Connections in the modern world, particularly over the last 18 months, have been made with cables and signals. With our upcoming string of Hackathons, the NEAR Community is set to change that! We’d like to bring people together. Are you ready to support a global network of creators, hackers, and builders around the world?
NEAR is putting together a series of Global Hackathons around the world. The Global Hackathon Series kicks off on August 27th, with 3 major online hackathons and ‘in-person’ events happening around the world. NEAR is offering up to $1 million in prizes and rewards for the Hackathons. More info here: https://metabuidl.splashthat.com.
What is a Hack Node:
Hack Nodes are community-run in-person events in different cities around the world (with one Hack Node per city). These nodes are set to kick off and activate the series of hackathons. Every city is different with its own culture and vibe, and we’d love to see this reflected through your nodes. We want to support multiple nodes around the world, with prizes, rewards and so much more!
APPLICATIONS FOR HACK NODES HERE 
What you get as a registered Hack Node:
- Funding
- Save receipts
- An operations stipend
- For the time and effort of the organizers who put this together
- Per organizer (up to 3) $1000 (in NEAR)
- Prize pool of NEAR tokens for their local hack node based on number of participants
- Bonus: Reward based on the number of developers and creators who attend and participate in your Hack Node’s challenge and event
- Bonus: If you get press mentions, we’d love to give you a bonus
All payouts will be in NEAR tokens and via Hack Nodes DAOs.
| What can NEAR offer? | Up to $X (IN NEAR) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Expenses: Cost of venue rent, wifi, snacks, drinks etc. | $4,000 | |
| Operations: time of a couple of people/partners to mobilize things in a city effectively. | $1,500 | $500 per organizer up to 3 |
| Prize pool of x NEAR for their local hack node | $5,000 | This is the challenge money they can put up to the winners their judges/they select. |
| Registrations Bonus: reward for number of devs/participants/hackers they bring together. | $1,000 | $5 per registration. Node provides us the registration list and list of NEAR names. |
| Press Mentions Bonus: if the Hacknode and/or NEAR get mentioned in local or international publications more than only a name-drop. | $500 | $50 per blog/article up to 10. |
Estimated Timeline
Week
Requirements for a Hack Node:
- Ensure that it’s legally safe to organize gatherings in your city and you provide a friendly, safe (in compliance with local COVID-19 health guidance measures), and productive environment for participants.
- Promote the event to devs and builders from your city.
- 2-3 speakers that can kick off the event with an engaging presentation in the local language. We want to inspire ideas to fuel the participants to hack away!
- Minimum 30 people RSVP in a node and 20 people attend your event.
- Identify venue with WiFi and large screen to show kick-off presentations.
- Arrangements are made for food and drinks with the venue’s permission.
- At least 2 developers to help out the participants, ideally, they would’ve completed the NEAR Certified Developer application.
- The community must be registered as a SputnikDAO and be engaging on the NEAR Governance Forum under the “Global Hackathons” subcategory to post their proposals and receive their funds.
- Social media and event promotion for a minimum of a week leading up to the Hacknode event & including the Hack Node event itself:
- Tweet your application with the hashtags “#NEARHacknode” & tag @NEARprotocol on Twitter, and get as many retweets as possible (selected Hack Nodes will be announced on Twitter).
- Tweet out photos, videos, etc from your Hack node and encourage the attendees to do the same OR share content on the social media platform of your choice.
- Post-event recap blog post + feedback session with the NEAR community team.
Ready to start a Hack Node in your city?
Fill in an application here: NEAR Global Hackathons Series. This application for the MetaBUIDL Hackathon (August 27 - September 11, 2021) will close on August 13th.
Community leaders are still welcome to apply to form a Hack Node for the global hackathons occurring in October and December beyond this date. More information regarding those hackathons to follow.
IMPORTANT: Hack Nodes Activation Timeline
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Week of Jul 26-30: Open Call for Hack Nodes Applications.
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Week of Aug 02-06: Applications reviewed/Applicants contacted.
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Week of Aug 09-13: Hack Nodes confirmed, submit budgets, Set up the Hack-Node DAOs, request promotional collateral, Join Hack Nodes Telegram Group, share your Hack Node Proposal in the Forum for the first payment into the Hack Node DAO.
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Week of Aug 16-20: Your local registration linked promoted in social media, budget review, report on the total number of registration.
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Week of Aug 23-27: AMA for all Hack Nodes, review registrations, and allocation of the second payment.
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Aug 27: Kick-Off event - recorded sessions shared: time to be confirmed
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Aug 28-Sep 11: Hackathon Program
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Sep 12: Closing event (in-person at Hack Nodes activated or Online)
We will schedule two Hack Node AMAs on Aug 23 at 12 CEST and 18 CEST to cover everyone’s time zones.
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FAQ: (updated Aug 11)
- How do I submit for funding?
- Fill out an application first to become a Hack Node and the NEAR Team will be in touch
- You can then expect to follow these steps:
- Write out a proposal under “Create Topic” on the “Global Hackathons” subcategory on the Discourse Governance Forum
- Include as many known and estimated costs as possible (i.e. expenses, operations stipend)
- A NEAR Team member will respond with next steps and let you know when the proposal is ready for you to submit to the CommunitySquad SputnikDAO for a payout
- What is covered in the Expenses?
- We can cover the cost of the venue rental, equipment, food, drinks, etc. Please give us a breakdown of your budget beforehand including your planned prize pool amounts, and we can make it happen.
- Save your receipts!
- What is covered in the Operations stipend and when is it paid?
- Putting a local hackathon in your city can be really exciting and interesting. However, it does take some time and effort. We would like to provide you with a stipend of up to 1,500 USD in NEAR to put this together. We’d highly recommend that you build out a team to help out with all of this, but it’s up to you on how you use this.
- The payout will be post-Hackathon upon submission of the final report and blog post (4 working days from the submission of the Hackathon report).
- When will the Bonuses (Registration & Press Mention) and Prize Pool of NEAR tokens for the Hack Node be paid?
- Before the hackathon, please let us know how many people have registered for the hackathon and if you have any mentors/judges and we’ll work with you on the Prize Pool budget.
- The payout for the Prize Pool and Bonuses will be post-Hackathon upon submission of the final report and blog post (4 working days from the submission of the Hackathon report).
- Is tweeting mandatory and the only factor based on which Hack Nodes will be selected?
- Not at all. We realize that not everyone is on Twitter. However, we would highly encourage you to do it, so that we can gauge the interest from the community. We’d love to amplify your message!
- How it’s going to be promoted?
- We have marketing campaigns to carry out, additionally, we believe in the power of your network to promote it. We can support you with collateral.
- What’s the agenda?
- The kick-off event will have 3-4 speakers and panel. Details will follow.
- What are the tech requirements for the teams?
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Familiarization with Rust language, we are developing a schedule of workshops to walk participants through the basics.
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In terms of helpful hackathon resources, a great start can be the general near docs: Getting Started · NEAR Documentation
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But a way to be guided through materials can be found at the NEAR Learn Club website: NEAR Certified Developer Level 1 - Learn NEAR Club
- How long will the event last in total?
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It is up to the organizers of the Hack Node event to determine how long the event will last (i.e. 2-4 hours depending on the local program)
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The kick-off event starts on 27 Aug, and the hackathon runs through Sep 12. On Sep 12, we will have an online event to close the hackathon, and the winners will be announced in our TownHall.
- What do you want to use the offline location for?
- The offline location is an opportunity for a get-together/have a party. The Node can offer food, drinks, an opportunity to bring teams together, meet and discuss ideas.
- Do judges have to be core guild members or can we select from other professionals that are grounded in development and programming technology?
- Please send us your proposal for Judges, we are happy to review it together.
- For the blog post do they have to be written media or can we use other traditional media like radio and television?
- You can use all media channels, we will be promoting the written content you will produce. We would like to amplify your message where possible.
- Can we get local partners/sponsors to add to the local prize pool?
- Yes, that would be great. We hope that the relevant local partners or sponsors add value to this event and a good partnership is developed.
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More questions? Reach out to community@near.org
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Been looking for London based NEAR Community members for a couple of weeks.
there’s always next time 