These Terms & Conditions apply to the Futura Remix Vibe Coding For Future Business Hackathon organised by MentorME.

By registering for, attending, participating in, submitting work to, or presenting at the Hackathon, each participant agrees to comply with these Terms & Conditions. If a participant joins as part of a team, each team member is individually responsible for complying with these Terms.

1. Eligibility

The Hackathon is open to final-year students and recent graduates in ICT, software development, data, AI, marketing, business, design, communications, product management, or related fields approved by MentorME.

For the purposes of these Terms, a recent graduate means a person who graduated within the last 24 months, unless MentorME approves otherwise.

Participants must be at least 18 years old at the time of registration. If MentorME allows a participant under 18 to join, the participant must provide written consent from a parent or legal guardian before participating.

Participants may register individually or as part of a team. Participation is subject to MentorME's approval, capacity limits, eligibility checks, and event requirements.

MentorME reserves the right to accept, reject, or remove any registration where reasonably necessary to protect fairness, safety, event integrity, or compliance with these Terms.

2. Team Formation

Participants may join the Hackathon either as a pre-formed team or as an individual participant assigned to a team by MentorME.

Each team must consist of 3 to 5 members, unless MentorME approves a different team size. Each participant may join only one team.

MentorME reserves the right to merge, split, rebalance, or reassign teams where reasonably necessary for fairness, inclusivity, skill balance, event logistics, or participant experience.

Recommended team structure

- Builder: responsible for technical development, prompts, logic, APIs, deployment, testing, and turning ideas into a working prototype.

- Product Thinker: responsible for defining the problem, target user, user journey, input/output structure, solution scope, and overall product direction.

- Storyteller: responsible for UX writing, demo clarity, pitch structure, storytelling, visuals, and presentation delivery.

These roles are recommended only. Teams may divide responsibilities in any way that suits their skills and working style.

3. Challenge and Deliverables

Teams must select one official challenge provided or approved by MentorME.

Each team must submit:

1. a working MVP;

2. a live, accessible demo URL;

3. a source code repository;

4. a short written description of the solution;

5. a 5-minute presentation or demo;

6. a list of tools, APIs, datasets, frameworks, and libraries used;

7. any setup instructions required for judges; and

8. an AI-use declaration if required by MentorME.

A working MVP means a functional prototype that demonstrates the core user flow and intended value of the solution. It does not need to be production-ready.

Submissions must clearly demonstrate:

1. the problem being solved;

2. the target user;

3. input, processing, and output;

4. the real-world use case;

5. the team's product thinking; and

6. the practical value of the solution.

4. Technical Requirements

Teams must use the official Hackathon technology stack, tools, platforms, credits, accounts, repositories, and environments approved by MentorME.

The official stack may include tools such as Lovable, GitHub, Vercel, Neon, Replit, or other platforms confirmed by MentorME in the participant guide or event communications.

All code and project work must be:

1. created during the official Hackathon timeframe;

2. stored in the assigned or approved repository;

3. accessible to MentorME and the judging panel; and

4. capable of being reviewed, demonstrated, or audited if required.

Pre-built projects, previously completed products, private templates, copied solutions, or external codebases are not permitted unless expressly approved by MentorME.

Teams may use public libraries, standard frameworks, official documentation, public APIs, open-source packages where licence terms are followed, and MentorME-approved starter materials or templates.

Teams are responsible for ensuring that all third-party materials are lawfully used and properly attributed where required.

5. Use of AI Tools

Participants may use approved AI tools during the Hackathon, including AI-assisted coding, prompting, debugging, design, research, testing, and content generation tools.

Participants remain responsible for all AI-generated outputs used in their submission.

Teams must verify that AI-generated code, content, prompts, images, data, documentation, and outputs are accurate, lawful, safe, original, and suitable for demonstration.

AI-generated material must not contain:

1. unlawful content;

2. discriminatory or harmful content;

3. misleading claims;

4. confidential information;

5. personal information used without permission;

6. infringing code, images, text, data, or media; or

7. unsafe technical instructions or functionality.

MentorME may require teams to disclose which AI tools were used and how those tools contributed to the final submission.

6. Data and Privacy in Projects

Teams must not upload, process, disclose, or use real personal information, sensitive information, confidential documents, real CVs, passport details, visa documents, health information, financial information, private messages, or third-party data unless MentorME has expressly approved it in writing.

Teams should use dummy data, sample data, synthetic data, or anonymised data only.

Participants must not build or submit projects that unlawfully collect, store, process, scrape, expose, or misuse personal information.

Teams are responsible for ensuring their project does not create avoidable privacy, security, ethical, or safety risks.

7. Fair Play and Integrity

To ensure fairness, all teams will receive access to comparable Hackathon resources, technical environments, and token or API allocations where applicable.

Mentors may provide guidance, feedback, debugging suggestions, product advice, and learning support. Mentors must not write, substantially modify, or complete code, prompts, designs, submissions, or pitches on behalf of teams.

Participants must not:

1. submit pre-built solutions;

2. plagiarise another team's work;

3. copy code, designs, pitches, or product concepts without permission;

4. use unauthorised external assistance;

5. misrepresent authorship, progress, or technical capability;

6. interfere with another team's work;

7. exploit platform vulnerabilities;

8. exceed assigned token, API, credit, or tool limits; or

9. attempt to gain unfair advantage.

MentorME may investigate suspected misconduct by reviewing repository history, commit timestamps, demo activity, tool logs, mentor reports, communication records, platform access, and other relevant materials.

Participants must cooperate with any reasonable integrity check. MentorME may disqualify any participant or team where it reasonably believes these Terms have been breached.

8. Submission Rules

All submissions must be completed before the official submission deadline.

The submission deadline will be stated in the relevant timezone confirmed by MentorME. Unless otherwise stated, the deadline will be based on the timezone specified in official event communications.

Late, incomplete, inaccessible, incorrect, or non-compliant submissions may be penalised or disqualified.

Each submission must include:

1. live demo link;

2. source code repository link;

3. short description of the solution;

4. presentation or demo materials; and

5. any other materials requested by MentorME.

MentorME is not responsible for failed uploads, broken links, incorrect repository permissions, expired demo links, platform outages, participant-side internet issues, or missing submission materials.

Teams should test all links and access permissions before submitting.

9. Judging Criteria

Projects will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Vibe Coding Craft means the team's ability to use AI-assisted development effectively, including prompt quality, iteration, debugging, product judgment, responsible AI use, and the ability to turn an idea into a coherent working prototype.

Judges may consider final submission quality, live demo performance, technical functionality, product clarity, real-world usefulness, team collaboration, responsible use of AI, mentor feedback, milestone completion, and compliance with these Terms.

Judges' decisions are final and binding. MentorME is not required to provide detailed scoring breakdowns, explanations, or appeals unless it chooses to do so.

10. Intellectual Property

Participants retain ownership of the intellectual property they create during the Hackathon, subject to any third-party rights, open-source licences, platform terms, or separate written agreements.

MentorME does not acquire ownership of participant-created intellectual property unless separately agreed in writing.

By submitting a project, each participant grants MentorME a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to display, reproduce, publish, communicate, promote, showcase, record, photograph, adapt, crop, edit, and share the project and related materials for educational, marketing, community, partnership, archival, and promotional purposes.

This licence includes the right to use:

1. team names;

2. participant names;

3. project names;

4. project summaries;

5. screenshots;

6. pitch decks;

7. demo recordings;

8. presentation materials;

9. video footage;

10. images; and

11. public-facing project links.

Participants warrant that their submissions do not infringe any third-party intellectual property rights, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations, licence terms, or other legal rights.

Participants are responsible for ensuring that any open-source software, public libraries, APIs, datasets, AI-generated content, images, fonts, music, video, trademarks, branding, or media used in their project are lawfully used and properly attributed.

To the extent permitted by law, participants consent to MentorME editing, formatting, captioning, adapting, cropping, or publishing submitted materials and event recordings for the purposes described in these Terms.

11. Privacy, Recording, and Media Consent

By registering for the Hackathon, participants consent to MentorME collecting, using, storing, and disclosing their personal information for purposes related to administering, operating, judging, promoting, improving, and reporting on the Hackathon.

This may include collection and use of:

1. names;

2. contact details;

3. education or graduate status;

4. team information;

5. GitHub usernames;

6. project links;

7. submitted materials;

8. attendance and participation records;

9. images, voice, video, and likeness; and

10. communications with MentorME, mentors, judges, or other participants.

Participants acknowledge that training sessions, workshops, pitch sessions, demos, presentations, and other event activities may be recorded, livestreamed, photographed, or republished.

MentorME may use participant names, team names, images, video footage, voice recordings, screenshots, project summaries, pitch materials, and demo recordings on its website, social media, newsletters, educational materials, partner communications, internal reports, and marketing channels.

Participants who do not wish to appear in promotional material must notify MentorME in writing before the event. MentorME will take reasonable steps to respect such requests, but this may affect the participant's ability to participate in livestreamed, recorded, or public-facing components of the Hackathon.

Participants must not record, photograph, livestream, publish, or share private event sessions, mentor feedback, other participants, or confidential event materials without MentorME's permission.

12. Code of Conduct

Participants must behave respectfully and professionally towards other participants, mentors, judges, speakers, organisers, partners, and platform users.

Participants must not engage in:

1. harassment;

2. bullying;

3. discrimination;

4. intimidation;

5. hate speech;

6. sexual harassment;

7. threats;

8. abusive messages;

9. doxxing;

10. spamming;

11. disruptive behaviour;

12. unauthorised recording;

13. misuse of event platforms; or

14. any conduct that MentorME considers unsafe, unlawful, inappropriate, or harmful.

This includes conduct based on race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, pregnancy, family responsibilities, or any other protected attribute.

Violation of the Code of Conduct may result in warning, removal from a session, disqualification, suspension from future MentorME programs, or referral to relevant authorities where appropriate.

13. Prizes and Awards

Prizes will be awarded to top-performing teams based on the judging criteria and final judging results.

Prize details, approximate value, eligibility requirements, and delivery method will be announced by MentorME before or during the Hackathon.

Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable, or redeemable for cash unless MentorME expressly states otherwise.

Winners will be selected based on skill, merit, and the published judging criteria. No element of chance will determine the winners.

Additional opportunities may be offered at MentorME's discretion, including mentorship, fellowship fast-track consideration, internship consideration, career-related introductions, or partner opportunities.

These additional opportunities are not guaranteed and do not constitute an offer of employment, internship, paid work, visa support, migration advice, sponsorship, or admission into any future program unless confirmed separately in writing.

MentorME reserves the right to adjust, substitute, withhold, or cancel prizes where reasonably necessary due to operational, legal, sponsorship, eligibility, or event integrity reasons.

14. Third-Party Platforms and Tools

The Hackathon may use third-party platforms and tools, including GitHub, Lovable, Vercel, Neon, Replit, Zoom, Discord, Google Workspace, or other services.

Participants are responsible for complying with the terms, policies, usage limits, and community standards of those third-party platforms.

MentorME is not responsible for third-party platform outages, account restrictions, data loss, service changes, billing issues, API limits, security incidents, or technical failures outside MentorME's reasonable control.

Participants must keep login credentials secure and must not share assigned accounts, API keys, credits, access tokens, or private links outside their team.

Participants must not attempt to access, interfere with, scrape, attack, reverse-engineer, overload, or compromise MentorME systems, third-party tools, other teams' repositories, or event infrastructure.

15. Confidentiality

Participants may receive access to non-public event materials, mentor feedback, datasets, platform instructions, partner information, business information, or other confidential materials.

Participants must not disclose confidential information outside the Hackathon unless MentorME gives written permission.

This confidentiality obligation does not apply to information that is already publicly available through no fault of the participant.

16. No Employment, Internship, Visa, or Migration Relationship

Participation in the Hackathon does not create an employment, contractor, internship, partnership, agency, student placement, migration advisory, fiduciary, or joint venture relationship with MentorME.

Any future opportunity, including internship, fellowship, mentorship, employment, sponsorship, partnership, or referral, must be separately confirmed in writing.

MentorME does not provide migration advice, visa advice, legal advice, financial advice, or employment guarantees through the Hackathon.

17. Event Changes, Cancellation, and Availability

MentorME reserves the right to modify, postpone, suspend, cancel, or restructure the Hackathon, including its format, schedule, mentors, judges, challenges, rules, judging criteria, prizes, platforms, technical requirements, and submission process.

MentorME may make changes where reasonably necessary due to operational needs, technical issues, participant safety, legal requirements, sponsor requirements, low registration numbers, platform failure, force majeure events, or other circumstances outside MentorME's reasonable control.

MentorME will take reasonable steps to communicate material changes to participants.

18. Liability

Participants take part in the Hackathon at their own risk.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, MentorME is not liable for indirect, consequential, special, incidental, or economic loss, including loss of data, loss of opportunity, loss of profits, reputational damage, platform outages, third-party tool failures, internet connectivity issues, participant-side technical issues, or unauthorised access caused by participant conduct.

MentorME is not responsible for:

1. technical issues on the participant side;

2. data loss;

3. connectivity issues;

4. failed uploads;

5. broken links;

6. third-party platform problems;

7. unauthorised use of participant accounts;

8. disputes between team members;

9. loss caused by inaccurate AI-generated outputs; or

10. participant misuse of tools, data, code, or platforms.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any rights, guarantees, warranties, or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable law.

19. Disqualification and Removal

MentorME may disqualify or remove a participant or team if MentorME reasonably believes that the participant or team has:

1. breached these Terms;

2. acted dishonestly or unfairly;

3. submitted prohibited or infringing work;

4. engaged in misconduct;

5. created safety, privacy, legal, or reputational risk;

6. disrupted the event;

7. failed to follow reasonable instructions; or

8. otherwise acted contrary to the spirit of the Hackathon.

Disqualification may result in loss of eligibility for prizes, awards, certificates, future opportunities, and public recognition.

20. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia, unless MentorME specifies another governing jurisdiction.

Participants submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the Commonwealth courts of Australia.

21. Acceptance of Terms

By registering for the Hackathon, each participant confirms that they:

1. have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms;

2. meet the eligibility requirements;

3. will comply with MentorME's reasonable instructions;

4. will submit only work that they are authorised to submit;

5. will use Hackathon tools and platforms responsibly; and

6. understand that breach of these Terms may result in disqualification or removal from the event.

For team submissions, each team member confirms that all submitted work is original, properly attributed, lawfully used, and created in accordance with these Terms.