Hack Upstate XV
Advancing Upstate New York's Technology Community
Hack Upstate XV will be hosted virtually on October 3rd and 4th, 2020
What To Expect
Share Ideas
Bring an idea that you have and the skills you are looking for. You'll be able to pitch your idea to everyone virtually at the event kickoff around 12:30 on Saturday.
Form Teams
Teams tend to form organically around the pitched ideas. You can also go solo if you'd like. There is no limit to members on a team!
Build Projects
Hack away! Work on whatever you want for the duration of the hackathon. All types of projects are encouraged.
Win Prizes
After 24 hours of hard work, you'll present your projects to everyone. Judges will then select some winners to take home some awesome prizes.
Schedule
Saturday, October 3rd
Day 1
- Zoom call opens: 11:45 AM
- Opening ceremony and kickoff, idea pitching, team formation via Zoom: 12:00 - 12:45 PM
- Commence hacking: 12:45 PM
- Organizer Office Hours: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
- Things to Love about CNY (Dana McMullen) Presentation Link: 2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
- Live in CNY, Work Remote Panel (Mike Vormwald, Joshua Burdick, Linda Kovacs): 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- Farm to Community: Key takeaways from leading a local social impact project (Tom Monks) Presentation Link: 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
- What is Design Technology (Christy Presler) Presentation Link: 4:15 PM - 4:30 PM
- Local Tech Meetup Showcase (WiMLDS, Code for Syracuse, Women in Coding, Community Data Group, Salt City Code) List of Meetup contacts: 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
- Anyone Can Make a Game!: Rapid Prototyping for All (Joshua Marris and Melissa Schmitz) Presentation Link: 5:00 PM - 5:15 PM
- How to learn Salesforce skills for free, join a community and rock your career (Mike DeMaria) Presentation Link: 5:15 PM - 5:45 PM
- Jackbox.tv with Syracuse CoWorks (Dallas Bryson): 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
- Coffee Talk with Kubal CoWorks (Matt Godard): 8:00 - 8:30 PM
- Miranda: A Steampunk VR Experience Watch Party (Tri-Cities Opera, LUMA Festival): 8:30 - 9:15 PM
- Things to Love about CNY Trivia Night (Dana McMullen) Presentation Link: 9:15 - 10:00 PM
Sunday, October 4th
Day 2
- Cease hacking and submit projects: 11:45 AM
- Closing ceremony, demo intro, welcome judges: 12:00 PM
- Demos, pitches, and presentations: 12:15 - 1:45 PM
- Judge deliberation: 1:45 - 2:00 PM
- Award ceremony: 2:00 PM
Prizes and Raffles
Top Prizes
Grand Prize
DIRT - Direct Interactive Real Tabletop: $1000
First Runner Up
Is the mail here yet?: $500
Themed Prizes
Best “Central and Upstate NY are a great place to work from home” Hack
New York State Attractions: $100 Prize provided by The Tech Garden
Best Use of Open Data
NYS COVID-19 Parent Portal: $100 Prize provided by Syracuse iSchool
Best Effort Hack
Easy Park: $100 Prize provided by Tompkins Trust Company
Best Hardware Hack
DIRT - Direct Interactive Real Tabletop: $100 Prize provided by Density
Best Social Impact Prize
Fundit: $100
Honorable Mention
1099 Generator: $50
Raffles
Raffle 1
Samuel Metras: $100 Prize provided by The Tech Garden
Raffle 2
Justin White: $50 Prize provided by Syracuse iSchool
Raffle 3
Glenn Allen: $50 Prize provided by Tompkins Trust Company
Raffle 4
Mary Ann Gundel: $50 Prize provided by Density
Why is CNY a Great Place to Work and Live
Alex Jansing: $100 Prize provided by The Tech Garden
Best Zoom Virtual Background
Edward Deaver: $25 Amazon Gift Card
Things to Love About CNY Trivia
Melissa Schmitz: $25 Amazon Gift Card
Gift Card Matching 1
Ignacio Mejias: $60 Otro Cinco
Gift Card Matching 2
Chris Berry: $40 Salt City Coffee
Judges
Laiza Semidey
Syracuse Surge Work Train Manager Center State CEO
Steve VonDeak
Chief Of Staff Density
Jeff Fuchsberg
Director Genius NY
Kristin Mannion
President The Alvina Group
Judging Criteria
- 20% - Originality & Creativity & Novelty: Is the project new and something that hasn't been attempted before? How does this approach a unique solution to a problem?
- 20% - Wow Factor: Subjective and buzz-wordy, huh? That's what makes it fun :) We know you have something up your sleeve that's going to knock our socks off!
- 20% - Polish / Design / Execution: Did your team successfully execute your project concept? Is it usable? Does it work? Is it well designed? Is the user experience smooth?
- 20% - Demo / Presentation: You'll have 2-3 minutes for a demo to tell the judges about your project, followed by a Q/A. We're interested in the problems you solved, API's you leveraged, technologies used, and lessons learned. We recommend a quick powerpoint.
- 20% - Multidisciplinary project: We encourage and applaud interdisciplinary projects fueled by eclectic teams with diverse backgrounds.