Dates

Start time: August 12, 2023 12:00 PM EST
End time: August 14, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Failure to adhere to these times will result in disqualification!

Eligibility

Any high school student currently attending a high school in Canada is eligible to participate. If you have just graduated high school but have not started university yet, you are also eligible.

To register, please join the hackathon through devpost (in the 'Overview' tab, click the 'Join hackathon' button). You will receive instructions in your inbox to complete registration.

We reserve the right to disqualify any project, for any reasons whatsoever, at any time.

Teams

  • up to 4 participants are allowed per team
  • you may only be part of one team
  • team members must all be eligible participants
  • if one team member violates these rules, the entire team may be disqualified if they are found to have taken part (subject to review)

Submission Requirements

  • You must only work on your hackathon project during the hackathon period (48 hour period)
    • basic preparation, such as installing IDEs, is allowed
    • building beforehand, such as writing boilerplate code, is not allowed
  • You must only work with the people in your team
    • you are not allowed to receive outside help
  • You must write your own code; it cannot be plagiarized, written by a non-team member, or generated by AI
    • if you are using a "builder" (e.g., Wix), that is allowed, but must be clearly indicated in your video
  • Using libraries and APIs are permitted, but must be disclosed in your submission

Failure to follow these rules will result in a poor judging score or a disqualification depending on severity.

Prizes

Prizes are awarded per project. Each project can receive at most 1 prize (unless it also receives the popular vote prize, in which case it receives 2). How the prize is split is decided by the members.

A project is eligible for the Best Beginner Project ($1360) award only if all team members are beginners. You are considered a beginner if this is your first hackathon.

Prizes are awarded by email after the hackathon.

Once judging finishes, an award ceremony will be held, where the winners will be announced.

We reserve the right to deny any project a prize for any reasons whatsoever.

The prize value of each prize is an estimate. We do not guarantee that the actual prize is worth the amount. In addition, sponsors come and go, and as such, certain prizes may or may not become ineligible to claim before, during or after the competition.

Verbwire Special Prize

Verbwire has generously sponsored our hackathon with prizes totalling $5000. For your project to be eligible for their prize, it must satisfy all of the following conditions:

  1. The project must have implemented the Verbwire API.
  2. The project should mention the use of the Verbwire API on their submission page
  3. The source code should be in a public repository on GitHub with instructions. There must be a clear description of the working of your application in the README file. Add the relevant links of the working app to the README file too.
  4. Include the GitHub link of your publicly visible source code in your submission. Projects with broken links will be disqualified.
  5. Create a short video demo of your application and upload to YouTube or any video sharing site. Make sure that any person watching the video is fully able to understand what the app does and what its functionalities are. Share the link on your Devpost submission.

In addition, the following terms are also in effect:

  1. Judging will be done by the Verbwire team based on submissions on Devfolio/Devpost, post the hackathon.
  2. Verbwire reserves the right to feature your project and code on its website and marketing materials.
  3. Award of prizes will be at the Verbwire team's discretion and subject to the project meeting a minimum bar of quality. Prizes will be announced and disbursed within a couple of days after the hackathon.

Want to get a head start in preparation? Check out the Verbwire quickstart here.

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

  • Functionality
    You will be judged on the functionality of your project: Does the project work properly? Does the project fulfill its purpose?
  • Design
    You will be judged on the design of your project: Is the project aesthetically pleasing? Is the project adaptive (for sites and apps)?
  • Concept
    You will be judged on the concept of your project: Is the idea original? Does it solve a real-world problem?
  • Presentation
    You will be judged on the presentation of your project: Were all the functions of the application demonstrated clearly? Is there anything confusing about the project not mentioned in the presentation?