Manila Digital Hackathon 2016 Experience

I was fortunate to be one of the 25 participants of Manila Hackathon 2016. :)

The Digital Halo-Halo Hackathon is a unique creative competition sponsored by Facebook and Affinis Labs. This competition creates innovative digital stories, online campaigns, initiatives and content that will strengthen digital literacy of Filipinos and promote positive online engagement and dialogue. The winning team will receive initial funding, mentorship, support and press for their project.

The competition is also a special, unique event that celebrates the Philippiness' rich, celebrated tradition of storytelling and promotes digital literacy and respectful online engagement. Specifically, carefully selected teams imagine and create new digital stories and online campaigns that highlight the strength of Filipino diversity and promote peace. The event brings the nation's brightest talents together for a three-day festival of thought turned into a call for action.

NOV 24 (Thursday) 
Teams attend a public workshop to learn best practices from professionals at Facebook and AJ+, as well as local tech superstars.

NOV 25 (Friday)
During this day, teams develop their projects in a fast-paced competition.

This is the most exhausting day for me. Haha. We were divided into groups and had 30 hours to come up with a project. Yes. Only 30 hours. Haha. I remembered one of my favorite movies, Intership. :) 

Hi from my teammates. :)

Everyone's busy. HAHA. :)

From different problems we have listed and discussed, we zeroed in with the NEGATIVE STIGMA AND HASTY GENERALIZATION ABOUT MINDANAO. It took us a hard time in the screening process incorporating the input from the Hackathon expert facilitators. Then we conceptualized ideas that will help solve the problem and we came up with PROJECT 97 - Sarimanok: The Homecoming. We are truly grateful to have seasoned startup mentors from various business fields who helped us refine, improve and strengthen the proposed solution to the identified problem.

Project 97 – Sarimanok: The Homecoming aims to build a POSITIVE IMAGE in Mindanao through digital literacy. We will start in Marawi City with the zip code 9700 – the basis of Project 97. Why Marawi City? It is because of the following reasons: It is the only Islamic City in the Philippines. It is the capital city of the province of Lanao del Sur. It is where Kilometer 0 – “the original reference point of all roads in Mindanao” is located and it is where the majestic Lake Lanao is situated – the major source of water flowing in Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City with hydroelectric powerplant serving the electric power needs in Mindanao.

Why Sarimanok: The Homecoming? Because it is closely linked to the HOME OF SARIMANOK which is Marawi City. It is a very significant cultural symbol for the Maranaos and is a common traditional motif that is used especially in royal occasions such as enthronement, kalilang and weddings. Ask a Maranao kid raised in Lanao and he will readily recognize the Sarimanok image in their everyday life. While it has become ubiquitous because of the various interpretations and usage in the Philippines, Sarimanok to Maranaos is more than just a beautiful palette of different colors – it is their cultural symbol and cultural capital.

Description was written by: Sir Richard Celeste. :)

Our Mentors. :)

NOV 26 (Saturday)
Teams pitch their projects to see who comes out on top.

Our team spokesperson, Sir Richard. :)

We pitched our projects live on Facebook and were critiqued by 7 judges namely:

1. Mikko Barranda of Acceler8
2. Abe Olandres of yugatech.com/nuffnang.com.ph
3. Chairell Winston Almendras of Wyeth Philippines
4. Annalyn Jusay Zoglmann of annalyn.net
5. Jos Ortega of Havas Media Ortega
6. Ellen Tordesillas of http://ellentordesillas.com
7. Maria Ressa of Rappler

Source: Rappler

I would like to thank my team, Project97 for an awesome experience I had. I will never forget you all. I'm actually having separation anxiety. Haha. :)

Also to City Garden Hotel Manila for our stay. It exceeded my expectations. 5/5 Pogi Points. :) Will definitely have a staycation, again. By the way, enjoyed their buffet. :)

View of Makati City from City Garden Hotel. :)