How to prepare for Garage48 Open & Big Data 2016 hackathon:

We'll start on Friday at 17:30 with opening doors. Please come on time, as the registration process might take some time. This time before the official opening is a great opportunity for getting to know the crowd and to network. See the agenda for further information.
 
WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU?

Positive attitude, open mind and lots of energy! Everything you need for a rapid product development.

Please take your:
laptop
3-5m power extension cord (as power might be on distance)
mobile phone
all chargers

Optional:
photo camera to take and share photos
mattress
sleeping bag and towel (in case you registered for sleepover at the venue)
credit cards for domain registration
business cards (if you have any)

PITCHING IDEAS

Ideas are presented based on "elevator-pitch" method within 90 seconds. Event host and audience can ask 1 to 3 short questions.

You can prepare 1 (one) PDF slide to support your pitch. You should send the slide by Friday noon, at the e-mail info@garage48.org (Subject: name of your project).

Consider following key points:

• Describe briefly your background (10 sec)

• What is the name of the idea (5 sec)

• What's the idea all about? What is the problem your idea solves? Target user count and description (30 sec)

• Technical solution and if there is a revenue model (in case of non-profit idea, how the maintenance and further development costs will be covered?) (30 sec)

• Minimum viable product and plan for 48 hours. Who do you need for the team? (20 sec)

NB! Practice your pitch to your friends or family before you present! 90 seconds goes really fast!

FORMING TEAMS

After pitching is over, we will put all the ideas on the wall. Every participant will choose their favorite idea and this is how teams will be formed. Usually 10 to 14 best ideas will get enough interested people to get the "green light" for the implementation.

Average team has about 5 to 7 people and the team should be "balanced" - covering all required roles like necessary engineers, designer, a project manager (team lead/visionary), and marketer in order to get the product/service ready in 48 hours! Minimum size for a team is 4 people and max is 8 people.

If some ideas get too few people or not balanced teams (probably unable to build the service), the idea will be dumped. Those people should choose another idea/team.

WORKING IN TEAMS

After forming the teams, organizers will give a room/space for every team for the weekend. You should start by dividing roles, setting the product vision, customer journey and start working right away.

It is very important that you have a project manager (team lead) in the team - one of his tasks is to keep the focus of the team, one eye on the clock and the other on the team progress. 48 hours is really a short time.

Food and drinks. We provide breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. So, you could focus on work and building your product.

Mentors. We have arranged mentors to work with the teams throughout the weekend. Some of them are more technical, some more business savvy. Be open and ask for their advice and contacts.

Please wear your name badge during the whole event, this will help to encourage networking and gets you inside through security guards. Otherwise be open, get to know new people, share your ideas and give ideas/feedback to other teams.

MOST IMPORTANT - have fun!