At the 5th Journalism School Hackathon, produced by MediaShift in partnership with the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, students, faculty and professionals convened with the goal creating sustainable startups. Their mission? Develop ideas for potentially successful businesses related to sports and health.
The winner of the Hackathon was “Team Stethoscope,” who pitched HealthDragon, a game focused on children. The idea is to teach children to make healthy choices by engaging them in gameplay.
If you missed the Hackathon, scroll down for more coverage, video, photos, feedback and a Storify of highlights on Twitter.
Coverage
‘Hackers’ Turn to User-Centered Products at J-School Hackathon at North Texas, by Jillian Bauer-Reese
Hard Work Pays Off for Non-Traditional J-School Hackathoner, by Ashley Schaerfi
Fun and Fatigue at the 2017 J-School Hackathon at North Texas, by Evelyn Gonzalez
Why the J-School Hackathon at North Texas Was a Challenge Worth Taking, by Brianna Adams
Why We Need to Teach Business Skills in the J-School Classroom, by Lori Shontz
Video & Photos
Video produced by UNT’s Andrea Czobor, and photos by HATCH Visuals.
Feedback
“I had a great time at the hackathon! The food and facilities were much better than expected, and I had a great time with my team and facilitator. In general, a lot of great people were involved.”
“If there were a way to help teams get to know each other before Saturday, I think that would help. The overall Hackathon was nice, but with such a short time (which is appropriate), putting them with their team members would help hit the ground running.”
“I think there should me more guidance in terms of what the presentation would look like. I also would have like maybe a break or too during the day to meet some people outside of my team other than lunch.”
“I liked it all around! Met some great people from all over the country!”
“Solutions-oriented or social impact focused startups would make a great next theme.”
“It may help to expand the time allotment just a little more. I think we had a decent amount of time to come up with a base products, but putting together the presentation was a little too rushed, resulting in a very rough pitch that could have been much smoother.”
Storify
Bianca Fortis is the associate editor at MediaShift, an independent journalist and social media consultant. She is a founding member of the Transborder Media storytelling collective. Follow her on Twitter @biancafortis.
