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$22,500 UP FOR GRABS

KC'S LARGEST APP BUILDING COMPETITION: SEPT 23-24


PRESENTED BY

As Seen In


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"Hack Midwest
changed my life..."

~ Ben Barreth






Stay updated with the latest Hack Midwest News

What Will You Build?

Are you a developer?

Passionate about building new things?

Join us at KC's largest app building challenge w/ 300+ developers and compete for $22,500 in cash!

It's a great opportunity to get inspired, show your skills and make new friends!

What will you build? Join us Sept 23-24 at Hack Midwest!


UPDATE: We currently are SOLD OUT!! However, we have a waitlist enabled! If you want to apply, and spots open up - we will let you know! Otherwise plan on attending in 2024!
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Watch the video

Prizes

BEST IN SHOW

$10,000 GRAND PRIZE
Presented by H&R Block

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WEB3 CHALLENGE

$5,000 PRIZE
BEST WEB3 - Presented by Pinata

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PINATA CHALLENGE

$2,500 PRIZE

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Pinata ERC-6551 Challenge

$2,500 PRIZE

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OKTA CHALLENGE

$2,500 PRIZE

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GEHA GENERATIVE AI EMERGENCY RESPONSE CHALLENGE


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Chiefs Tailgating Prize Pack consisting of a branded Bluetooth speaker and Chiefs camp chair








Corporate Challenge

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Do your devs have what it takes to compete head to head against top companies?

Enter an official corporate team (or two) and take part in this challenge to win First Place or Runner Up for our Corporate Challenge & get community recognition!

College
Challenge

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Do your CS Students have what it takes to compete head to head against top engineering schools?

Bring student teams and take part in this challenge to win First Place or Runner Up for our College Challenge & get community recognition!










Nintendo Switch

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is Hack Midwest?
    A fast paced app building competition where teams of developers design and build ideas over 24 hours for a chance at thousands in prizes.
  • Hack? I'm in dev, not infosec!
    Relax. In the programming world, "hacker" means something completely different
  • Who Can Attend?
    Are you a software engineer or designer? This is for you!
  • Why should I attend?
    Do you love building things? Do you want to be around other developers who do too? A chance to hone and demonstrate your skills? Learn about tools and new dev patterns? A chance at winning awesome prizes? Join us!
  • What if I don't have a team?
    If you don't have a team, that's ok!! At the start of the hackathon, we make sure to help connect everyone whos not currently on a team! You'll be building new ideas AND making new friends!
  • Where Can I Sleep?

    This is a 24 hour competition. Should you need to rest your eyes, feel free to do so. If you'd like to bring a pillow / sleeping bag, that's ok! There's plenty of room in the venue to take a nap (but no dedicated area for sleeping).

  • Will There Be Food At The Hackathon?

    Yes, there will be food, snacks, beverages provided at the hackathon.

  • What APIs can I use?
    You can use any APIs you want to build your apps, but if you want to compete for some of the prizes you'll need to do one (or more) of those listed challenges.
  • What if I don't have an idea?
    Even the smallest ideas can become something much bigger when presented to other developers, who can improve upon it. But you never know until you try. You could always just be on a team with someone who you think has good ideas and help them build it. You'll be able to meet those kind of people at this event!



Rules

  • Programming Language
    Applications may be built in any code that you please.
  • Fresh Code
    No production assets of any kind can be created until the start of the official competition period illustrated above. This includes "ready to slice" graphic design assets, application code, and user stories / test cases. Some individuals have asked about frameworks and libraries - yes these ARE allowed, but 3rd party only. When in doubt: Plan, don't create.
  • Teams
    Your teams should be comprised of between one and five individuals. You can pre-organize a team or we can try to help you find one at the event. No more than five people are allowed on a team. All participants must be present - no remote developers or teams are allowed.
  • 24 Hours
    Your team has exactly 24 hours to develop a mobile or web based application. After the initial 24 hours are up, you’ll be judged on what you’ve completed. No additional features or bugfixes are allowed during this period, or you will be disqualified.
  • Source Control
    We’ll provide your team with a private Git repository, so we can ensure your code is fresh. As you develop your application, push progress to the assigned repository regularly (“commit early, commit often”) in order to demonstrate progress. Hack Midwest organizers will be observing checkins throughout the event. Don’t be tricky and try to develop your app in its entirety ahead of time, rebasing it and pushing it in at the last minute. Doing so could will get you disqualified. Before the contest ends, you must mark your entry as complete on your assigned Git profile and tag a release of your code with the word ‘HackMidwest’.
  • Ownership and Open Source
    We’re just running a competition here…..so what you do with your source once the competition is over is up to you. We encourage participants to open source the codebase of their applications for the benefit of the community. However, if you choose not to open source your application, well that’s up to you. Please note that the competition organizers will have access to your code base throughout the competition, in order to make sure that no cheating occurs (as outlined previously). We won’t steal anything from you, promise! However, we do reserve the right to use your application’s likeness as a promotion for this or future contest.
  • Pitching Your App (Sunday)
    1. You’ve got 3 minutes to show us what you built and what it does. Make it count! Don't waste time on logins - be signed into your app already.

    2. Tell a short story about the problem and share a couple of reasons why your team built this solution. Perhaps you might get creative – find a way to engage the audience.

    3. Tell us if your app involves specific sponsor challenge(s) or sponsor APIs (Eg you used Twilio API, or built a Fintech app, etc)

    What's an example of a great pitch? Click here to watch this video.

  • Judging
    All judging will occur from the perspective of ‘joe average web jockey’. That is, code quality will not be judged. Your application will be judged based on it’s visible merits, such as: completeness, UI, originality, usefulness. Each judge will be able to rate each application on a scale of one to five (1-5) on these criteria and comment on recommendations / possible enhancements, errors, and other issues that they experienced. Other judges will be able to review these comments. We strongly encourage contestants to use development best practices but in the end judges are expected to rate applications based on their visible merits. Hack Midwest organizers reserve the right to disqualify any team that is believed to be cheating or not competing in the spirit of the competition.
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Stay updated with the latest Hack Midwest News

Who's Hiring?

Learn more about career opportunities from our top sponsors!













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H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation services, financial products, and small-business solutions. The company blends digital innovation with human expertise and care as it helps people get the best outcome at tax time and also be better with money using its mobile banking app, Spruce. Through Block Advisors and Wave, the company helps small-business owners thrive with innovative products like Wave Money, a mobile-first, small-business bank account and bookkeeping solution that manages bookkeeping automatically.













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How many people can say that everything they do during the workday improves people’s lives? It’s exactly what happens at Rx Savings Solutions where we're helping more than 17 million people find lower-cost options for their prescription drugs. People come first at RxSS, whether it’s the members we serve or our rapidly growing team

RXSS Careers


Full Stack Software Engineer


Senior Software Engineer - API/Backend


Senior Software Engineer - Mobile Team


Software Engineer - API/Backend


Senior Software Engineer - Full Stack - R&D Team



Ascend Learning products, from testing to certification, are used by frontline healthcare workers, physicians, emergency medical professionals, nurses, certified personal trainers, group fitness instructors, financial advisors, skilled trades professionals and insurance brokers.

Ascend Learning Careers


Senior Software Engineer


Senior Software Engineer


Senior Software Engineer


UI/UX Engineer


Senior Software Engineer









FNBO is the great big, small bank and for more than 165 years, we've been with you where you are. Our purpose is to improve the financial wellbeing of our customers and ensure the success of all the communities we call home. We firmly believe that for a community to be strong, every individual must also have the resources and opportunities to succeed. Are you looking for the opportunity to do challenging and meaningful work in an environment that encourages ongoing learning, development and career growth?

FNBO Careers

Solution Architect


Senior Front-End Developer, React Native


Senior Cloud Platform Engineer Bend by FNBO


Sr. Developer


Director Delivery Management – Digital/Online Banking




Spring Venture Group is a leading digital direct-to-consumer sales and marketing company with product offerings focused on the senior market. We specialize in distributing Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage, and related products via our family of brands and dedicated team of licensed insurance agents. Powered by our unique technologies that combine sophisticated marketing, comparison shopping, sales execution, and customer engagement – we help thousands of seniors across the country navigate the complex world of Medicare every day.

Spring Venture Group Careers

Mid Level Software Engineer


Machine Learning Engineer


Devops Engineer II


Salesforce Developer










SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, we have offices around the world. Some 18,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world's largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale and technology. If you have a desire to work for one of the fastest growing global companies where you are encouraged to innovate and make a difference, we have amazing opportunities for you.

SS&C Careers


Software Engineer


Software Engineer


Data Engineer


Lead Software Engineer


Security Site Reliability Engineer









At the Kansas City Fed, our work serves the nation. We are involved in building the technology that supports the nation’s economy – from banking supervision to the payments system. Our people identify, build, and lead innovative solutions to support the economic and financial stability of our nation. Learn more at kansascityfed.org.

IT Support Specialist




Join the team that supports our members in their mission to protect consumers and effectively regulate the insurance sector.

Software Engineer III



At Jack Henry, we know we are better together. We value, respect, and protect the uniqueness each of us brings. Innovation flourishes by including all voices and makes our business—and our society—stronger.

C# Software Engineer


At Tyler, we imagine a world where all city, county, and regional government services are connected within a healthy digital infrastructure. Connecting data, processes, and people makes communities safer, smarter, and more responsive to the needs of residents.

Software Engineer






Shamrock Trading Corporation is the parent company for a family of brands that began in 1986 as a freight brokerage serving agricultural and commodity shippers. Over the past three decades, we have expanded to serve our customer’s growing needs. We now provide services and solutions to trucking companies across the nation and globally that include transportation logistics, financial services, diesel discount programs, and computer software.

Data Engineer







Schedule


Event Location
Lightwell
1100 Main St
Kansas City, MO 64105 (MAP)





Saturday, September 23rd

10:00AM - Registration

10:30AM - Kickoff

11:30AM - 12:00PM - (OPTIONAL) Okta Workshop:
Add authentication to your apps using passkeys : Save time and never build auth again by having Okta manage your users' authentication flow. Join as we implement passwordless security into your Saas App using a secure Identity Provider and unlock the secret to bonus points for the Okta challenge!


12:00PM - 12:30PM- (OPTIONAL) Pinata Workshop: learn the basics of WEB3, IPFS, NFT's, Pinata's cloud platform and gain valuable resources to start building


12:30PM - Lunch

3:30PM - Break

5:30PM - Dinner

7:30PM - Evening Break



Sunday, September 24th

08:00AM - Breakfast Break

10:00AM - Hackathon Ends!

10:30AM - App Demos Begin

12:00PM - Winners Announced