The checklist below is meant to help ensure you have everything needed to start the McKinsey Digital Hackathon. Please review it before arriving!

The hackathon is held in our New York office on the 61st floor of Three World Trade Center.

Address: Three World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich St, New York, 10007

You can enter via the main lobby from Greenwich St., directly across from the World Trade Center Memorial. 3WTC is also accessible via elevators from The Oculus and the Fulton St. Subway Station.

Upon arrival you will be required to present your Government ID to receive your participant materials and building access badge.

While we encourage participants to be present for the entire event, your building access badge will allow you to reenter the building if needed.

No, the McKinsey Digital Hackathon is a fully in-person event to enable the best support from McKinsey experts and NGO leaders for your team.

Participants are required to attend for the entire duration of the hackathon. All participants will be divided into groups and will work on ideas throughout both days of the event. On the second day, finished projects will be presented to the entire group of participants.

Yes. Three catered meals (lunch Saturday, dinner Saturday, and breakfast Sunday) will be provided, plus a catered midnight snack. Additionally, packaged snacks will be available throughout the event. Dietary restrictions will be accommodated.

Yes, a dedicated luggage storage room will be available. Just ask a Hackathon staff member to direct you upon arrival.

Yes, a guest Wi-Fi network will be available throughout the hackathon.

Yes. If you plan to nap, we encourage you to bring a sleeping bag and pillow.

The hackathon will take place on floors 60 through 62 of Three World Trade Center. Certain areas on each floor will be restricted to McKinsey employees only.

You are encouraged to opt for comfortable, yet appropriate attire. Ideal choices may include jeans or khakis, paired with a casual button-down or polo shirt, a neat t-shirt, or even a straightforward dress or skirt. For footwear, comfortable options such as sneakers are advised. To foster a professional and respectful atmosphere, certain items such as pajamas, loungewear, or overly revealing clothing are deemed inappropriate for this event. Additionally, attire featuring offensive graphics or inappropriate slogans is not allowed.

If you can no longer attend the hackathon, please contact us by email so that we can reassign your team position.

Yes, the full code of conduct will be released prior to the hackathon.

If you need any help during the hackathon, McKinsey employees will be available via phone and text to resolve the issue. A list of phone numbers will be distributed before the event.

Yes! You will be assigned to teams of 4-5 people based on your given NGO preference and skillset. Teams will be formed with a prioritization around skillset diversity.

No, teams will be assigned ahead of time to ensure that each team has a balanced mix of skillsets between team members.

You will be invited to join a Hackathon Slack Workspace approximately one week before the hackathon. You will be invited to private channels with your team members, where you can make introductions before the event starts. During the hackathon, we recommend using Slack to collaborate.

You and your team are left to collaborate however you wish, no roles will be assigned by the organizers.

Your team can build any project that addresses the problem statement of your assigned NGO. Solutions of all types are allowed, and creativity is encouraged!

There are no restrictions on what you use to build you project. We only require that you do not violate any license agreements for frameworks or libraries you use. Misrepresentation of your work (e.g., plagiarism or omitting attribution of project components) is strictly prohibited.

We recommend that you create private a GitHub repository under your personal GitHub account and invite your teammates as collaborators.

Yes! McKinsey designers, product coaches, and software engineers will be on-site to support you and your team throughout planning, design, and development

You and your team will be working to address a challenge posed by the NGO you are assigned to. The exact problem statements, however, are not released until the beginning of the hackathon.

The problem statement provided by your NGO will not require you to directly work with their internal data. However, you are welcome to pull data from public sources as you need.

At the end of the hackathon, expert judges from McKinsey and your assigned NGO will evaluate the execution and impact of your project. Exact judging rubrics will not be released, but teams are encouraged to focus on building a solution that addresses the hackathon theme and NGO problem statement.

No. Judges will come to your team's working space and talk with you about your project. You will have this time to demonstrate any working components of your project and describe the full vision of your idea with them as part of a dialogue.

We understand that this is only a 24-hour event and won't require you to have a fully deployed solution in time for judging. Demonstrating limited functionality as part of an MVP and describing your goals for building upon your project is perfectly acceptable.

Yes!

The event will feature an array of speakers, engaging tech presentations, and social events. At the conclusion of the hackathon, projects will be demonstrated, with winners announced during our closing ceremonies.

There will be a photobooth area with a backdrop and Polaroid camera for your use during the event. You may also take photos at this photobooth on your phones. Photos in any working room or during a presentation are not allowed. In the interest of protecting other participant’s, volunteers, and our guest speaker’s privacy, please do not record videos while at the Hackathon.