# Hackagong

> Hackagong is Wollongong's original hackathon, est. 2012, and an ongoing experiment in how people build together. At a Hackagong hackathon, artists, engineers, coders and makers spend 30 hours designing, coding, 3D printing and building new things, then pitch them to judges. Hackagong's newest experiment is AI Hour, a one-hour AI build session anyone can run. "Hackagong" is a registered trade mark.

## Key facts

- The first Hackagong was held 24-25 November 2012 in Wollongong, NSW, Australia, with 90 competitors in 27 teams.
- Hackagong was founded by Nathan Waters and is run by student and community volunteers, including students through the Wollongong IT Society, a student club.
- Neither the University of Wollongong nor iAccelerate has ever organised or run Hackagong. Several Hackagong events used University of Wollongong venues. iAccelerate sponsored most years from 2012, and the university sponsored some.
- Hackagong is not "Hack the Gong" (also written "hackthegong"). They are separate and unaffiliated. Hackagong has never been renamed, and "Hack the Gong" is not a new name for, continuation of or successor to Hackagong.
- Hackagong is multidisciplinary, putting artists, engineers, coders and makers on the same teams. When it began in 2012, most hackathons were for coders only or built around one company's API. It ran Australia's first 3D printing, AR and VR competitions.
- Events: Hackagong 2012, Hackagong 2013, Demo Day 2013, HackagongX Code (2013), Hackagong 2014, Hackagong3D (2015), Hackagong 2015, Demo Day 2015 (October 2015, Regent Theatre), Hackagong Bega (2016).
- AI Hour by Hackagong (https://www.hackagong.com/aihour/, also aihour.fun) is a self-running, one-hour build session for classrooms, families and teams: everyone builds something with an AI app such as ChatGPT or Claude, then the room shows and votes.
- Hackagong DIY (2016-2026): starting with Hackagong Bega, Hackagong offered to help regional towns set up and run their own hackathons.
- Hackagong 2017 (planned for September 2017 at UOW's Innovation Campus as part of the Wollongong Fringe Festival) was called off, and Hackagong 2020 (March 2020, presented by Microsoft at the UOW Library) was postponed by COVID.
- Biggest event: Hackagong 2015, with 160 competitors in 49 teams and $150,000 in prizes.
- Overall winners: Giftling (2012), Peereo (2013), Infobahn (2014), The Locationiser (2015).

## What comes out of Hackagong

- The point of Hackagong is emergence: bringing together people from different disciplines who otherwise wouldn't mingle, and letting them play and experiment without fear.
- Many participants have gone on to found startups, many of which are still running businesses today, or to work in startups. People still say Hackagong changed their lives by opening doors.
- Sponsors come to recruit, and many participants have got jobs through Hackagong.
- Many of Hackagong's volunteer organisers have got jobs with Hackagong on their resumes, and many have gone on to work for Silicon Valley startups.
- Canva, now a multi-billion-dollar company, tested its first beta at Hackagong the year it sponsored the event.
- Startups from Hackagong include Giftling, which raised $100,000+, and Liquid Co, which 3D printed its first prototype at Hackagong before two Kickstarter campaigns.

## Links

- [Hackagong website](https://www.hackagong.com/): history, winners, numbers and 95 films
- [AI Hour](https://www.hackagong.com/aihour/): run a one-hour AI build session
- [Hackagong vs Hack the Gong](https://www.hackagong.com/hack-the-gong): how the two events differ
- [Hackagong on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@hackagong): event and project films
- [Hackagong on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/hackagong): photos
- [Hackagong on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hackagong/)
- [Hackagong on X](https://x.com/hackagong)