What’s Going On At Local Hack Day: Build?
By: Emily Akers
Tags: Computer Science, Local Hack Day, Major League Hacking, Hackathons, Coding

Hi friends,

We are shaking things up a bit for Local Hack Day: Build and wanted to make sure we can answer your questions before you need to ask.

What is Local Hack Day: Build?

Local Hack Day: Build is a week-long celebration of creating hacks both big and small. Choose between daily and week-long challenges that vary in difficulty, so whether this is your first time coding or you’re a seasoned expert, Build has something for you. The more challenges you conquer, the more points you’ll earn. Tune in each day to check out the leaderboard and show off all that you’ve built.

You can sign up right now!

What are these Challenges?

Local Hack Day: Build will run from Sunday, January 10th to Monday, January 18th. During this time, you can expect challenges for all skill levels. These challenges can be completed on your own time, and new ones will be released each day via email and on the live site! Once the daily challenges are announced, you’ll have 24 hours to complete and submit them in order to earn those points on the leaderboard.

If the daily challenges aren’t quite your speed, there will also be plenty of week-long challenges you can complete at any time. These will range from quick technical challenges to tasks you can complete with your guildmates, both beginner-friendly and technically advanced so there is something for everyone.

How do I earn points and swag?

Earn points for yourself and your Guild by completing our challenges throughout Local Hack Day: Build. Points are rewarded based on both your participation and completion of challenges throughout the week of Local Hack Day: Build. These range from daily challenges to week-long challenges which can be as simple as posting on your social media or as advanced as completing a workshop and building a hack.

We have some seriously cool swag up our sleeves for Local Hack Day: Build and we’ve made it simpler than ever for you to earn it. It all starts with checking in to events. Whether it’s a workshop or just the day of the event, you can earn tons of stickers to deck out your laptop, postcards, and more.

Everyone who checks in and completes a single challenge will receive:

An MLH Sticker

An Ellie Season Sticker

A Local Hack Day: Build Hexagon Sticker

A Thank You Postcard

If you check in each day, you will receive:

What is a Guild? How can I be a part of it?

One of the best parts of our community is that it allows people to meet and make connections with others, regardless of where you live. Guilds are smaller communities within Local Hack Day. Whether you come in with a Guild or not, you won’t be hacking alone. Those who don’t already have a Guild will be assigned to a randomly generated one where you can meet hackers from around the world and complete challenges together.

I want to form a Guild. What does that entail?

One of our favorite parts of Local Hack Day is the Guild system. Form one of your own to hack alongside your friends and fight for a spot on the leaderboard. Who wouldn’t want bragging rights for having one of the most active guilds within the MLH community?! Every time you complete a challenge during the week of Local Hack Day: Build, you’ll earn points for your Guild. There’s strength in numbers so it’s important to spread the word and we are here to help by providing you with pre-made marketing templates and this blog post with tips on marketing (#4 specifically). Use these templates to share the excitement with your club, friends, and local hackers! The more members you have, the more points you’ll get and the faster you’ll climb your way up the leaderboard.

Starting a Guild is as easy as filling out a form. Make sure to get yours registered before it’s too late!

If you have any further questions, we are happy to answer them. Please email [email protected] and expect a response in 2–3 business days.