Our three super developers are invited to a pre-Hackathon event at Taj Malabar Resort & Spa, Cochin on a pleasant evening of 23rd February 2018.
The New Distribution Capability (NDC) is a travel industry-supported program launched by International Air Transport Association (IATA) for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard. The NDC Standard enhances the capability of communications between airlines and travel agents and is open for others to implement and use.
Ricky is all set for his 1-minute idea pitch.
See his video below, Idea Pitch to the Panel
Without delay our team get all green cards (green meaning OK to proceed; orange meaning Speak to a Mentor) from the panel. It was a great event, met a lot of awesome geeks with amazing ideas. We were able to hook up with Gagandeep Kalra, Associate Software Developer at Expedia on their Data and API campaign and how we could streamline our idea.
The Hackathon Event:
In order to break the whole story for you the reader, We have concised the events that follows in an hourly fashion (time per se is not accurate but the sequence of events matters)
Feb 24
09:00 Early at the event, Heavy Breakfast and Meetups.
10:00 Coding begins
10:05 And this happened – Richmond’s Laptop Charging Equipment fails – Need Immediate Fix
10:10 Frantic calls are made to find an alternative, Scouting the hall for help.
10:15 Contemplating to replace the faulty set at an electronic market (not within 5 kms)
10:30 Ricky suggests re-wiring the equipment.
10:55 The Moment of Truth. #Jugaad #HackTheWire
11:00 Our super developers are working out on a strategy.
12:00 Requirements have been identified, listed down APIs, and scrutinised the tools needed.
13:00 App designs underway – more discussions needed
14:00 Our first causality – Richmond heads out – nauseated – caused by one bad boiled egg
14:30 And second causality – Vignesh heads home – roommate/friend hospitalized – caused by a freak jump down the stairs.
Mayday, Team is down by 2, Ricky all by himself.
15:00 Our lead developer, Ricky has prepared the Web App views in powerpoint slides.
15:30 Richmond is back. Sick but have to work – 1 soda can, 2 tabs of antacids.
16:00 APIs are mock tested using Postman.
17:00 Logic Development underway. Point of no return and no sign of our super developer, Vignesh
18:30 App designs have been finalised. Ricky and Richmond in logjam as Vignesh is uncertain to return.
19:30 Finally, Our super developer arrives. Everyone gets busy.
23:00 First Views of the App ready.
Feb 25
00:00 14 hours have been passed and 14 more to go. Our super developers are barely awake. Voice across the hall went as low as a whisper.
00:15 It seems as though we are on fast track to completion. And then it happened…
00:20 Application is failing as there is no proper authorization to get a response from service provider.
00:30 We immediately requested for help thru Ryver Portal for Hackathon to which Mr. Vanni promptly responded. Thank god!
01:00 Issue persists! We have encountered a CORS bug.
01:30 Winds have changed. Their sail is against it. There wasn’t much that Mr. Vanni could do. We appreciated his support but we have to take the decision collectively.
02:00 With Half eye-lids up and almost zero focus, our super Developer Vignesh pushes through, struggles at every error. Richmond scoured every stackoverflow pages, github codes, and CORS related forums to find a workaround. Our lead developer, Ricky slept, as a CEO he hardly takes his personal time out and the previous day before was way more stressful for him.
04:30 It almost break of dawn and where are our super developers? One peacefully dreaming on a bean bag, another dozing off on the chair. The hall and the corridor went pin-drop silent and the air was colder than before.
Five more minutes, ya!
05:00 Reinvigorated by the power nap, our trio Ricky,, Vignesh and Richmond determined to go the last mile, try multiple methods to push forward. No more standard coding practice. Get it to work!
07:00 It’s morning and 7 more hours to go. The aroma of fresh coffee brewing and soon the hall came back to life.
08:00 Our super developer is coughing very badly. He is a known-patient of asthma. Will he work today?
09:00 Vignesh calls it a day, packs up and decides to go home. The others agreed and supported his decision.
10:00 24 hours passed away swiftly and our team is in a half-paralyzed situation. Richmond works on the web app views. Ricky works on the Presentation for the Demo.
12:00 Breakthrough! Ricky and Richmond managed to plug in our Financial and Expedia Data services to the web app.
13:00 Final preparations underway and they are putting up a brave face.
14:00 The bell has struck. It’s over!
14:30 Demo Presentation begins and the grandeur stage setup was nothing short of a Filmfare awards ceremony.
15:15 And in few minutes, the MC would call Paysack upon the podium.
15:30 Ricky has 4 minutes to present our App and 1 minute to face the jury. Richmond co-ordinates with the Presentation setup.
15:40 It’s surreal. We did, we spoke and we managed to pull through.
17:30 Presentations are over and our developers barely keep their eyes open.
18:00 Juries are deliberating and the mood of the crowd was energetic, kudos to team IBS.
18:30 And the winners are …
for NDC Challenge 1, its Team Batuta. They deserved to win by the looks of their almost flawless presentation of the demo App using Google Voice Recognition Assistant called Project Helen. Cash Prize of $2000 awarded.
for NDC Challenge 2, it Team Batuta again, Cash Prize of $5000 awarded. Total winning at $7000. It seemed as though their ship sailed through the treacherous path and gathering piles of loot on their way.
Until the MC moved onto announce the winners of Data Challenge 3,
with a cash award of $5000 and as though our ears fell deaf, they pronounced
Paysack.
