Cost-Effective Solutions Deserve Fair Judgement – Not Bias

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share my recent AI hackathon experience. Our team built a cost-effective, impactful chatbot designed to connect blood donors directly with blood banks and thalassemia patients—making it easier for both to reach each other without unnecessary middle layers.

While judging, an organizer casually discussed my branch of study and location—irrelevant to the competition—and even mentioned they 'check branches while judging results.' This breaks Devpost norms and is far from the fair, skill-based evaluation hackathons promise.

The same organizer dismissed my query with: 'If you didn’t get an email, you’re not shortlisted.' No constructive feedback, no explanation—just an unprofessional brush-off despite the fact that I submitted three refined versions of the application.

Non-profit solutions like ours are often undervalued, but without financial or moral support, it’s impossible to maintain these impactful tools. Transparency, fairness, and professionalism should be the foundation of such events—not bias.

If hackathons want to truly drive innovation, they must respect participants’ efforts and evaluate projects based on merit—not personal background.

#Hackathon #Transparency #BloodDonation #Thalassemia #AIforGood
lovable-cursor-whisper.vercel.app
wellnessai-silk.vercel.app
super-carnival-bloodbank.vercel.app