What is it all about?
A hackathon is an invention marathon. Attendees work in teams of up to 4 people to hack together a prototype to solve a problem. This could be a web app, hardware-hack, or something completely different. Hacking starts around 12 Noon on one day and then finishes at 12 Noon the next. Judging then takes place after this
This year, for the first time, Cambridge Hack was being run as a Hybrid event. Around 300 participants were invited to join in-person at the Corn Exchange and Guildhall for the Event, and 200 joined through Discord.
There were a number of sponsors for the event including Optiver, Marshall Wace, Reply, Black Rock and Huawei. The sponsors also joined Discord to interact with Hackers online.
All the workshops and engagement sessions happened in-person while being live-streamed. Judging for online participants also took place through Discord.
What did Novahub do?
Novahub already has a presence at the Corn Exchange but has always increased capacity by adding extra Access Points to ensure that the WiFi meets the requirements of the organisers. We added extra WiFI Access Points, and also set up a number of switches which participants could plug directly into using patch cables. The WiFi was heavily used as there were close to 400 devices which simultaneously connected during the event, and the internet usage peaked at close to 1Gbps.
What was the Hybrid part all about?
We also provided the set-up for the Hybrid event which included the audio/video streaming equipment. This allowed a live stream video and audio to be run for the full length of the event, and allowed those on Discord to see and hear what was happening in the Corn Exchange.