Applications now accepted for Give-Back-Hack

The University of Georgia's first Give-Back-Hack, a 24-hour hackathon dedicated to solving community problems by developing creative technological innovations, will take place April 13. Applications are being accepted through March 25 for participants. The event is sponsored by the New Media Institute at Grady College as part of Thinc. at UGA and funded in-part by the Verizon Wireless Foundation.

An electronic application can be completed by visiting http://mynmi.net/give-back-hack/.

During the Give-Back-Hack, a selected group of 25 students will be teamed up and “locked in” to plan and build systems addressing local Athens issues such as hunger, housing, transportation, and safety, all dedicated to make Athens a better place. The teams will include diverse and dedicated students from a variety of majors offered at UGA ranging from computer science and journalism, to business and art.

Applicants should identify which of five roles they are interested in:

1. Content Producer – responsible for completing anything associated with collecting research and organizing the written components for the presentation.

2. Programmer – the team-techie in charge of coding and anything else that requires advanced technical/computer skills.

3. Visual Designer – responsible for the look and feel of the project, the project presentation and any design needs the team encounters.

4. Team Manager – coordinates with the team members and the organization, and makes sure that the project will be completed on schedule. The manager will also be the main contact with the organizations representative so that questions can be answered throughout the lock-in time period.

5. Strategist – responsible for analyzing the Athens Community/Organization and how the organization could successfully put this new idea/technology into effect. In addition, the strategist should be a flexible worker and help other team members with any tasks they find challenging.

“These individuals, the UGA student social entrepreneurs, should not only be ambitious, driven, and quirky, but they should be dedicated to making Athens and UGA a better place,” said Maggie Taylor, the student director of the Give-Back-Hack. “The event will use all of our knowledge, skills, and creativity to make Athens and UGA a better place.”

Selected teams will present their work in front of industry and academic experts at a seminar on April 14 as part of UGA's Thinc. Entrepreneurial Week. Awards and dedications will be given to the winning Give-Back-Hack project.

The New Media Institute at Grady College is an interdisciplinary certificate program dedicated to exploring the critical, commercial, and creative dimensions of innovative digital media technology, including personal media like mobile, social and gaming

Date: March 18, 2014
Author:  Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu; Maggie Taylor, magtay@uga.edu
Contact:  Maggie Taylor,  magtay@uga.edu