Life Lessons Learnt From Heading a Hackathon

By Wei Chun Chew

Flashback to four months ago when the business association I was volunteering for mentioned the idea of running a hackathon alongside their annual business forum, the "hackathon seed" was planted. Appointed to co-lead the hackathon segment with one of the member of the 6-team strong core committee, I had no idea what I was signing up for.

No one in the team had experience organizing a hackathon; I was the only one who had participated in a couple of it and that's all! All we knew was that it would be cool to organize one. We challenged the conventional weekend hackathon model and settled for a hybrid hackathon-case challenge that lasted for a week. We had 6 case sponsors from various industry crystalize their operational issues into problem statements for participants to challenge. Boy oh boy, it was one heck of a 4 months I had! I probably would have never agreed to it knowing how soul-destroying it was. But still, there are some lessons that I had learnt and wish to impart to you:

Life Lesson 1: Always Take Promise with a Pinch of Salt

People can promise you this and that but at the end of the day, they own you nothing. They are not obliged to do what was promised, neither are you allowed to enforce it. It all boils down to the fact that business is business, mutual benefit is mutual if he or she benefits it more than you. Unless written in black and white, never take promises for granted. Always take things with a pinch of salt and do not hold grudges if promises don't actualize. This leads to my second life lesson: Plan ahead of your planned plan

Life Lesson 2: Plan ahead of your Planned Plan

Plan plan plan. Period. I can't stress enough the importance of planning, for I have failed terribly for failing to plan out a contingency plan. When things go wrong, it will snowball until you are able to grab a hold of it or have someone experienced enough to bail you out (Trust me, I have been there, done that.)

Even if you have planned out well enough to pass the eyes of the experienced, Murphy's Law (What goes wrong, will go wrong) never fails to foil your plan. Always make the effort to draft out Plan B, or even Plan C for it may be your life savior in the event of a fallout.

Life Lesson 3: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Organizing a hackathon is tough enough. Opting out of the tradition hackathon model and doing something new is even tougher considering that every "How to Organize a Hackathon" or "Hackathon 101" guide became a reference rather than a template. What's more, our hackathon was divided into "Student" and "Open Category", adding another layer of complexity in a bid to appeal to a larger audience. My unwillingness (or rather, inability) to delegate work caused me countless nights drafting letters and emails, planning the program and corresponding with sponsors.

Hence, even if you feel guilty delegating work or prefer to do it yourself because you THINK you can do a better job, make the conscious effort to delegate available tasks on hand to your committee. They are there for a reason and delegating work will go a long way in keeping you sane and well rested.

Life Lesson 4: Learn to Fight Alone

There will be moments when you don't get the help you have expected (Linking back to lesson 1, don't take promises for granted). There were moments when I thought to myself: "What am I doing all these for? Why did I trust him/her? Could I be doing something more meaningful?" While I was fortunate to co-lead the hackthon with my mentor, he is no superman or hackathon guru. You will definitely come to a point when burnout sets in and you feel helpless and hopeless. It's these moments that your actions define you. Push on and make it count.

Life Lesson 5: Be Prepared to be Disappointed Again and Again

Despite all the hard work that you put in, things will never go according to plan. Remember the unyielding Murphy's Law? This is why you always plan ahead of your planned plan. Empty promises, backing out in the last minute,, failure to deliver; you name it, I've experienced it.

Other than disappointment in others, you will be disappointed in yourself. Zero experience is often my "Get Out of Jail, Free" card for any blunders I've made, but it is by no means an excuse for everything. Time after time I was disappointed in myself for failing to meet the demands and execute what was expected. It is as if success just happens to be beginner's luck. But trust me, your luck gets better after a few rounds of failures.

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done" -Rocky Balboa

Life Lesson 6: Don't Strive for Perfection. Instead, Strive for Completeness

When one has seemingly an endless list of things to do, never try to do things perfectly. Instead, aim to check it off and move on. I am a self-proclaimed perfectionist, or even borderline OCD: I would proofread my drafts a couple times, send it to others and proofread it again! In the weeks leading up to the hackathon when time is of the essence, such a behavior is unwarranted.

Start with the end goal in mind and aim for practicality. Make a couple revisions, make sure that what you are doing achieves what you have set out to do and move on; no point lingering around just to make it perfect.

Life Lesson 7: Just Do It

Don't wait for things to happen, cause everyone in the team is going to think the same way. Instead, take the initiative to just do it. This is human nature- no one wants to do the dirty work when they have 'better' things to do. Things will not work out on its own. If it does, that's because someone did the hard work, not some fairy who waved his or her magic wand and things magically get done.

One thing to note is that be prepared to spend a heck lot of time learning new stuff. I have spent countless hours searching for templates and drafting letters to for the sponsors and participants. It was a steep learning curve learning how to integrate the various aspects of a hackathon (sponsors, food, venue, participants, logistics etc... ) and ensuring that things fall in place seamlessly on the actual day.

Life Lesson 8: Know Your WHY

In overall, the hackathon was a success despite all the hiccups along the way. At the end of the hackathon finals when everyone was having a great time celebrating, I saw their smiles and laughters. It took me a good couple of minutes to register and soak it all in but that's when I realized: I found my WHY.

The hackathon was more than just an event for participants to compete against one other for the cash prizes. It was an event that brought together people from all walks of life and having them plant an idea in someone. It was bringing friends who are often busy with their own stuff together and having a fun time. It was seeing the smiles of everyone who had attended and gained something out of this event. For me, it was seeing the hackathon seed grow and come to fruition; and I was fortunate to have grown alongside the hackathon to be a better organizer, a better friend and best of all, a better individual.

Thanks to everyone who have made this event possible. #hackathon #noregrets

Find out what I have learnt from heading a Hackathon!

FAQs - Social Confrontations and How to Deal With Them

By Eby M

In what follows, an expert and fully qualified martial arts practitioner will answer some questions on social confrontations.

Where do social confrontations typically occur?

In the vast majority of cases, alcohol is usually involved. By definition that means that they typically take place in clubs, pubs, discos and in their immediately surrounding areas, as people are coming or going to these venues.

Less commonly, they can happen in the street or on public transport when, for whatever reason, someone or a group of people start to behave aggressively towards others around them.

What are the causes?

There is an almost infinite number of potential causes, although alcohol and so-called "recreational drug" use are often common denominators in unacceptable social behaviours.

Assuming we discount things such as feuds and settling of outstanding grudges between people, most spontaneous confrontation tends to occur in situations such as:

a male is out to try and prove something about what he believes to be his "virility" by challenging another man in the vicinity;

again, typically a male has interpreted the actions of another man as being unacceptable and is over-reacting. Examples there typically include things such as "don't look at my girlfriend mate";

a trivial problem (e.g. accidentally knocking someone's drink over) results in someone losing control due to them having fundamental behavioural problems such as anger management issues;

sadly, there is some evidence to suggest that certain individuals just simply enjoy fighting, bullying and intimidating others - and they will seek to do so under any circumstances whatsoever. They need no justification before starting.

Are these situations always ones that involve men?

Although confrontation with the threat of violence is far more commonplace when males are together in public places, it is by no means restricted to them alone.

Although once considered, possibly incorrectly, to be extremely rare behaviour in females, physical and threatening confrontation in public places is now much more commonly seen in women than was once the case.

Don't such social confrontations almost always result in physical violence?

No.

The good news is that there are techniques that can be adopted that will help to defuse such situations and stop them spilling over into actual physical violence. They're very frequently successful.

However, the bad news is that such techniques don't always work. An angry verbal confrontation can switch into violence with virtually zero notice.

Should I just walk away from a confrontation?

It is extremely difficult to give specific advice in a general context here. For example, there is a very big difference between spotting a potential confrontation before it arises and finding yourself being confronted.

In the former, walking away is a very smart idea.

In the latter, a lot more depends upon your assessment of the situation. In some situations, it might still be possible to quietly walk away but in others, that may simply be an invitation for the other party to attack you.

There are certain positions and body postures you can adopt once you are already being confronted, that are typically not interpreted as challenging to the other party but which show you are not likely to be a pushover should the other person be considering violence.

Why do so many people advocate martial arts self-defence training?

However much we may intellectualise this subject and wish the world were otherwise, it is a fact of life that there are people out there who are violent or have a strong conscious inclination towards being so.

There are also even larger numbers of people in life who struggle to control their temper and anger, with the end result being that they are liable to uncontrolled acts of aggression.

It's critically important to recognise that you cannot always control the circumstances under which an initial confrontation becomes violent. Some people are perfectly capable of resorting to violence with absolutely no provocation on your part whatsoever.

In such situations, reason and discussion suddenly have no place in what happens next.

If you are forced to try and defend yourself from a physical attack, it's best if you have some form of martial arts skills and training in order to ensure that you and those with you are not injured. Note this is not about "winning" or defeating the aggressor - it's about keeping you and those you're with safe.

That is why there is such emphasis today on martial arts training for self-defence purposes.

Sometimes we caught in critical and violent situation, where we are forced to defend ourselves from a physical attack. WAIMA is one of the best institute in Western Australia who provides    self-defence classes and    martial arts classes for kids and adults.

SERVICE: The Basis For Leading

By Richard Brody

If one would have to choose, one specific item, which differentiated, pseudo - leaders, from those, who are truly leading, in a relevant, sustainable, meaningful manner, it would be, the latter individuals, focus on providing the highest level of true SERVICE! Stakeholders, generally, are either inspired and motivated, or turned - off, and disillusioned, by whether their leader, focuses on them, and their needs, goals and priorities, as opposed to the pseudo - leader's personal agenda, and/ or self - interest! With that in mind, this article will briefly consider, discuss, and review, using the mnemonic approach, why this concept, and action, is most relevant and significant.

1. System; sustainable solutions: How can anyone provide a difference, for the better, if he fails to proceed, to perceive and conceive of, create, develop and implement, a relevant, reliable system, focused on truly, sustainable solutions?

2. Empathy; emphasis: The key, to being capable of providing relevant, significant service, in the best interests of the organization, and stakeholders, is proceeding, with the utmost degree of genuine empathy! One must be ready, willing, and able to effectively listen, and learn from every conversation and experience, and proceed, to place his emphasis,. based on this knowledge and understanding!

3. Relevant; realistic; reasoning: How can anyone serve others, unless/ until, he prioritizes relevant needs, etc, and proceeds, in a well - considered, realistic way? When someone develops this degree of well - defined, understanding and reasoning, those he serves and represents, generally, benefit!

4. Views; value; values: A leader's views must align, with those he serves and represents, if he is to make a difference, for the better! Clearly demonstrating the value provided, by the organization, in a way, which focuses on serving their values, makes the group, and constituents, better, and stronger!

5. Integrity; imagination; intentions: Examine a potential leader's intentions, and who, he focuses on! Quality leaders proceed, with the utmost degree of relevant imagination, combined with maintaining absolute integrity, even when there might be a path of least resistance, which might seem simpler and the best approach!

6. Character; clever; creative: When one maintains the quality of character, where he is clever, enough, to perceive and conceive of, the needs and priorities, while having the ability, to make a difference for the better, the organization and stakeholders, benefit! This, often, requires, someone, creative, enough, to consider, options, alternatives, and the best paths, to choose!

7. Enrich; endurance; excellence: The over - riding focus, needed to be a quality leader, must be, to enrich the experiences of stakeholders, while maintaining the endurance, to persist, when lesser individuals, fail to be able to do so! A real leader must demand his highest degree of personal excellence!

Quality, relevant, focused SERVICE, is essential to relevant leading! Will you maintain that focus and commitment?

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, Director of Development, consultant, professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website http://plan2lead.net and Plan2lead can also be followed on Facebook http://facebook.com/Plan2lead

PREPARED Leaders Are The Most Effective

By Richard Brody

Doesn't it seem, at least, somewhat, odd, and confusing, we, simultaneously, are challenged, finding quality, effective leaders, yet, when we identify these individuals, few are ready, willing, and/ or able, to do what's necessary, to be, as PREPARED, as possible, to make a difference, for the better, for those, they should be leading, in a relevant, significant, meaningful way? After more than four decades of involvements in nearly every aspect of leadership, from identifying, qualifying, training, and developing, to consulting, and serving as a leader, in a variety of different types and sizes of organizations, I have become convinced, nothing positive happens, unless/ until, a leader prepares thoroughly and properly, so he is positioned to make well - considered decisions, based on effectively learning, as much as possible, and consistently learning, from every experience and conversation. With that in mind, this article will attempt to briefly consider, review and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, some of the requisite components, of effectively learning, based on quality, relevant preparation.

1. Priorities; perceptions: How must a leader, know, what the true priorities of his organization, might be, and, thus, be prepared to act accordingly? When one studies the history, heritage, mission and vision of the group and its stakeholders, and proceeds, to pay keen attention, to what's going on, including the strengths and weaknesses, he becomes capable, of proceeding, in the best possible manner! A true leader is wise - enough, to recognize the perceptions of his constituents, and address them, in a relevant, inspiring, motivating manner.

2. Relevant: Quality leadership requires proceeding, in a relevant way, rather than merely acting in some, haphazard, or mis - guided manner!

3. Empathetic; emphasis: Prepared leaders, begin, by being truly empathetic, and placing their emphasis, on the needs, concerns, priorities, goals and perceptions, in a focused manner!

4. Planning: What differentiates quality leaders, from the rest - of - the - pack, is, often, their commitment and ability, to proceed, with the finest degree of effective leadership planning, and proceeding accordingly!

5. Attention; attitude; aptitude: One must begin, by paying keen attention, to the realities and perceptions, and aligning them, in the best interests, of the organization, and stakeholders. One must proceed, with a true, can - do, positive attitude! However, until/ unless, this is accompanied with the development of a well - developed, relevant aptitude, and skill - set, the group will rarely, become, the best, it can possibly be!

6. Reasoning; realistic; rationale: Becoming properly prepared, requires, a combination of, being willing to be realistic, while articulating your rationale, so others, become inspired by your reasoning!

7. Endurance; energize: How will you maintain the necessary degree of endurance, to continue to persist, in the best way, in order to energize others, to become more committed, and involved?

8. Delve deeply; deliver: One must go beyond their own surface observations, and be willing to delve deeply, if they hope to make a real difference, for the better! This must focus, on delivering, beyond expectations, consistently!

How will you ensure, you are consistently PREPARED, to make a significant difference, for the better, in the best interests of your organization, and stakeholders? Will you be up to the task and responsibilities of effective leadership?

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, Director of Development, consultant, professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website http://plan2lead.net and Plan2lead can also be followed on Facebook http://facebook.com/Plan2lead

Android Phone - Unveiling the Hidden Features

By Rizvana Manzoor

Are you an Android phone user, but are unaware of most of the features it provides? Do you want to discover safer and interesting features on your phone? Go through this article to know some of the Android tips and tricks, which will be useful for you.

Most of the people in the present world use Android phones daily, for calling, messaging and more. Android is the mobile operating system, which most of the phone manufacturing companies use in their phones. There are lots of features, rather than calling and messaging to be examined. Explore the hidden features and many time-saving tricks in your gadget.

The basic problem, a phone user face, is the battery issues. Most of the Android phones have an inbuilt power strip option, which when activated, provides faster disconnection of all the phone 's battery thus killing the applications. Another feature is that, you can be the developer of your own phone settings. Go to the 'Settings', select 'About phone' option and tap seven times on your phone's 'Build number'.

An onscreen countdown will be shown on the screen, which will be followed by a command telling that you are now a developer and 'Developer option' will be shown just above the 'About phone' option.
This 'Developer option' can be utilized well to reduce the lagging of your Android phone as well.

By reducing the 'Window animation scale', 'Animator duration scale' and 'Transition animation scale' in 'Developer option', from 1x to 0.5x, your phone may actually feel faster than before. Now you can get a grip on those annoying app notifications by long pressing on the notification of the app, on notification bar, which will show an information icon on the right corner. Tapping on this icon gives you option to prioritize your notifications. You can block unwanted apps, hide private information or select priority mode for most prior app.

To zoom in and out your Google maps while driving, all you need to do is a just double tap on the spot and swipe upward or downward. This tip will help you to avoid the problem of pinching your phone screen while managing your phone to stay in place, all while driving.

Nowadays kids use their parents' phone more frequently. To keep away your kids from getting into unsafe games, adult contents or accidental access to your bank, this feature will be of great help. Go to 'Setting' then to 'Security' and enable the 'Screen pinning' option. Open the app you wish to pin and protect, then press the overview button to pin the app.

Another interesting feature is the inbuilt games on the Android phones. In 'Settings', select 'About phone' and tap several times on the device's 'Version number' to get this feature.

Android phones are full of surprises for those who want to explore and know more about them. Try and enjoy these features on your own. Find the products that best suits your needs at   JohnAlexPro.