From September 19 to September 26 of this year, PromoStandards hosted its first virtual Hack-A-Thon, sponsored by Essent. During the event, cross-functional teams used PromoStandards’ protocols to access trading partner data and services to develop solutions for real-world promotional product industry challenges.

Keep reading to learn more about this exciting event and the winning teams!


Why Was the Hack-A-Thon Important?

PromoStandards, its community, and Essent have a shared vision to remove friction from the supply chain through tight trading partner systems integration. The Hack-A-Thon was another productive and fun opportunity for the community to collaborate on strengthening the industry.


How Did the Hack-A-Thon Work?

More than 50 participants representing 33 companies from around the world formed seven teams. Throughout the week of the event, the teams met to collaborate and present their solution to a panel of guest judges, which included:

• David Nicholson – Vice Chairman of PCNA
• Vera Muzzillo – CEO of Proforma
• Kate Alavez – PromoShop Inc
• Wade Williams – OrderMyGear.

Each team was given ten minutes to pitch their solutions. During that time, they were judged on the following:

• Problem statement clarity
  
• Presentation creativity 
• Technical feasibility

The winning teams (first place and runner-up) were awarded $5,000 in cash prizes to share and received additional swag.


The First-Place Team: The Adaptors

The Adaptors rose to the challenge, and PromoStandards is happy to award them first place in our first-ever Hack-A-Thon.  The team consisted of the following individuals:

• Chad Sparrow – VP of Product at Brikl 
• Jason Reinhardt – Co-Founder and CCO at Brikl
• Lisa Hubbard – VP of Sales and Marketing at Vernon Company
• Peerarust Siriamphan – Engineering Manager at Brikl
• Phoomparin Mano – VP of Engineering at Brikl
• Suz Pathmanathan – VP of Marketing at Brikl

To view The Adaptors’ presentation, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwr-K8nzTQ0.


The Runner-Up Team: Promofound

Promofound also impressed the judges, making it a close call. We can’t imagine how hard it was to make that decision, as the Promofound team also showcased incredible talent and knowledge.  The team consisted of the following individuals:

• Steve Luisser – VP of Research and Development at Essent
• Bryony Zasman – Co-Founder at ZOOMcatalog
• Kevin Chambers – Web Experience Manager at Thumbprint 
• Mark Whiffen – Senior Product Manager at Facilisgroup
• Trevor Woodman – Web Developer at Thumbprint

To view Promofound’s presentation, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC2iC3tOtVc.


PromoStandards

We want to congratulate the winning teams and recognize the hard work all the teams put into their solutions. We can confidently say that this year’s Hack-A-Thon was incredible and set a standard for the years to come.

As we’re always looking for ways to strengthen the industry, we invite anyone and everyone to become PromoStandards members.

To learn more about membership levels, please visit https://promostandards.org/membership-application.