CODE OF CONDUCT

APPATHON is a global community student hackathon intended for collaboration and learning in the college student community. We value the participation of each member of the student community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Accordingly, all attendees are expected to show respect and courtesy to other attendees throughout the hackathon. To make clear what is expected, all attendees and speakers at this hackathon are required to conform to the following Code of Conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout the event.

We believe that every single person has the right to hack in a safe and welcoming environment. All Appathon Participants agree to:

  • Be considerate in speech and actions, and actively seek to acknowledge and respect the boundaries of fellow attendees.
  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.

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, sexual images in public spaces, 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. Be careful and mindful of the words that you choose. Remember that exclusionary comments and hacks can be offensive to those around you.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Sponsors, judges, mentors, volunteers, organizers, and anyone else at the event are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, attendees should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material both in their hacks and during the event. Staff (including volunteers and sponsor representatives) should not use sexualized clothing/ uniforms/costumes or otherwise create a sexualized environment.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, Appathon organizers may take any action deemed appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the event. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please report the incident using the procedures below. Appathon representatives will be happy to help participants contact campus security or local law enforcement or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event.

SOCIAL RULES

We are also adopting social rules based on the Recurse Center’s User Manual. These are guidelines for making expected behavior more well-defined. Few people are unkind or annoying to others on purpose, so these social rules help us all to avoid behaviors harmful to a supportive, productive, and fun learning environment.

  • No feigning surprise - Acting surprised when people don’t know something often makes them feel bad and has zero educational benefits.
  • No well-actually’s - A well-actually is when someone explains something in a mostly- correct manner and another person interjects with a minor/irrelevant correction that derails the discussion without helping or clarifying significantly.
  • No back-seat driving - Lobbing advice across tables or intermittently
    injecting yourself into conversations is a distracting interruption. We encourage helping each other out - pair programming is one of the best ways to work and learn - but that means only giving advice when it is wanted, and engaging in active discussions rather than passive tips.
  • No subtle -isms - Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other kinds of bias are harmful, even if subtle or unintended. Subtle -isms are small things that make others feel uncomfortable, things that we all can sometimes do by mistake. For example, saying “It’s so easy my grandmother could do it” is an instance of subtle sexism (not to mention ageism) and should be avoided.

If someone violates these social rules, feel free to point it out to that person, or report it to our volunteers or organizers. If you are the one responsible for breaking a social rule, apologize, and move forward. Multiple violations of these rules may result in a warning, and extremely sustained, repeated, or willful violations may result in expulsion from the hackathon.

REPORTING PROCEDURE

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.

By notifying the Appathon Organizers:

All participants are subject to the Code of Conduct signed upon registration to the hackathon. In addition, participants agree to the following statements:

"I agree to the MLH Code of Conduct"

"I authorize you to share my application/registration information with Major League Hacking for event administration, ranking, and MLH administration in-line with the MLH Privacy Policy. I further agree to the terms of both the MLH Contest Terms and Conditions and the MLH Privacy Policy."

This question is require

TEAM (Recommendation)
As this is an intense one-weekend event. As you’re required to provide an optimal & impactful solution for a real-world problem in the prescribed challenge in a short duration,  you’re usually required to come up with a team of around 2-6 members.

With this in mind, here are the recommendations for team building:

At least one student member who should be a graduate of 2021 batch or graduating not later than 2024 (this way junior/senior level students who have had some design thinking experience are participating).

As the two domains where the business challenges are going to be put up, at least one student would need to have some domain expertise/understanding.  The domains are sustainability and Education technology for this hackathon.

Now, here comes another crucial skill that you’re required to have in one of your team members — Designing!  At least one student designer in the team is recommended.  As Hackathons are majorly concerned with creativity and innovation, worthwhile designing practice is always a must in such events. Indeed, Designers are those individuals who understand & demonstrate things according to the user’s perspective for the solution to the given problem/business challenge. 

At least one member of the team should have some understanding of project management. Without proper project management, presenting the idea and bringing out a  solution to the problem, and explaining it to the jury members would be very difficult.

In short, a good team will consist of:

Senior Leader + Domain Expert + Designer + Project Management skillset!

This team formation should be confirmed before the submission of the projects.  All members of the team must be clearly defined and recorded on Devpost's system before the deadline.  Any member not listed on the official website submission tool risks being not considered part of the submission team. The team lead and Team members should follow a code of conduct as listed below.

All projects must be submitted on the TIE U APPATHON DEVPOST before the submission deadline, late submissions are considered incomplete submissions.

Major League Hacking (MLH) CODE OF CONDUCT:

Be respectful. Harassment and abuse are never tolerated. If you are in a situation that makes you uncomfortable at an MLH Member Event, if the event itself is creating an unsafe or inappropriate environment, or if interacting with a MLH representative or event organizer makes you uncomfortable, please report it using the procedures included in this document. 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. Additional cases of harassment include but not limited to sharing sexual images, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, brigading, doxxing, 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 participating in 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.

 

MLH representatives can help participants contact campus security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance. We expect participants to follow these rules at all hackathon venues, online interactions in relation to the event, hackathon-related social events, and on hackathon supplied transportation.

 

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.

  • Mary Siebert - +1 (516) 362-1835, mary@mlh.io
  • Nick Quinlan - +1 (510) 859-8578, nq@mlh.io
  • Swift - +1 (347) 220-8667, swift@mlh.io

 

MLH 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 MLH by e-mail at hi@mlh.io.

 

FINE PRINT:
Please read the instructions carefully and stay within the guidelines. TiE University reserves the right to disqualify any miscategorized or incomplete entries.

NOTES: If you are selected as a winner and awarded cash prizes and/or an internship and/or access to an accelerator program, please be aware that you are responsible for making the necessary arrangements to commence the opportunity in a timely manner. Once you start your opportunity, it is understood that you will abide by the terms and conditions of the program as required by your host organization.

Furthermore, by participating in the competition, you agree to release and hold TiE University, its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors harmless from any and all losses, damages, rights, and actions of any kind (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) in connection with or resulting from, participation in the competition including—without limitation—personal injuries, death, property damages, and any claims by third parties or otherwise based on publicity rights, defamation, copyright, trademark, invasion of privacy or other violations of law relating to your participation in the competition or its opportunities.