EdTech Design-A-Thon 2015

$3000 in cash prizes + unlimited food and drinks + expert mentors

= Your next amazing project for your portfolio!

**Due to the high volume of applicants, we will continually be monitoring and removing disqualified applicants. If there are currently no spots open, please check again later.***

The EdTech Design-A-Thon is a hack-a-thon for designers with clear creative visions and an understanding of online course platforms. Are you able to easily connect to the user experience? Send your portfolio now and be among the top 15 selected to join!

Participants can work alone or form teams. Prizes in the amounts of $1500, $1000, and $500 will be awarded to the top 3 designs.

Unlimited meals and drinks will be provided, and mentors will be at the event to help bring your ideas to life. Selected participants will present their final designs to a panel of judges from GSV, UX Design World, and BeNative.

Applicants must fill out the application AND share a portfolio (website or PDF files) to melissa@smatoos.com bu Thursday, September 24. Selected participants will be notified after review. Failure to send your portfolio will result in being removed from the list, sorry. :(

Presentation

Participants must give a 3-5 minute presentation on stage to showcase their design. Having excellent speaking skills and a professionally-made slideshow will be extremely important in awarding the winning designs. Please note that all presentations will be filmed and recorded for use on BeNative's educational platform.

Saturday Schedule

10:00 AM | Check-in & Registration

10:30 AM | Welcome & Present Design Prompt and Q&A

11:00 AM | Brainstorming + Ideation + Start working!

  6:00 PM| SUBMIT WORK!

  6:10 PM| Pitch + Q&A

  8:00 PM| Winner Announced + Prize Presented!

Social & Networking event to follow

FAQs

Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?

You must be 21 or over and have a valid photo ID for verification purposes.

What else should I bring?

You must bring your own laptop and any other equipment necessary.

Do I need to have experience or any other skills?

You should have either a background or experience in design. It's a plus if you have experience or passion in education and languages. As mentioned previously, all participants must send examples of their portfolio to melissa@smatoos.com. Anyone who registers without sending the necessary information will not be invited to attend.

Are there any other requirements?

You need to be a fluent English speaker. We will give higher priority to native English speakers, as one of the purposes of this event is to record presentations from native English speakers. A phone call interview may be necessary to determine acceptance to the event.

Can I bring guests with me?

Unfortunately, no. As we have limited space, only participants will be allowed entrance. 

Is there parking available?

Yes, we have free parking available at the event.

Where can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Please direct all questions to melissa@smatoos.com.

About BeNative

BeNative™ helps American and European businesses connect to the powerful and growing markets of Asia. We provide product localization, market research, promotional materials (video and social media), legal representation, as well as fundraising opportunities through our vast network of Asian-based VCs.

Video materials are featured on BeNative Pro, an e-learning service that teaches business English and Chinese from the interviews and interactions of real businesspeople, making it a 100% natural and authentic language-learning experience. Business executives are filmed regularly, growing a massive database of phrases and vocabulary. This set of big data is then analyzed and curated using unique text mining techniques to find the most commonly used phrases spoken in business. 

Interviews of note include Dr. Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School and Bob Lutz of GM as well as other execs from IBM, PayPal, Box, 3M, Kimberley-Clark, and more.

Customers include employees from over 2000 companies and more than 2 million followers on social media platforms. BeNative operates offices in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the USA.