TecHacks Terms and Conditions
TecHacks Hackathon 2021 General Terms and Conditions
1. Goal of the Hackathon
1.1. The goal of the Hackathon is to create a project that bridges and/or solves a problem in one of the four categories.
1.2. On the first day of the Hackathon, after the opening ceremonies, hackers should begin their hacks (“projects”) based on one of the four categories - education, recreation, activism, and sustainability.
1.2.1 “TecHacks” includes executive directors, founders, event coordinators, judges, volunteers, and any and all other persons affiliated with the administrative ongoings of the organization entitled TecHacks.
1.3. Projects created by teams during the Hackathon will not be distributed and/or replicated by TecHacks without the team(s)’s permission.
2. Date and Time of the Hackathon
2.1. The location of the Hackathon is virtual. The Hackathon will start on August 13th, 2021 and will end on August 15th, 2021. Participants may commence work on their projects after the opening ceremonies. Participants are allowed to work on their projects any time after the opening ceremonies until the submission date (Eastern Standard Time).
3. Participation
3.1. The Hackathon is open to all participants (“participants”) who self-identify as female or non-binary and are high schoolers or undergraduate/graduate students.
3.2. Participants may apply in teams or form teams once the Hackathon begins.
3.3. Teams must consist of 1-4 members.
3.4. TecHacks must be informed of any changes made to teams and their respective members. Failure to do so may result in disqualification from the Hackathon.
3.5. Participants are required to provide their own equipment for the hackathon. TecHacks is not responsible for providing any sort of service or equipment.
4. Registration to the Hackathon
4.1. Participants wishing to register for the hackathon must complete the online Registration Form. All participants in submitting their registration accept the event regulations and grant consent for the handling of their submitted personal information by TecHacks.
4.2. By submitting personal information upon registration to TecHacks, participants guarantee that said personal information is true and accurate, with no liability being attributed to TecHacks in the event of any falsification and/or inaccuracy. Inaccurate and/or falsified information may result in disqualification of the participant(s) from the event at the discretion of TecHacks.
4.3. TecHacks reserves the right to disqualify any participant(s) who behaves inappropriately on any platform used by TecHacks during the Hackathon, i.e. Zoom calls, Slack channels, Devpost channels, etc.
5. Winners
5.1. Winning teams will be chosen according to the decisions of judges. Judgment for each of the four categories will be passed based on the following criteria: creativity, originality, impact, technical complexity, and user experience. The three overall prizes are for best use of theme, best beginner hack, and most creative hack. Judgment will be passed using a rubric created by TecHacks.
5.2. Each of the four tracks will have a winner. There will be three overall prizes for first-place, second-place, and third-place regardless of the track chosen.
5.3. Participants agree and acknowledge that TecHacks shall have no liability whatsoever on how prizes are divided between team members.
5.4. Tangible prizes will be sent to participants by TecHacks. A valid and true shipping address(es) must be provided by participants upon the notification of their winning status. Shipping will be paid for by TecHacks. Virtual prizes such as credit or gift cards will be emailed to the winners.
6. Intellectual Property Rights
6.1. By participating in the Hackathon and accepting these Terms and Conditions, each participant herby:
6.1.1. declares that all projects and anything submitted to TecHacks is original content and in no way violates, in whole or in part, the intellectual or industrial property rights of others.
6.1.2. releases TecHacks from any and all responsibility, liability, or request for compensation for damages that should be made by any third party and/or by participants.
6.1.3. acknowledges that each project presented is the property of the team, which takes full responsibility for ensuring such rights of ownership, intellectual property and originality within the limits of the law.
6.1.3. acknowledges that any publication of projects from the Hackathon by TecHacks on websites and/or social media will result in said project being visible to the public and that TecHacks assumes no responsibility for any use and/or abuse of the idea/project and/or any development of the idea by any party coming into contact with said idea online or
on social media and hereby waives any right to demand compensation for damages from TecHacks for any reason.
7. Miscellaneous
7.1. TecHacks is not sponsored by or affiliated with any applications used by TecHacks during the Hackathon (e.g. Slack, Zoom, Devpost, etc.).
7.2. TecHacks is not responsible for inappropriate behavior or misconduct of individuals during the Hackathon in communication channels and platforms as well as any communication in general between participants during the hours of the Hackathon. Please note TecHacks reserves the right to disqualify participants on the basis of misconduct (refer to “Code of Conduct”).
7.3. TecHacks strives to create an inclusive environment and therefore encourages participants to properly report misconduct by other individuals as procedure states as outlined in “Code of Conduct”.
7.4. Plagiarism of any sort is not tolerated by TecHacks during any part of the Hackathon. Upon discovery of plagiarism, involved individuals may be disqualified at the discretion of TecHacks.
7.5. At any time, at the sole and absolute discretion of TecHacks, TecHacks shall be entitled to disqualify a participant and/or Team in the event of failure to meet relevant eligibility criteria or any other violation or suspected violation of these Terms and Conditions.
7.6. The participant understands and agrees that TecHacks will process his/her personal information in connection with TecHack’s Hackathon.
7.7. TecHacks does not tolerate harassment. Any individuals guilty or suspected of harassment may be disqualified with no requirement of reimbursement at the discretion of TecHacks.
7.8. These Terms and Conditions, along with any Hackathon registration forms, represent the participant’s entire agreement with TecHacks with respect to the Hackathon. These terms cannot be modified unless written agreement of TecHacks is provided.
7.9. All terms and rules are subject to change at TecHacks’s, event coordinators’ or judges’ discretion. Participants will be informed of such changes if deemed necessary.
Code of Conduct
TecHacks stands for inclusivity and acceptance. If anyone during the event makes you feel uncomfortable, an event places you in an inappropriate or uncomfortable situation, or you are in an inappropriate or uncomfortable situation, please follow the procedure outlined in this Code of Conduct.
Please note that harassment of any sort is not tolerated by TecHacks and thus TecHacks holds the ability to disqualify individuals guilty or suspected of harassment at their discretion with no requirement of reimbursement of any sort.
Harassment includes but is not limited to offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size or type, race, skin color, religion, social class, economic status, veteran status, sexual images, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention. “Harassment” is defined as “aggressive pressure or intimidation” and “illegal behavior that triggers mental or emotional suffering”.
If you are making someone uncomfortable for any reason, that counts as harassment, so please step back, and quit such behavior, or you will face expulsion.
Persons asked to quit harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.
TecHacks staff, volunteers, mentors, judges, speakers, sponsors and anyone else involved in the production of the event are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In addition, attendees should not use sexualized content in their hacks. It is asked that you be considerate of others and help create an inclusive community.
If you or anyone you know is being subjected to harassment, you notice someone is being harassed, or you have any other concerns, please contact TecHacks or follow the outlined procedures.
We expect participants to follow these rules at all times during the Hackathon.
Reporting Procedures
If you feel there has been a violation of the Code of Conduct or feel uncomfortable, please contact us. Reporters have the right to remain anonymous.
If you have a concern, please contact one of the persons below:
Shalini Setty - shalinisetty@techacks.us.com
TecHacks General - info@techacks.us.com
TecHacks reserves the right to revise, make exceptions to, or otherwise amend these policies in
whole or in part. If you have any questions regarding these policies, please contact TecHacks by
email at info@techacks.us.com.