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Hackathon @ The Rink
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Victoria Tech Night Hackathon
Work with real data to solve real problems for a real hockey franchise. Think fan experience, game-day logistics, and behind-the-scenes arena operations. The winning team is announced during the second intermission.
Date: Friday, February 27, 2026
Venue: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Format: 40 builders, teams of 2
What to Expect
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This hackathon is designed for teams of two. You can register with a partner, or sign up solo and be matched with another participant at the event.
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Teams work closely with their own members, supported by experienced facilitators and judges throughout the event.
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Expert facilitators and judges bring real‑world experience and are available throughout the event to offer perspective, feedback, and constructive input.
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This event prioritizes comfort, safety, and respect, so you can show up as you are and fully engage in the process.
Hackathon Partners and Sponsors
Providing space and amenities for the hackathon at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
“Committed to building inclusive, sustainable communities by bringing people together through innovation in sport, entertainment and development.”
GSL Group
Supporting the delivery of the hackathon and, post event, actively connect standout projects with businesses through their partner network.
“To make, to build, to work..”
Mamuk.ai
Providing Cursor credits to all competitors to support a spectacular vibe coding enabled event.
“Built to make you extraordinarily productive, Cursor is the best way to code with AI.”
Cursor
Meet the Judges
Matt Cooke
General Manager, F&B
Save on Foods Memorial Centre
Matt Cooke is a food-and-beverage operations leader who specializes in solving real-world service problems at scale, where demand can swing quickly and every decision impacts guest experience. His work focuses on turning day-to-day operational signals into clear actions, improving staffing plans, service flow, and consistency while keeping quality and speed in balance. He brings a strong sustainability and waste-reduction lens to food service, including public work on reuse initiatives in high-volume hospitality settings. Grounded by a background in environmental engineering, he approaches food service challenges with a measurement-driven mindset and a practical bias toward solutions that can be executed reliably, shift after shift.
Lautaro Cepeda
Chief Revenue Officer
Personize.ai
Lautaro Cepeda is a practitioner and researcher focused on advancing how Generative AI can be applied across the full customer journey. His current work explores the intersection of customer context, AI‑driven reasoning, and copy generation to move beyond isolated automations and toward cohesive, end‑to‑end experiences. He is actively running pilot programs with HubSpot‑native organizations to test this framework in real operational environments and evaluate its impact at scale. Through this research, Lautaro works closely with teams to understand how AI can be embedded responsibly into marketing, sales, and customer engagement workflows, with an emphasis on practical adoption rather than experimentation alone. He regularly collaborates with organizations interested in participating in pilots and contributing to the evolution of applied, real‑world AI use.
Steve Harris
Founder
AI4 Enterprise
Steve Harris is a senior technology and GenAI consultant and implementor with 40+ years of experience across technical hands-on delivery and executive leadership. His background spans systems and architecture, project and portfolio management, and senior roles including Director, CIO, and Vice-President. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Computer Studies and an MBA in Digital Technology Management and is certified and trained across major AI platforms including Microsoft, AWS, IBM, and Google. Today, he helps organisations adopt Generative AI in a practical, responsible way - covering readiness, governance, risk, architecture, implementation, training, and Fractional CAIO support to ensure solutions are usable, secure, and sustainable. He also actively researches the application of emerging AI (multi-agent systems, RAG solutions and evolving LLMs - especially the use of Small and Tiny language models) and contributes to the community as a VIATEC AI Meetup co-founder, Prompt Victoria AI Conference co-founder, and founder of a GenAI RFP Community of Practice.
Hackathon Awards
Explore our range of services designed to help you move forward with confidence, wherever you're headed next.
First Place
Sponsored by
Community AI Impact Association (CAIA)
Second Place
Sponsored by you
Contact: [email protected]
Third Place
Sponsored by you
Contact: [email protected]
Judging criteria…What puts you on the jumbotron!
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Higher scores reflect original thinking and creative risk‑taking that challenge assumptions, reframe the problem, or combine ideas in unexpected ways, while still delivering practical, real‑world value.
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More points are awarded for solutions that function reliably and are well executed, showing care in design, implementation, and usability.
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Additional credit is given to solutions that are practical, usable, and viable for real teams or venues.
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Judging favors presentations with a clear narrative, a smooth and understandable demo, and a strong explanation of impact.
Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ to the right or reach out to [email protected] anytime. If you’re feeling ready, go ahead and register for the hackathon.
Your Questions, Answered
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Yes. Lunch and snacks are covered so you can focus on building.
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No problem. Apply solo and we'll match you with someone complementary during team formation.
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Not necessarily. We want diverse teams. Designers, strategists, domain experts, and developers all add value. But you need to contribute.
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Yes. Various paid parking options are available around and near the arena. We recommend you walk, bike or take public transit as it’s a long day and parking is not inexpensive.
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That’s the plan. At a minimum, tickets will be provided for the top three teams, and our goal is for everyone to attend. We are actively seeking sponsors to cover tickets for all participants. If that is not possible, discounted tickets will be made available.
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Our hackathon partner, MAMUK.AI, will actively help connect standout projects with businesses through its partner network. This is not a one‑day exercise. It is a launchpad.