Eligibility

Who Can Participate:

  • This hackathon is open to developers, engineers, and technical practitioners aged 18 and older
  • Participants may compete individually or in teams of up to 4 members
  • All team members must register for the event and be present in Culver City during the hackathon
  • TwelveLabs employees and immediate family members of TwelveLabs employees are not eligible to win prizes but may participate for educational purposes
  • Judges, mentors, and organizers may not submit projects for prize consideration

Application Process:

  • This is an application-based event with limited capacity
  • Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis
  • Acceptance notifications will be sent via email
  • Accepted participants must confirm attendance by March 24, 2026

Project Requirements

Eligible Projects:

  • Projects must be built during the hackathon weekend (March 28-29, 2026)
  • You may use pre-existing open-source libraries, frameworks, and tools
  • You may NOT submit projects that were substantially built before the hackathon
  • All code written during the hackathon must be original work by your team
  • Projects must address one of the three official challenge tracks

Use of Existing Code:

  • You may use boilerplate code, starter templates, and open-source libraries
  • You may build upon existing personal projects IF the core functionality addressing the challenge is entirely new
  • If using existing code as a foundation, you must clearly document what was pre-existing vs. built during the hackathon
  • Pre-trained models and public APIs are permitted (including TwelveLabs, AWS, sponsor platforms)

Intellectual Property:

  • You retain all intellectual property rights to your project
  • By submitting, you grant TwelveLabs and sponsors permission to showcase your project in promotional materials (with attribution)
  • Open-source projects are encouraged but not required
  • If you use proprietary datasets or licensed content, ensure you have appropriate permissions

Submission Rules

Deadline:

  • All submissions must be completed by 12:30 PM PT on Sunday, March 29, 2026
  • Late submissions will not be accepted
  • Technical issues are not grounds for extension—submit early to avoid last-minute problems

Required Components:

  • Working demo deployed and accessible online (localhost does not qualify)
  • GitHub repository with source code and documentation
  • Business case document (PDF or Markdown)
  • 3-minute demo video uploaded to DevPost or YouTube
  • All required fields completed in the DevPost submission form

Prohibited Content:

  • Projects containing illegal content, hate speech, or harassment
  • Projects that violate intellectual property rights
  • Projects built primarily before the hackathon start time
  • Plagiarized code or submissions copied from other sources

Judging & Prizes

Judging Criteria: Projects will be evaluated on four dimensions with weighted scoring:

  • Technical Implementation (40%): Search relevance, multimodal understanding, system performance
  • Production Readiness (30%): Interface design, edge case handling, integration potential
  • Business Value (20%): Quantified impact, workflow integration, scalability story
  • Innovation (10%): Novel approaches, extensibility, creative applications

Judging Process:

  • All eligible submissions will be reviewed by the judging panel
  • Top teams will present live to judges (10 minutes: 7-min demo + 3-min Q&A)
  • Judges' decisions are final and binding
  • Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 29 at 4:30 PM

Prizes:

  • Winners must be present at the Awards Ceremony to claim prizes
  • Prize money will be distributed via bank transfer or check within 30 days
  • For team submissions, prize money will be distributed equally among team members unless otherwise specified
  • API credits will be provided to all eligible participants regardless of placement

Disqualification: Submissions may be disqualified for:

  • Violation of hackathon rules or code of conduct
  • Incomplete submissions missing required components
  • Use of prohibited content or plagiarized code
  • Failure to present when selected for live judging
  • Misrepresentation of team member contributions or project timeline

Code of Conduct

All participants, sponsors, judges, mentors, and organizers are required to follow this Code of Conduct. Violations may result in removal from the event without refund or prize forfeiture.

Expected Behavior:

  • Be respectful, kind, and professional in all interactions
  • Welcome participants of all backgrounds, skill levels, and experience
  • Give and receive constructive feedback gracefully
  • Respect others' work, ideas, and intellectual property
  • Follow venue rules and event staff instructions
  • Maintain a safe, inclusive environment for all participants

Unacceptable Behavior:

  • Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination of any kind
  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, religion, or other protected characteristics
  • Inappropriate physical contact or unwelcome sexual attention
  • Sustained disruption of talks, presentations, or other activities
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Photography or recording without consent
  • Advocating for or encouraging any of the above behaviors

Enforcement:

  • Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior must comply immediately
  • Event organizers may take action including warning, expulsion from the event, or disqualification
  • If you witness or experience harassment, contact an event organizer immediately
  • Event staff will be clearly identified with TwelveLabs badges
  • For urgent safety concerns, call venue security or local law enforcement

Reporting:

  • Harassment reports can be made to any TwelveLabs staff member
  • Email: james@twelvelabs.io (James Le, Developer Experience)
  • All reports will be handled with discretion and confidentiality
  • We will take all reports seriously and investigate promptly

This Code of Conduct is based on the Hack Code of Conduct and applies to all hackathon spaces (venue, Discord, social events).

Liability & Safety

Assumption of Risk:

  • Participants attend at their own risk
  • TwelveLabs and event sponsors are not liable for injuries, losses, or damages
  • Participants are responsible for their own equipment and belongings
  • Venue security is provided, but TwelveLabs is not responsible for theft or damage

Health & Safety:

  • Participants must follow all venue safety regulations
  • Report any safety concerns to event staff immediately
  • Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the venue
  • First aid kits available at registration desk

Privacy:

  • By participating, you consent to photography and video recording for promotional purposes
  • Your contact information will be shared with sponsors as indicated during registration
  • You may opt out of promotional materials by notifying organizers
  • Project submissions will be publicly visible on DevPost unless you mark them private

Miscellaneous

Communication:

  • Official event communication will occur via email and the dedicated Discord channel
  • Check Discord regularly for schedule updates, office hours, and technical support
  • Event staff decisions regarding logistics, timing, and disputes are final

Sponsor Engagement:

  • Sponsors may approach teams for recruitment or partnership discussions
  • Participation in sponsor activities is optional
  • Use of sponsor platforms (Baseten, LTX, TrackIt) is recommended but not required for eligibility

Questions: If you have questions about rules or need clarification, contact james@twelvelabs.io before the event or speak with event staff during the hackathon.