TBTLA

1. Team Formation

• Teams must consist of 2 to 5 participants.

• Solo participation is allowed (if applicable).

• Participants can form teams before or during the hackathon and changes need to be informed to the  board before final submission. 

• Each participant can only be part of one team.

2. Eligibility

• Open to students, professionals, startups, and tech enthusiasts.

• All team members will be listed during registration or after.

3. Project Development Rules

• All code and designs must be created during the hackathon timeframe.

• You may use open-source libraries, APIs, and pre-existing tools, but no pre-built projects.

• Teams must clearly declare any external assets or templates used.

4. Originality & Integrity

• Projects must be original and not previously submitted to other hackathons or used anywhere else. 

• Plagiarism or code theft will result in immediate disqualification.

• AI-generated code or content must be disclosed clearly.

• A POC/MVP should be developed for review/demo.

5. Code of Conduct

• Teams must follow the event’s Code of Conduct, promoting:

• Respectful collaboration

• No actions or presentation should hurt any sentiments to the community

• Zero tolerance for harassment or discrimination

• Honesty and fairness

6. Mentorship & Help

• Mentors will be assigned and teams are allowed to ask mentors for guidance.

• Mentors may help debug or brainstorm but cannot build or write code for teams.

• Mentors may reach out to teams to review code  and understand the status.

7. Checkpoints & Communication

• Teams must register by July 25, 2025 and submit the idea for review by July 25, 2025.

• The final code needs to be submitted to the board by July 27,2025 11:59PM EST.

• The final demo will be held in-person (please contact TBTLA board if this is not possible) on July 30, 2025 in front of judges at the event.

• At least one team member must be present for all communications. 

• Teams may be short listed and notified by July 29th to showcase their product for the final demo during the event. 

8. Submission Requirements

• Teams must submit:

• GitHub repo or code archive for review

• Demo video (2–5 mins, showing working prototype) or a pitch deck, with brief project summary (problem, solution, impact).

• Submission deadline is strict — no late entries accepted.

9. Judging Criteria

• Projects will be evaluated based on:

• Innovation & Creativity

• Technical Execution

• Real-world Impact and social cause

• Presentation & Communication

• Completeness 

10. Ownership & IP

• Teams retain ownership of their project and IP.

• Organizers may showcase project summaries for promotional purposes (with credit).

11. Prizes & Recognition

• Prizes are awarded per team, not per individual except for solo participation. 

12. Disqualification Criteria

• Breaking the Code of Conduct

• Using pre-built projects without disclosure

• Missing mandatory checkpoints or demo sessions

• Submitting after the deadline