MLH Code of Conduct

Major League Hacking (MLH) stands for inclusivity. We believe that every single person has

the right to hack in a safe and welcoming environment.

 

Harassment includes but is not limited to offensive verbal or written comments related to

gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, 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. If what

you’re doing is making someone feel uncomfortable, that counts as harassment and is

enough reason to stop doing it.

 

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

Sponsors, judges, mentors, volunteers, organizers, MLH staff, and anyone else at the event

are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, attendees should not use

sexualised images, activities, or other material both in their hacks and during the event.

Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualised clothing/uniforms/costumes,

or otherwise create a sexualised environment.

 

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, MLH may take any action it deems

appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the event with no eligibility

for reimbursement or refund of any type.

 

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other

concerns, please contact MLH using the reporting procedures defined below.

REPORTING PROCEDURES

If you feel uncomfortable or think there may be a potential violation of the code of conduct,

please report it immediately using one of the following methods. All reporters have the

right to remain anonymous.

 

By sending information to the general reporting line, your report will go to any or all of the

MLH representatives listed below.

● North America General Reporting - +1 409 202 6060, incidents@mlh.io

● Europe General Reporting - +44 800 808 5675, incidents@mlh.io

● Asia-Pacific General Reporting - +91 80004 02492, incidents@mlh.io

 

Special Incidents

If you are uncomfortable reporting your situation to one or more of these people or need

to contact any of them directly in case of emergency, direct contact details are listed below.

● Jamie Liao - +1 (929) 263-2137, jamie.liao@mlh.io

● Mary Siebert - +1 (516) 362-1835, mary@mlh.io

● Ryan Swift - +1 (347) 868-6698, ryan@mlh.io

● Nick Quinlan - +1 (510) 859-8578, nq@mlh.io

● Jon Gottfried - +1 (212) 851-6746, jon@mlh.io

● Swift - +1 (347) 220-8667, swift@mlh.io

The rules of the competition



  1. You must treat all team members, competitors, judges, coaches, volunteers, etc, with respect and courtesy, abiding by the yuHacks code of conduct.

 

  1. Hackathon teams will be a maximum of 4 people.

 

  1. All prizes are to be shared between all team members.

 

  1. Teams should be made up exclusively of students who are not organizers, volunteers, judges, sponsors, or in any other privileged position at the event.

 

  1. All team members must verify on yuHacks Discord channel before the Opening Event. 

 

  1. Teams can of course gain advice and support from organizers, volunteers, sponsors, and others.

 

  1. All work on a project should be done during the hackathon. If we think it is likely that you have worked on a project before the hackathon, you will be disqualified. 

 

  1. Teams can use an idea they had before the event.

 

  1. Teams cannot use a project that they have made for a different hackathon at a similar time frame of yuHacks. Your project does not have to be made from scratch, but 

 

  1. Teams can work on ideas that have already been done. Hacks do not have to be “innovative”. If somebody wants to work on a common idea they should be allowed to do so and should be judged on the quality of their hack.

 

  1. Teams can use libraries, frameworks, or open-source code in their projects. Working on a project before the event and open-sourcing it for the sole purpose of using the code during the event is against the spirit of the rules and is not allowed.

 

  1. Teams must stop hacking once the time is up. However, teams are allowed to debug and make small fixes to their programs after time is up. e.g. If during demoing your hack you find a bug that breaks your application and the fix is only a few lines of code, it’s okay to fix that. Making large changes or adding new features is not allowed.

 

  1. Teams can be disqualified from the competition at the organizers’ discretion. Reasons might include but are not limited to breaking the Competition Rules, behaving in a way that violates the yuHacks code of conduct or other unsporting behaviour.

 

  1. Hackers must create a 3 to 5 minute video on demoing their project, and upload their video along with their submission on Devpost.

 

  1. Prizes will be given away only to participants residing in North America.

 

Pitching

 

After hacking finishes, teams will record a video of their pitch to be judged at a later date.

 

Videos should be less than 3 minutes in length and uploaded to YouTube (set on unlisted) with the link emailed to the judges at the contest close.

 

You are encouraged to present what you have done even if your hack is broken or you weren’t able to finish. It’s okay if you didn’t finish your hack—that happens all the time!

 

Judging Criteria

 

Teams will be judged on these four criteria. Judges will weigh the criteria equally. During judging, participants should try to describe what they did for each criterion in their project.

 

  • Technology: How technically impressive was the hack? Was the technical problem the team tackled difficult? Did it use a particularly clever technique or did it use many different components?

 

  • Design: Did the team put thought into the user experience? How well designed is the interface?

 

  • Completion: Does the hack work? Did the team achieve everything they wanted?

 

  • Learning: Did the team stretch themselves? Did they try to learn something new? What kind of projects have they worked on before?

 

These criteria will guide judges but ultimately judges are free to make decisions based on their gut feeling of which projects are the most impressive and most deserving.

 

So don’t worry about coming up with the next big idea or building the next Facebook. You’ll have plenty of time for that outside the hackathon, just focus on learning, having fun, and making new friends. At the end of the day the skills you learn and the friends you make might lead to the next big thing—but you don’t have to do that to win a hackathon.

 

Remember!

The competition is just a part of the hackathon. To make the most out of the event, try something new, teach other people, and make new friends!