All You Need to Know for Winning Prizes and Enjoying TCO
TL;DR: Anyone can attend the 2020 Topcoder Open (TCO20). Sneak peek through the online event platform. There will be games and prize opportunities for attendees.
source: giphy
Life offers a myriad of commodities and leisure to enjoy. For some people that can translate into paragliding and working at the same time, fulfilling a dream, watching a marathon of Lord of the Rings, or spending one day with a significant other.
There is a specific group of people that enjoy thrilling intellectual battles, absorbing adrenaline and bonding in an atmosphere built and made for passionate problem solvers. That is us! You can call us many things except boring. Call us geeks, designers, nerds, coders, and entrepreneurs who are about to enjoy TCO20!
The two major pieces of news for this event are: a) it’s held online owing to obvious contagious reasons; and b) it’s open for everyone for the first time ever!
The ending of Romeo and Juliet is sad, but it would be a real tragedy to wander the interweb from November 13 - 22 without knowing you are missing spectacular code and design clashes between the most talented individuals from all over the world.
You don’t want to be that person that dwells on the loss of this unique opportunity. Let us learn how to successfully follow the train of excitement, games, competition and rewards for attending TCO20 online.
WHERE IS IT HOPPINING?
In Seattle! Yeah right...
Joke aside, since this year’s regional events we have been using a platform called Hopin. It works as a hub for streaming live sessions simultaneously on a schedule. It allows multi-way interaction, so this is the place you want to be to either entertain your days or to participate in the scheduled games.
This is what you have to know upfront to get ahead:
Create a hopin account.
Register on each event day. There is one event link per day. In the schedule page, click the “Register Now” button to sign up for each day.
You don’t need to own a Topcoder account to attend. But add your Topcoder handle as your first name if you have one and photo!
Hopin platform
Distribution
Sessions will look something among these lines, including game rooms for your prizes!
Register on every link to attend every day
WIN PRIZES
Trivia, computer games and fun mysterious activities are planned for attendees to win TCO swag and prizes. You will find them under the “Sessions” menu in Hopin as illustrated above.
During all the events: TCO20 Scavenger Hunt.
Friday, November 13, 10:00 UTC-5: Spectator Contests: Online Games with Special Prizes
Saturday, November 14, 23:00 UTC-5: Snake Charmer - A First Marathon Match
Sunday, November 15, 10:00 UTC-5: Code your way to a TCO20 Treasure
Wednesday, November 18, 10:00 UTC-5: A TCO20 Special - Rookie SRM - Get Started with Topcoder SRMs
Thursday, November 19, 10:00 UTC-5: ShapeIT - Design Fun Contest
Friday, November 20, 10:00 UTC-5: MakeITBetter - Are you better than our finalist? - Design Fun Contest
COMPETITIONS
If you want to warm up and learn about what’s coming for each individual track these articles are not to be missed. Here is all the nitty and gritty of the competitions:
WHEN IS IT HAPPENING?
When a TCO ends, members normally have the sensation of wanting more; that’s one common answer to find in the TCO member survey, “I wish it lasted more than five days”. Well, this time some members may be wishing it lasted less: ten (10) days of ongoing events and competition!
From November 13 at 08:30 UTC-5 until November 22 at 10:00 UTC-5! Find the full schedule and make sure to add your prefered events to the calendar.
WHO IS COMPETING?
Top-notch, la crème de la crème, the icing on the cake, the real deal. Add any glaring adjective and you will be right. These folks are geniuses, creators, skilfull, lightning quick thinkers and problem solvers like no others. Beyond those technical prowesses, it’s wonderful to find people with stories about working at criminal forensics, traveling to twenty-seven countries, or nailing an iron man endurance race.
Read the interviews to be amazed.