HACKFEST 2019 Jabalpur ( Participation Experiance)

TEAM SHY MONSTERS( tapesh first from left)

When I first got into the hackfest website  a rumor surrounded me that I need to be a good programmer in order to participate in such competition, so I consulted my prof. twice on the issue but wasn’t fully convinced on the same. But in the last moment completed the registration,  I totally ignored that I have done anything until at cold night I checked my mail and it was the most exciting moment for me when I got to know that I have been selected , I immediately thought of the two members and called one of them to celebrate the feeling, We reached there on time and were very excited to observe the atmosphere there on entering we saw a big tent arrangement like we have on marriage functions and there chairs were laid on . There we saw many folks like us ,many of them seeing such atmosphere for the first time then all the team leaders went to the registration desk and filled out the form and collected the necessary stuff like id card , gifts like t-shirt , bag for pages , a notebook, a pen etc.

Then there was the announcement for the breakfast which we particularly enjoyed and I began to work on my data collection for my PPT then there were few announcements but we did not get the problem statement till 1. then we discussed about the topic on which our project was based upon and then I again began to work on the project . At about 2 PM we were required to fill the details of our idea and it took about an hour or so because of the poor server we got. Then there was the lunch which was of great quality. Then there was work again then which went up to 6 then we had to make the final ppt presentation. After 6 I was very tiresome and took a half hour rest to reenergize myself. After that, we had a Rock band performance which was very energizing in itself and some energetic peoples had a good dance which I enjoyed from some distance.

Then we had the lunch and again went to the work table when my teammates already working on the PPT, I took the charge and did some work for about an hour or so before my battery was down again. We tried to get a sleeping position using the arrangement of chairs but sleep is that comes that easy and after 1 Am I got up and went outside, there in the cold night with some peoples standing there with coffee and discussing their projects and future life ,I also took the coffee  grazed around then went on to think about my project with my friend and discussing about our project at 1.30Am  it was so professional feeling that I never had before . Then I again went onto the work table went onto PPT and did work for 30 mins. After which I found out that I was not possible to work any further.This time I did not try any sleeping positions, I just laid my head down and kept myself in a rest state.

Time was about 8AM and about 45 mins were left for the final submission and our ppt wasn’t ready at that time our the our friend who held the app prototype work did not finish it up .Then with great speed we completed our work and I then I started to sort out the main points for my verbal presentation when suddenly some official came to us( not a jury member who is supposed to award marks ) and I explained to him our project which he went thoroughly and told me some glitches which made me nervous just before the presentation because I could see the jury member was about to come in 10 min. At this time my team members cheered me up and boosted my confidence, I recollected my main points and then the time came for our presentation, we were given 5 min to explain following features like main problem, theme, business model, vibiltility  etc. I explained them everything but I also got nervous sometime in between but came up with another to remove that. Then they asked a few questions to which I answered but they were not satisfied with my business model as I could provide details of the input cost for my idea. Then he said it’s a great idea and then hand shacked and moved further. It was a tense movement for me but again my friends boosted my morale, I couldn’t figure out whether we could get into top 20 but remained hopeful.

Then there was lunch and then a talk show with jury members about startups which was very informative and encouraging, especially when asked about when it’s a right to leave your job for your startup Mr. Arirudha Ambani said, it should be something which you were doing in part-time but now its not allowing you to sleep then you should leave your job.

Then the top 20 teams were announced few I remember which were

 The game On – app build for for sports enthusiants , helps to find local people who play  sports and also provide venue and sports equipment shop details. Similarly there app based ideas for cardless transcation at ATM, Secured voting machine concept, Employment finder app, app which allows you to donate old stuff or get old stuff , App system which disconnects incoming call  if you are driving . These all got into top 10 and got cash prizes.

The game on got the first prize of 1 lakh rupees. Then we all participants got certificates bestseller on startups by Peter Thiel. Then we went home taking a lot and with resolution to come back next year with more innovative idea for transforming our society.