Vickathon - The Vickathon team leads experiential hackathons, with applicable outcomes, custom to any target audience and can be Face-to-face, Hybrid, and Virtual.
We'd be glad to organize an experiential hackathon for you. Here are some ways you can reach us:
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Or contact us by E-mail at [email protected].
Or schedule an online meeting with us via this link at your convenience.
Our company is an official supplier of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
Those of you who believe hackathons are only for the high-tech sector should know; hackathons are beneficial events for any organization that wishes to hold an innovative and connecting event in which employees and stakeholders solve problems together in a creative way and in teams. We know this from our experience leading hackathons in non-high-tech organizations.
Hackathons are social events that connect employees and enable them to express their strengths and advantages in order to solve a significant challenge.
Hackathon events encourage innovative and creative thinking among the participants.
During this time-framed event, the participants experience teamwork, collaborative thinking, goal-focusing, brainstorming for solving a challenge they are faced with, and presenting it in front of the other participants and a panel of judges.
Hackathons are experiential events that help participants get to know more aspects of their teammates and, at the same time, help the organization solve problems and challenges.
The competitive atmosphere in the hackathon adds to the team's sense of determination and consolidation.
In the end, the participants vote for their favorite ideas, and the winning ideas are chosen according to the judges' decision.
The hackathons can be in face-to-face, hybrid, and virtual format, all according to the organization's nature and locations across Israel and worldwide.
Watch this tutorial in which Galit Zamler describes what a hackathon is? What happens at hackathon events? And why lead a hackathon in the organization? (In Hebrew)
Virtual Hackathons are just like real-life hackathons, except that they are done online remotely while participants are away from each other.
As in every Hackathon event, in an online hackathon, participants are organized into teams and develop their creative idea for a venture to solve a challenge or a problem on a particular topic.
The Vickathon team offers to organize your hackathon from A to Z; virtual, designed, and experiential hackathons over Vickathon. The teams will develop their ideas together on a shared online file, tailored specifically to their age and the chosen topic.
A hybrid hackathon is a combination of the in-person hackathon, which takes place physically face-to-face, and the virtual hackathon, which takes place online.
The hybrid hackathon allows maximum flexibility for both the organizers and the participants.
The hybrid hackathon can be held in a wide variety of online and offline combinations. Along with the benefits of combining the two, it should be noted that there are challenges that this combination poses. We have already led some successful hybrid events while using our Vickathon internet app, making the combination work great.
Organizing hackathon from bottom to top includes:
- Accompanying the planning and execution of the hackathon in all its stages, starting from forming the concept, through preparing the call for proposal, teams' forming, and up to the winners' announcement.
- Establish a customized online file for you on the Vickathon web application on which the teams will develop the ideas.
- Online training sessions with the leading teams in preparation for the hackathon.
- Organizing and leading a launch event and an announcement event of the winners for all participants together. As well as leading and hosting the hackathon event.
- Managing the mentors who accompany the teams in an efficient way.
- Enrichment lectures and workshops during the competition to enhance the participants' experience.
- Managing the judging process and ranking the projects according to predefined criteria.
- Professional tutorials are integrated into the online shared venture file.
- A technology means of organizing multi-participant online meetings such as Zoom.
- Certificates for all participants, audience favorites, mentors and winners.
Please contact us if you are interested in organizing a hackathon
Fill in this form to contact us.
Or contact us by E-mail at [email protected].
Or schedule an online meeting with us via this link at your convenience.
Over time we felt we needed a dedicated system to host hackathons. We searched the market and found no tool or system that does everything we wanted for leading experiential hackathons and which contains all functions we looked for. Therefore, we developed such a system and ensured that it would be an internet app, so users could connect from anywhere and any device. The system gives us an advantage in running hackathons in many aspects:
1) Allows running a virtual hackathon to an unlimited number of teams and participants simultaneously.
2) A friendly, visual, and intuitive interface for developing project ideas.
3) The online venture file includes short, ready-made tutorials.
4) Embedding all related venture files within the online venture's form.
5) Access of participating teams to the online venture file from any device anywhere, anytime.
6) Updating and synchronizing the online shared file in real-time.
7) Adjusting the design, content, and tutorials to any audience niche, age, or language.
8) Addressing questions to mentors and getting their answers on the online shared venture file.
9) Exposing hackathon projects to all participants. It also opens them to online voting, choosing audience favorites, announcing the winners, and awarding a virtual medal.
10) Participants' privacy is protected.
11) The hackathon organizers can send instant messages to all participants during the event.
12) One of the problems with hackathons is the loss of information that came up during teamwork at the event. The Vickathon system solves this problem. All the ideas and all accompanying documents remain available and accessible to you in the cloud for the next year so the teams can continue working and develop their ventures.
13) An online judging system so that each judge scores teams assigned to him according to predefined criteria without being exposed to the score of the other judges. At the end of the judging phase you can watch the elaborate score of all the judges.
- Along with organizing meaningful, experiential, and impactful hackathons, Galit Zamler has developed a format for conducting virtual hackathons exclusively for the Vickathon team.
EFK Vietnam recently acquired this format, and the first virtual hackathon has already taken place in Vietnam based on the same format and has been a great success.
- Galit Zamler was selected as one of the women ambassadors for the Women Tech Network competition with the Vikathon venture for leading experiential hackathons.
- Besides, Vickathon was selected as one of the top 50 ventures in the Startup Wheel 2020 international competition.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, Galit Zamler was invited to an event by the Municipal Innovation Club in Rehovot about women leading innovation. Her topic was promoting innovation in organizations through hackathons. She briefly explained what a hackathon is? What happens at a hackathon? And why do organizations host hackathons? (In Hebrew)
Who Are We?
Galit Zamler is an educational and technological entrepreneur. She has been organizing hackathons since 2014 to various audiences with an emphasis on the participants' experience. These events were a great success, and the clients come mostly by word of mouth. Galit is also the co-founder of the web application Vickathon - a dedicated system for running hackathons and entrepreneurial competitions and processes.
Inbar Berger is a social and technological entrepreneur, UX expert. Inbar has participated in dozens of hackathons in recent years as a participant, mentor, and lecturer.
To this day, we have led together and separately the in-person, hybrid and virtual hackathons to different audiences from Israel and abroad.
What About Your Hackathon?
Companies, associations, authorities, and government ministries, we are here for you to lead together with you an experiential entrepreneurship event, with practical and inspiring outcomes; An event that leaves a taste of more.
If you are interested in encouraging innovation, proactivity, collaboration, and creativity through an online or hybrid hackathon Fill in this form to contact us.
Or contact us by E-mail at [email protected].
Or schedule an online meeting with us via this link at your convenience.
As part of an annual seminar in Yeruhem, the Bat Ami association, headed by CEO Eran Valk, organized a hackathon for about 400 Bnot Sherut.
We held a Zoom preliminary meeting prior to the event to provide participants with the tools and knowledge needed to develop an idea for a project.
About 40 teams took part in the Social Embrace and Alleviating Loneliness challenge. With the help of mentors, the teams defined needs, came up with ideas to deal with them and developed one best idea, which they presented to a distinguished panel of judges.
From all the teams, three winning ideas were selected. They will receive guidance and support during implementation.
In the end, Shahar Haim, director of Bat Ami, wrote: "Thanks a lot for the hackathon. It was a very successful event and an important summit point for the seminary. Thanks for your leadership and support throughout the process."
or the first time, Ramat Gan Municipality's Department for Social Services held a hackathon called "Initiate for the Mental."
As this was the first hackathon event for the division's employees, most of whom had never heard of this term before, we held a preliminary exposure event. Our goal was to explain to the employees what a hackathon is, how it works, and why it is worthwhile to participate, despite the fact that it lasts for an entire day.
Noa Rayter, the department's strategic development and innovation manager proposed the hackathon idea. Noa and Ortal Oshri, with the help of a small team from the department and accompanied by Galit Zamler, turned the dream of running a hackathon event into reality.
A fantastic video clip opened the exposure event, creating a wow effect among employees and then on social media:
The event itself took place from morning to evening in December 2022. A total of thirteen mixed teams participated in the hackathon, including representatives of the Social Services Division, families and individuals with mental illness, mental health professionals, and experienced mentors.
During the day, the teams identified needs related to the hackathon challenge, specified them, proposed ideas to deal with them, filtered the ideas based on criteria presented to them to select the best ideas, developed them according to a prepared outline, and prepared presentations and pitches to present to a distinguished panel of judges.
It was inspiring to hear representatives of the ills and their families explain their challenges when they pitched their ideas.
Three winning teams were selected based on the judges' scores. The team that won first place will receive a budget and support to make their idea a reality.
Thanks to the cooperation between all participants, including Roi Zamir, who recruited an excellent team of mentors, the hackathon was a success.
Ariel Peleg, who participated as a mentor in the hackathon, complimented the Vickathon team. Ariel said at the end of the hackathon: "I've participated in 15 hackathons, but I've never participated in such a technological hackathon."
Here are some photos from the event
This year, Veet's managers in Israel decided to hold a hackathon to strengthen the brand and promote social values.
In July 2022, we led a four-day hackathon called You Decide. The target audience was girls between the ages of 12 and 16.
As we organized the hackathon, we made sure it would be an enjoyable and experiential event as well as a chance for participants to solve issues of self-image, self-esteem, and acceptance of others.
On each of the first three days, ten teams came up with ideas for ventures and initiatives, developed them according to an outline, and pitched them. Those with the best ideas advanced to the finals.
Well-known social network influencers participated in the hackathon. They gave empowering lectures and workshops.
The collaboration with the influencers resulted in substantial exposure on social networks, which led to a very high number of registrations for the hackathon.
The winning teams were invited to the final day at the end of the first three days. On this day, the teams improved their pitch. They presented their ideas to a panel of judges, which included Veet's representative, representatives of the student council and youth movements, and Mrs. Michal Tzafir.
Three teams won gadget prizes, and Veet will also implement the project that won first place.
These were four fun days in which the Veet brand gained a lot of exposure among the target audience and was perceived as a brand with values.
Ynet's online magazine summarized the event as follows (in Hebrew):
The CEO and President of the ELI Association, Mr. Eran Zimrin, has decided to lead an innovation process among the ELI community.
The ELI Association handles children who have been abused physically, sexually, or mentally.
Galit Zamler and Inbar Berger led a joint process for all members of the ELI community in order to lead change and improvement processes through the wisdom of the masses and provide an equal opportunity for all community members to share insights and suggestions, and ideas for improvement and renewal.
As part of the innovation process, we held several online meetings. In the end, a conference of three days was held in an atmosphere of vacation in Eilat. All participants attended frontal sessions during the conference. The sessions included both fun and enriching activities, and teams worked to develop selected ideas from all those raised, present them to the audience in an entrepreneur's pitch style, and vote for the best ideas.
The event ended with a sense of connectivity between the participants and motivation to make the changes proposed by the teams in favor of upgrading the association and its activities.
At the end of the innovative hackathon process, we asked participants to fill out anonymous feedback and answer the question, "How was your experience at the hackathon-style innovation process?" The followings are some responses we got:
"I was excellent, interesting, fulfilling, and instructive. Thank you so much!"
"It was excellent and instructive. This is my first time participating in such an activity. And the dessert (Eilat) - perfect!"
"It was great. Thank you very much. It was an event of collaboration that did a lot of magic. Thank you very much for the organization and patience."
"First of all, it was a very cohesive process. This may be a side goal but from my perspective no less important. In addition, it was done professionally, with impressive consideration and patience towards all the undecided/missing participants, etc. It put our organization into a challenging and focused mapping mode, just as we had hoped and expected. Thank you, and Good luck!"
"The process was very successful. Beyond the practical results, it also caused a higher motivation among the participants. The event management was very professional, and therefore successful, and the facilitator's contribution was significant."
"It was fascinating, solidifying, fun, and developing. We enjoyed every moment and felt a huge boost to our motivation and professionalism. Thank you very much!"
"Thank you, organizers. The process was very professional, organized, engaging, creative, and meaningful."
"It was essential. Hopefully, there will be a practical continuation of the hackathon results. Thank you."
At the beginning of July 2021, we led a hackathon for the Suicide Prevention Unit within the Ministry of Education.
The challenge presented to the teams was to upgrade the different plans of the program developed by the unit and prepare a catchy and witty sticker that will be published in various media means.
Each team received and worked on a different module of the program.
The teams worked under a tight schedule, which challenged them and brought the best out of them. Thanks to them, the program will be upgraded :)
Alongside a combination of creativity, innovation, teamwork, and everything else a hackathon brings with it, the teams have managed in limited time to accomplish meaningful and applicable outcomes.
That way, in just a few hours, the teams managed to accomplish results that usually take lots of time to achieve.
The event was held virtually, using the Vickathon system for leading experiential hackathons.
After a day like this, we feel like doing something meaningful.
The "Remembering the fallen, and standing by their families and relatives" hackathon was addressed to the entire public in Israel. The event was participated by teenagers, preparatory students, students, high-tech employees, people who this theme is close to their heart, and senior citizens as well.
The goal of this hackathon was to recruit the help of the startup nation in order to come up with technological solutions for keeping the memory and commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the wars of Israel and victims of actions of terrorism, and for providing an answer to the day-to-day challenges of those who are coping with grief, disabled IDF soldiers, post-traumatics, victims of terrorism, their families and relatives.
The hackathon event lasted for a day and a half and was held in a hybrid format; at entrepreneurship centers and online, the teams were provided with maximum flexibility to participate in this event.
The significant theme that was chosen touches deep in the heart of the Israeli society, and so, even though the hackathon event took place during a war and under rocket attacks (the "Guard of Walls" operation), 25 teams took part. They came up with practicable ideas for solving the challenge that was presented to them.
You could say that this was one of the most successful hackathons that ever took place in Israel and if only for the reason that out of those 25 teams, nine teams chose to move ahead and turn their idea into a project that was presented during the hackathon.
Galit Zamler and Inbar Berger, who produced the hackathon from beginning to end, are aiding the teams by getting them in contact with the right people who can contribute experience, skills, and connections to realizing the projects.
All those who took part in the event received a certificate of participation soon after the hackathon ended, and so did the winners, crowd favorite, and the professional mentors who accompanied the teams and did so out of goodwill and with great patience throughout the hackathon.
Below you can read a selection of comments from those who participated in the hackathon:
Aviad Turm, a member of the winning team:
"Galit and Inbar, thank you so much for hosting this amazing hackathon event. It was a pleasure being a part of it!"
Moran Talmor, a member of the team that won second place:
"Thanks for an exemplary organization, the wholehearted effort, the support and availability you showed every single moment. We took great pride in taking part in this hackathon and got to recharge with hope from all the work we were exposed to through this hackathon...The event was so well-invested, down to the fine little details."
Roma Timoshpolski, the CEO of "Yozma Tech," a judge in the hackathon, and the primary prize giver:
"The event was organized to perfection. It's a national mission despite this challenging time. I wish you to succeed!"
Attorney Adi Barkan, mentor and a judge in the hackathon:
"Dear Galit and Inbar, thank you for a brilliant leading and professional execution. It was really great to be a partner in the process. Well done!"
The Gymnasia HaRealit in Rishon LeZion, headed by Iris Ron and her Vice-Principal Michal Keren, had asked to lead a virtual hackathon for the tenth-grade students and students from abroad.
The vickathon team has taken up the glove and recruited students from India, China, and Hong-Kong to participate in the national hackathon.
The hackathon's challenge was "How to Make Live Online Learning More Creative and Exciting?"
One hundred eighty-one students were formed into mixed teams that consisted of Israeli students and students from another country. The hackathon was spread over four days, in which the participants listened to enriching lectures, worked in teams, did brainstorming to come up with ideas for projects that offer solutions to the challenge. They picked out their best idea and developed it according to an outline that was displayed for them on Vickathon.
The event from beginning to end demonstrated what learning should look like in our time.
Below is a selection of comments that illustrate the hackathon experience:
Iris Ron, the Gymnasia HaRealit School director, summed-up the virtual event:
"It was amazing. I would like to thanks all the participants for the wonderful experience of cooperation. Thank you, wonderful students, and dedicated teachers and mentors who have been part of the forces. Special thanks to Michal, Sagie, and Hen, who were the driving force to success. It was a special and exciting multi-cultural event. I'm especially thankful to Galit Zamler, who orchestrated the event very professionally and with great wisdom and sensitivity. Congratulations to the winners, and good luck to you all!"
Tali Tal, mentor:
"It's an amazing and productive process. It goes beyond entrepreneurship. It's about developing leadership and self-confidence".
Gal Benjamin, mentor:
"So many kids and everything went really great! The kids managed to learn and work with other kids from across the other side of the world, and moreover when you learn with joy, you progress faster, and their joint work led to an original and quality creation!! It was a real privilege to take part in this".
Tali Sheffer, mentor:
"It was amazing and inspiring to learn that our kids can come up with ideas and solutions. I felt honored, and it was important for me to be part of the work and the impact which is so critical and necessary in creating the tools that will teach us how to learn in another world which is dysfunctional but yet progressing".
During the 2020 Global Entrepreneurship Week, Or Gavish, Galit Zamler, and Maayan Zweig led the first international hackathon for teenagers, discussing health, medicine, and welfare.
The hackathon spread over four days, during which the participants heard lectures on various subjects, on the hackathon itself, and on topics from the entrepreneurship world. On each day, the participants received a new challenge, on which they worked together over Vickathon. On the last day, the teens presented their ventures, followed by presentations, and received feedback from the mentors.
The event ended with the participants' voting for choosing the "crowd's favorites" and the judges' call of the winners, by predefined criteria.
The first place went to team number 21 from India, with a venture called - Alris, which uses artificial intelligence technology to monitor crowded places, identify sick people in closed spaces, and send alerts.
The second place went to three teams: team number 1 (I JOIN), team number 2 (Parkilas), and team number 10 (FamFun).
The third place went to team number 12. Their idea is about inventing an automatic cleaner for the bathroom. There's a moving story behind this team that shows how taking part in the hackathon empowers the contestants.
The Vickathon team ran an international virtual hackathon for leading educators who participated in an online course by MASHAV - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The hackathon dealt with the challenges of education and loneliness caused by the coronavirus.
All participants were divided into teams and worked together, each from their own country, on a shared online designed file.
The online file was tailored specifically for them over Vickathon.
After uploading ideas (ideation stage), the participants chose the best idea, developed it according to the online shared file sections, and watched short and enriching tutorial video clips.
From time to time, we took breaks, as in every hackathon, where we had enriching and fun activities.
We ended the event with pitches, and each of us voted for three favorite ideas. That's how we determined the audience's favorite ones and who won a virtual medal.
Everyone enjoyed the competition very much, as one can see from the following:
"It's a very amazing experience. I like it."
"Enjoyable experience."
"Very interesting experience. You are all great."
"It is a really interesting program!"
"Thank you very much for the value addition."
"Hey! I like the site we have used for the hackathon."
"I would like to know more about it. Thank you."
The t-hub students at the Technion institution participated in the Entrepreneurship Fundamentals Course.
Dr. Dina Raphael, the course facilitator, led an online hackathon for students.
Ten groups of students came up with ideas for social ventures with business feasibility.
At the end of the virtual hackathon, Galit Zamler received a certificate of appreciation for Vickathon's contribution to the online event's success.
In November 2020, and in light of the satisfaction with the experience of using the Vickathon, Dr. Dina Rafael chose to lead two additional hybrid hackathons for her students of two entrepreneurship courses she leads.
Galit Zamler participated in online sessions with the students from both courses to introduce them to Vickathon, in which they develop their ideas for ventures.
A delegation from South Korea visited Israel in 2019 as guests of the Mashav at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The participants took part for the first time in an activity based on hackathons. Presented with challenges, the teams were asked to think of creative solutions. The participants themselves then selected the most successful ideas.
A hands-on workshop was held at the event to demonstrate the need for participants to acquire skills from the entrepreneurship domain in order to succeed in today's changing world.
Participants enjoyed the event and learned about the startup nation.
Are You Ready to Launch Your Event?
Fill in this form to contact us.
Or contact us by E-mail at [email protected].
Or schedule an online meeting with us via this link at your convenience.
