams must register before March 12, 2021, 11:59 PM EST.TOOLS, DATA, AND IP RIGHTSParticipants are allowed to use any commercially known open source tools. Participants are also encouraged to use their own proprietary solutions to develop creative and efficient products. If you are representing a company, your company’s proprietary software assets are also allowed to be used with the appropriate permission within your organization. Please reference the Terms and Conditions to confirm that all IP rights remain with the participant and/or the organization they are representing. By registering, you agree to the <a href="https://expeditionhacks.com/participant-agreement" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Terms and Conditions</a> and consent to the <a href="https://expeditionhacks.com/av/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Audio/Visual Release</a>.

NASA Space to Soil Challenge Pitch Event

NASA

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Registrations are closed

Ascend Hackathon: Reviving Small Businesses

More events from Blue Clarity

Discover more events from Blue Clarity, from Business to other experiences you might love.

NASA Space to Soil Challenge Pitch Event

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.

Registrations are closed

Ascend Hackathon: Reviving Small Businesses

More events from Blue Clarity

Discover more events from Blue Clarity, from Business to other experiences you might love.

NASA Space to Soil Challenge Pitch Event

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.