On the night between the 8th and 9th of November, Trifecta team members, Gauri Bhagwat and Teresa Paccosi and Marieke van Erp, along with Andrea Schimmenti (UNIBO & DHLab guest), Bruno Sartini (LMU), and Richard Zijdeman (IISH) formed the MAMBO team [Munich, AMsterdam, BOlogna]. Together we won the jury award at HackaLOD 2024!
The Olympic stadium was the extraordinary frame in which we worked, spending the night coding, sharing ideas, and collaborating on innovative solutions to represent what lies behind and beyond the Olympic athletes, all while immersed in the stimulating atmosphere of the entire event.
Our journey began Friday at 5 p.m. with a kickoff event that introduced all 11 teams and provided a brief overview of the jury and program. The jury, a diverse panel of accomplished professionals, brought together expertise from multiple fields, setting high expectations for each team. Erwin Folmer, experienced researcher and team leader in ICT, chaired the jury, joined by Claudia van Oppen, an advocate for Open Science and director of Maastricht University Library; sports heritage expert Jurryt van de Vooren; Robert Sanderson from Yale University’s Digital Cultural Heritage department; and Geert-Jan Bogaerts, chairman of the PublicSpaces Foundation.
After dinner, each team dived into their projects, and the stadium quickly filled with the buzz of ideas, caffeine, and excitement. Fueled by coffee, fries, peanut M&Ms, and all the sugar we could find, we immersed ourselves in the challenge ahead, ready to materialize the idea in next 18 hours.
Beyond the amazing experience, we were impressed by how each of us contributed with our unique skills, combining different methodologies such as entity linking, entity recognition, NLP-based analysis, and quantitative visualization to work with both structured and unstructured data.
The synergy and connection we shared was even more surprising considering that half of the team had only met in person the night of the hackathon! The combination of skills, team-oriented attitudes, and passion for data made for a night filled with hard work but, above all, great fun!
The late hours brought not only focused work but also unexpected fun! Some of us couldn’t resist taking a break to jog a few laps around the iconic Olympic track, connecting with the very place where so many sporting legends had left their mark. By the early morning, with the jury visiting at 11 a.m., our adrenaline and anticipation were high. When presentations began at 1 p.m., every team showcased their hard work and unique insights. The day ended with a panel discussion, sharing reflections on the future of data in sports history, and then finally, the moment we had all been waiting for: the jury award announcement.
“And the winner is… TEAM MAMBO!”
We did it! After a night fueled by collaboration, creativity, and camaraderie, it was a rewarding end to an unforgettable hackathon experience. We’re already looking forward to the next one, ready for another round of caffeine, creativity, and pushing the boundaries of what we can achieve together.
