Judge solutions that change lives.

Nope! But here's the key detail: please arrive by 2pm on the final day. Judging starts promptly at 3pm, so arriving by 2pm gives you time to find parking, grab a coffee, meet the other judges, and get situated before things kick off. 🎯

Beyond that, you've got flexibility:
• Check the hackathon schedule to understand the overall flow
• Feel free to drop by earlier and chat with participants
• Just keep individual team interactions to about 3 minutes max before judging - these hackers are in the zone!

One important note: unless your company is sponsoring, please don't recruit or ask for resumes during the event (save that for after!). ⏰

Great question! Here's why in-person judging matters so much to us: 🏛️

Live demos tell the full story. Watching a team demo their product in real-time — with all the nerves, live debugging, and spontaneous pivots — reveals far more than a polished screen share ever could. You see the real product, not the highlight reel.

You can feel the team dynamics. Being in the room lets you observe how teammates collaborate, support each other, and handle pressure. These soft skills matter enormously for social impact work.

Conversations go deeper. Face-to-face Q&A creates natural back-and-forth dialogue. You can ask a team to pull up their code, test the app yourself, or dig into their architecture — all in real time.

Fairness across all teams. When every judge evaluates every team under the same conditions — same room, same energy, same time constraints — the playing field is truly level.

You become part of the experience. Judges who are physically present absorb the energy of the event. You see the sleep-deprived dedication, the last-minute breakthroughs, and the pride when teams present. That context makes your feedback more meaningful and your scores more informed.

What about virtual hackathons? We typically run online-only hackathons during the summer, and virtual judging works great for those! But when teams have committed to building together in-person for an entire weekend, having judges physically present honors that commitment and ensures the most authentic evaluation possible. 💻🤝

Great question! Here's your judge prep checklist: 📋

• Review this page thoroughly (you're already crushing it!)
• Watch our orientation video and confirm you've watched it
• If it's a weekend hackathon, you can start reviewing projects as early as Sunday morning on both DevPost and GitHub
• Find the links for teams you'll be judging at the judge dashboard

Pro tip: Come caffeinated and ready to be amazed by what these teams build! ☕

All the logistics you need are on the specific hackathon event page! 🗺️

Each event has its own travel guide, recommended hotels, parking info, and local tips. We've got you covered with all the details to make your judging experience smooth.

We'll hook you up with a private Slack channel just for judges! 💬

You'll get the invite in your welcome email about 3 weeks before the event. It's where you can ask questions, coordinate with other judges, and get real-time updates. Judge headquarters - but with more emoji and definitely more fun.

We aim to get back to you within a week! 📬

Because we get so many amazing judge applications (seriously, you all rock!), we review them in batches weekly. You'll get an email either confirming your spot or respectfully declining.

If we're at capacity for judging, definitely consider mentoring instead - it's remote-friendly and equally impactful!

Absolutely! 🎬

Here's the TL;DR: We typically run one major in-person hackathon each year around October (perfect timing for internship season and fall graduation). It's a well-oiled machine designed to create maximum impact for nonprofits while giving participants an incredible experience.

Not at all! We welcome everyone. 🌟

We've seen bootcamp grads, seasoned professionals, high schoolers, and college students all collaborating beautifully. In Arizona specifically, about 70% are students from ASU, University of Arizona, GCU, UAT, Maricopa Community Colleges, and other local schools.

The diversity of backgrounds and experience levels is what makes the magic happen!