Hackathons are challenging and fun experiences where people learn how to design, build, and pitch an app in a weekend. These apps may change the world or maybe just change Carroll County.
Learning is at the heart of the MAGIC Hackathon. Teams are invited to take risks and step outside of their comfort zones. It’s okay if you don’t finish or have a working app by the end. We consider this Hackathon to be a beginner-level experience. Come ready to learn!
Hackathon teams have people with diverse interests and experiences. All students with an interest in app development, graphic design, business, and/or marketing are encouraged to participate.
GETTING STARTED
Teams of 2 or more high school and college students will compete to see who can build the best application. Bring your team and get started. Have an idea but no one to work with? No problem. MAGIC will provide you with a communication channel when you register called Team_Marketplace. This open channel was created to help you find the perfect fit, whether it’s to find a team to work with or a team looking to add additional team members.
Don’t know how to code? That is okay! No experience necessary. PLUS, great hackathon teams need diverse skill sets, including graphic design, business, marketing, and communication. The Hackathon Workshops will provide you a crash course on all aspects of bringing an app to life, including new and innovative tools to help attain your goals.
Participants should come ready to identify a problem, design a solution, and build an app!
NEW FOR 2021
The MAGIC Hackathon has gone virtual. Due to current social distancing restrictions, MAGIC has reimagined the whole design process for our Hackathon Workshop and Hackathon Weekend. The Hackathon Workshops will be available in pre-recorded classes that you can view when it is convenient for you and your team. The Hackathon Weekend will now be extended into a 5-day app sprint with a scheduled live team judging presentation on the last day of the competition.
Teams will still have access to our great professional mentors as well as team chat rooms and video access via a Discord server specifically created for team collaboration and inspiration.
** This competition is only open to local competitors. We can not accept international registrations for this event.
HACKATHON WORKSHOPS
The Hackathon experience begins with our workshops. These pre-recorded workshops, led by industry leaders, will provide an overview of how to design, build, and pitch an app. Also included are recommendations on what tools are available to get you started. Time will also be scheduled for live Q&A with these professional mentors so you can your team can get the individual attention you may need.
HACKATHON SPRINT WEEK
Using collaboration tools like Discord and Zoom, teams will have their own space to innovate and build the next big app. Industry professionals will be available at various times during sprint week to answer live questions or questions posted on the mentor channels. This is the sprint! Your team will collaborate to create a viable product and bring it to life.
HACKATHON PITCH PRESENTATIONS
The entire community is invited to watch the event live stream to cheer on their favorite team and to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of the students. Industry professionals will judge your team on a variety of goals. Think Shark Tank for Students! Refer to the Hackathon Rubric available on our Resources page for judging criteria. Each team will be given a scheduled presentation time on Sunday, March 28, 2021 to pitch their apps to the judging committee. Each team will have 10 minutes to present and answer any questions from the judges and winners will be determined on Sunday.
Each presentation will be presented via the Streaming Room on the Discord Server.
ARE YOU IN?
All you have to do to participate in the MAGIC Hackathon is submit an online registration form. You and your team must register to participate. All registrations must be submitted by Monday, March 22, 2021. MAGIC will be hosting this event virtually. We will be using the Discord environment for collaboration and communication during the event. You must create an account to have access to our Hackathon environment.
Due to the virtual nature of this event, MAGIC cannot facilitate placement of individuals to teams. It is the responsibility of the individual to find or form their own team. Teams must have a minimum of 2 team members to participate. A server invite will be available after you register for access to our Discord channels. This will give individuals and teams access to our team_marketplace channel. This open channel is available for individuals looking to a team to join, and for teams to fill member needs.
Don’t have a Discord account? No problem, head over to Discord to register for free.
EVENT KICKOFF
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 starting at 4pm
The 5 day sprint will begin with a live stream on our Discord Streaming channel. The kickoff event will introduce the process, explain the rules of conduct and give the teams time to ask questions. Then teams can get started.
HACKATHON SPRINT
Wednesday, March 24 thru Saturday, March 27, 2021
This is the time to collaborate, invent, imagine, and build! You and your team can work when you want, where you want! The best part of a virtual event, no time restrictions and travel time.
We have created a few milestones to help keep your team on track.
Thursday, March 25th – Final App ideas should be submitted no later then 5:00
Friday, March 26th – Product name should be submitted no later then 5:00
Saturday, March 27th, – Final Pitch deck should be submitted no later than 10pm*
*failure to submit a pitch deck by the deadline will result in disqualification. Once your pitch deck is submitted, your team CANNOT make any changes to the pitch deck for the presentation on Sunday. The deck you present should be the deck you submitted.
LIVE STREAM JUDGING
Sunday, March 28, 2021 1:00pm
Sunday, March 28th – Presentations of your teams product/app in front of a live judging panel. Teams will be notified of your scheduled presentation time along with your Zoom link in your team channel no later than Sunday at 9:00am. Presentations will start at 1:00pm with each team having a 10 minute time limit for presentation and judges Q&A.
The live presentations will be streamed to our Twitch and/or YouTube channels. More information will follow for friends and family who may be interested in watching the live presentations.
HACKATHON RULES
- The primary objective of the event is to meet people while having fun building something new. Don’t do anything that would detract from the fairness or fun of the event.
- The bulk of the construction should happen during the scheduled collaboration time frame. It’s not going to be a fun event if some teams show up on Sunday with super-elaborate projects that they’ve been working on for months. Teams that do this will be automatically disqualified.
- Brainstorming, planning, and mock ups are fine to prepare in advance of the Hackathon Event. You are also allowed to consider what APIs and third party services you plan to use.
- You can use whatever tools and spaces are at your disposal. You’re strongly encouraged to attend the Hackathon Workshops and work at the Hackathon Weekend event location because that’s where the real excitement and energy will be! In order to qualify for the prizes, you and your team must be present meet with the judges to present your project on the last day of the Hackathon event.
- Projects must be submitted to by 10pm on Saturday. Instructions for submitting these projects will be provided during the Hackathon Event.
- Each participant may compete on one team only- not on multiple teams/projects. Teams will be limited to 2-5 people per team to keep competition fair and healthy. Please list all team members that contributed to your project on your presentation in the “Team Members” slide, even if they did not officially sign up for the hackathon. It is not fair to receive extra outside help without disclosing that information so the judges can take that into consideration (don’t try to make it look like 2 people did the work of 4).
- Inappriorate content or languarge will not be tolerated. Curtisey and respect is expected of all participants.
- Anyone in violation of these rules (at the organizer’s discretion) will be asked to leave and their project will be deemed ineligible compete.
Hackathon FAQs
Below are some Frequently asked questions. If you have more questions, please contact us at info@magicinc.org
WHAT IS THE AGE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS EVENT?
This event is for high school and college aged students. Nontraditional college students are also encouraged to participate.
DO I HAVE TO HAVE A TEAM TO PARTICIPATE?
We encourage our participants to gather classmates and friends to form a team before registration. That being said, you can register without a team and we can give you access to our Team_marketplace. Have a great idea but need a team, want to get more experience in a particular discipline? Post in the marketplace. List your interests and connect with teams that may need your expertise. We will do our best to make sure that everyone finds a team. When you register you will be added to our Discord competition server. Please make sure you have a valid Discord username before registering.
ARE HACKATHONS JUST FOR TECHIES?
No! In order to design, build, and pitch an app you’ll need more than just technical skills on a team. Each team will have to identify who is covering the following skill sets: Software Development, Marketing, Business, and Graphic Design/Creative.
WHAT IF I’VE NEVER BUILT AN APP?
That’s okay! The MAGIC Hackathon is a beginner-level experience. It’s a safe place for you to learn. The workshop will give you a crash course in the basics like app development, graphic design, business plans, marketing concepts, etc.
DO I HAVE TO STAY AND WORK THROUGH THE NIGHT DURING THE HACKATHON?
That’s a great question. Because this is a virtual online event, you can set your schedule from start to finish. You and your teams will be required to meet some simple milestone along the way, but how and when you work is totally up to you and your team. We expect some teams will be night owls, or have other committments and others won’t so it’s okay to work as your own pace. This is a total independent process.
DO I HAVE TO ATTEND THE KICKOFF LIVE STREAM AT THE START OF THE HACKATHON?
We strongly suggest that you and your team attend and watch the live kickoff. We will be providing a lot of information you and your team will need to know to make th most of your Hackathon experience.
TO COMPETE IN THE HACKATHON, DOES EVERY MEMBER OF MY TEAM HAVE TO BE PRESENT FOR ALL WORK HOURS?
No. We understand that students have a lot going on. If a team member(s) has to spend some time away from the collaborative effort, that won’t disqualify them your team from competition. The good part of a virtual event is that your teams private work channels allow you and teams member to start current on what everyone is doing and to post your progress for missing members to catch up.
WILL THERE BE PEOPLE TO HELP US THROUGHOUT THE HACKATHON?
Yes. Mentors and coaches will be available during scheduled portions of each work day. If a mentor or coach is not available you can post your questions and ask for help in our #mentors channel and we will get a professional to contact you for consultation. We will also have various mentors availabe in our voice/video channel for in depth discussions about various topics.
Hackathon Resources
We have put together some resource to help you.
Educational Resources
General coding and design resource –w3school.com
Mobile app builders
- Buildfire (free 30 day version) – Buildfire.com
- Thunkable app builder (free trial) – Thunkable.com
Team Resources
Team Rubric: This is the form that the judges will use to score your final project. This will give your team an idea of what the judges are looking for, and what aspects of the process hold more weight.
Pitch Deck: This is the pitch deck format required for final project submission
Hackathon 2021 Winners
Best Overall
Orbbit
Best Tech
StudySmarter
Best Design
NeuroItch
Best Pitch
Ambrosia
Best Idea
InforMobile
