The countdown to the end of the 2013 Shutterstock hackathon is upon us. By noon, everyone will upload their final projects to the server and prepare for the big demo this afternoon.
To complete their tasks, some team members stayed late or worked through the night. This morning, teams gathered back together for updates on where their projects stood. All things considered, the mood in the office has been relatively calm, but that's sure to change as we draw closer to the finish.
While some developers complete the necessary coding, other team members have transitioned over to getting their slides, charts, data, and videos together for the afternoon demo. Most teams have split up the work to maximize efficiency on both the tech and the marketing sides of the operations.
One team told me that they recruited a new member at 4:30 a.m. to come aboard as the spokesperson to present their product. Around the same time, in a nearby room, another team was sketching out with pen and paper a better prototype for their hack. Through the long and tiring process of building it, they discovered ways to make it even better.
Among those who hunkered down through the night, they say there were more people onsite than in previous years. It provided them with a warm atmosphere from which to draw both ideas and late-night ice-cream recommendations.
One engineer said that hackathons aren't the only occasions where he pulls all-nighters. He likes taking the time every so often to crank out a project to completion. He's showing off his latest creation to a group of his peers this morning and getting feedback for some last-minute tweaks.
A few teams acknowledged that they had to scale back on what they hoped to accomplish inside of the 24-hour period, having bit off more than they could chew under such tight time constraints. For some, this is just the beginning. Only a few teams will be crowned winners in different categories, but everyone is invited to continue to push for and work on their hackathon projects beyond the two-day event.
The demo portion of the day welcomes stakeholders to impress not only the judges, but also their peers. Arguably the most valuable category of the contest is called "People's Choice," where audience members get to vote for their favorites.
Keep up with the Hackathon on Twitter and Instagram by following @Shutterstock and #Hack2013!
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