Diversity Wins Big At First-Ever Red Bull Hackathon

Thousands-of-dollars worth of electronics covered every surface of the renovated warehouse on Folsom Street. More than a dozen fold-up cots covered the nearby loft where they awaited sleepy students that would never come.

While a handful of students took advantage of the resting area, most worked through the night as they made history at Red Bull Hack the Hits Presented by RECESS, the first 24-hour hackathon of its kind. Five teams of three students from across the nation to compete in San Francisco and see who could create the most innovative new music technology product. I was lucky enough to emcee the event, so I had a front-row seat for the excitement last weekend, April 8-9. 

The winning team—aptly named and confidently submitted as “The Winning Pitch”—created an electronic stringed instrument audio visual controller. It looked like something out of a futuristic made-for-TV movie, and the judges were blown away by the demo.

All of the teams were able to pull off miracles and develop exciting technology in the 24 hours. But The Winning Pitch had a particular strength that gave them an advantage over the competition, and it clearly resonated with the judges as they approached the team’s table.

The winning hackathon team had enormous strength in its diversity.

Diversity of Education and Location

The winning team was made up of University of Pittsburgh students and a student from Carnegie Mellon. It was one of only two teams that brought together students from more than one college. But it was also the only team from colleges outside of the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you only read the headlines of tech news, this might come as a surprise, considering the media's intense focus on Silicon Valley’s tech scene. But the outcome of this hackathon is further evidence to support what many experts are already seeing.

Tech innovation can—and does—come from everywhere.

Here's why...

Getting outside of Silicon Valley can give potential innovators a different set of stimuli and resources with which to approach problems and opportunities. Companies like RECESS, a co-producer of this hackathon, tour the U.S. outside of Silicon Valley looking for the best collegiate entrepreneurs to compete in their pitch competitions. And movements like Rise of the Rest, started by AOL co-founder Steve Case, aim to do the same, touring America to discover and invest in the most innovative companies outside of coasts.

Diversity of Team Members

All five of the teams competing in this hackathon were impressive, with students showcasing their technical skills and music ability. The winning team was no exception, pulling together the unique talents of Laurence Putterman, Ritwik Gupta, and Tiffany Jiang.

 It’s worth noting that Jiang was the 2015 grand prize winner of Facebook’s Global Hackathon, so she had some experience coming into this competition. Almost as notably, Jiang was the only female team member at the entire hackathon. And it’s apparent that the diversity of gender and ethnic backgrounds on The Winning Pitch team gave them a competitive edge.

Indeed, research from Scientific American has shown that “Being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, more diligent and harder-working.”

But building a diverse team isn’t easy. Silicon Valley, in particular, has struggled with this issue.

That’s why groups like Girls Who Code and Women in Tech have sprouted up to address the lack of gender diversity in tech. Meanwhile, organizations like Blacks in Technology and the Partnership for a New American Economy are addressing ethnic diversity for innovative companies in the U.S. Progress is being made, but there’s enormous room for growth in this area.

The lack of diversity is a serious cultural issue in the tech industry. But case studies like Hack the Hits and the winning team are a step in the right direction and evidence that the times are a-changin.

Diversity of Presentation

The teams rehearsed their lines and product demos as they set up their tables to present to the judges. You could see each of them reflecting on the feedback from the music and tech mentors who flew in from around the world to coach these students.

 Mentors included Eric Mintzer, the founder of creative technology studio, Imaginex; Jonathon Mooney, multi-instrumentalist musician in the indie-rock band, Other Lives; and Robbie Jacobs, a music technologist, multi‐instrumentalist and software engineer. All students got unlimited access to these mentors throughout the hackathon. And the winning team tapped into not only the technical know-how of the mentors, but the performance and presentation expertise as well.

All student teams had access to technology from Leap Motion and SubPac, as well as all kinds of hardware, software, and musical instruments. But the winning team made an instrument of their own, and described their journey as they presented to the judges.

 “I’m a cellist and I was frustrated by the lack of electronic music instruments that are available to me," said Lawrence Putterman. "This was the inspiration behind our hack. It started as a simple electronic string instrument, but turned so much more."

As they shared their story, the team got right into their live product demo and even got the instrument into the judges' hands (they were the only team to do so). Everyone on the team shared the mic as they presented their finished music-tech product, giving diverse perspectives on the problem and proposed solution.

The crowd erupted with applause as Professor Ge spoke for all three judges and announced the winner of the inaugural hackathon, Red Bull Hack the Hits Presented by RECESS. It was the end of a long 24-hour journey for the all of the teams, but likely just the beginning of many diverse careers combining music and technology.

Want more? You can check out the original article on Forbes Post and the entire Verge Vault at VergeHQ.com