Is this your first hackathon?

Don't fear! We're here to help 😇

Here's a roadmap to help you navigate HackDuke and make the most out of it.

💡 First Timer Pathway

Hackathons are a great place to learn new tools and skills. We curated a packed schedule of technical workshops and talks for our participants to learn and get excited about the intersections of tech and social good.

We also have specific beginner prizes in each category so there's an even playing field if you want to compete. Here's your pathway to making the most out of HackDuke!

  1. 🖊️ Plan Ahead

    Take some time over the next few days to review our participant guide and get an overview of our event! We have a lot of programming planned which can definitely be overwhelming for first-time hackers so it's best to spend a little bit of time before the event to figure out how you want to spend your weekend.

    Definitely don't feel pressured to attend every single talk/workshop or pull an all-nighter if you know that doesn't work best for you.

    What's your main goal for HackDuke?

    If you are more inclined to spend our event learning and gathering as much knowledge as possible, invest your time into workshops and talks! You can then apply your skills to building a project during HackDuke or a project in the future.

    If you are passionate about building a project and aiming for a prize, pick the sessions you want to attend intentionally. Maybe attend sessions with specific tools or tracks related to your project ideas.

  2. 🧠 Choose Your Sessions If your goal is to focus on a specific track, review the track descriptions to find the talks related to each of them.

    If you're more focused on building up technical skills, check out any of the workshops listed in our schedule!

  3. 😤 Form a Team

    What's the best part of hackathons? Getting to work with people! While you technically can submit an individual project, where's the fun in that? You can choose to come in with a team (of up to 5 people) of friends or peers, but if you don't have a team don't worry! We gotchu.

    1. Post a short intro in the #team-formation channel on Discord! A lot of people have already posted intros so you can sift through there to find team members as well.
    2. Join our Glimpse Team Formation session at 11 am EST on Saturday! You'll be able to indicate your track interests and skills and match with complementary hackers.
    3. Lastly, if you're still struggling to find a team either feel free to PM our logistics team member Martin Olarte on Discord and he'll help you out 🙂

  4. 🍎 Pick Your Track Once you've formed a team, it's time to pick your track! You can only submit a project to one track so make sure you're clear on the track that matches your potential projects. Make sure to review our track descriptions if you're struggling to find a track that best matches your interests.

  5. ⚙️ Get Started Building!

    It's finally time to build! Here are some tips from us on how to make progress and follow through: