Please, Explain!
The Nord Entertainment Conference Creative Weekend “Hack’n’Jam” is a creative event happening just before the Nord Entertainment Conference in Levanger, from the 2st to the 4rd of February at the Nord University Levanger Campus. Anyone is free to join and participate in the prototyping and development of new ideas. The event is inspired by the concept of a Hackathon, where the people collaborate during 24-48h to learn about new technologies and develop new and innovative projects and ideas; and also from the concept of a Game-Jam where a similar thing is done in the context of games.
However, what makes the “Hack’n’Jam” special is our unique very broad “Entertainment” topic and the combination of participant profiles. While everyone is welcome, in this event the disciplines of Games and Entertainment Technologies, Film and TV Production and CG-Art and Animation are combined for a greater good.
Such an event and collaboration is done with one sole purpose: innovation. This innovation is archived through our pillars: “One-for-all” so every project combines as many disciplines as possible, “Fun and serious” so it’s not only fun but has social impact and inclusion, and for this year “AI Entertainment”.
Topics
Let’s be clear, this is a one-of-a-kind event, so instead of fixing up a problem or a specific topic, all ideas and projects will be allowed as long as they align with the pillars. Best ideas will be awarded and creativity as well. Still, topics and suggestions will be available for the participants to choose on.
Here you can find our topics suggestions:
- Diversity and inclusion.
- New and fair entertainment.
- Games / entertainment experiences for social impact.
- Entertainment production (improvements in production processes).
- Mixed reality experiences.
The type of applications can be (but is not limited to):
- Games and serious games.
- Entertainment applications.
- Short movies and animations.
- Interactive or AI generated movies or streams.
- PC and smartphone applications.
Awards
The prices are still meant to be defined, but this text includes the proposal of what we consider could be an ideal set of prices:
Prices: 1st Price*: TBA NOK, 2nd Price: TBA NOK, 3rd Price: TBA NOK
As part of the prices, the event wants to spread culture awarding games to the following:
- Price “Please, explain!” to the Best Idea: 1 x Street Fighter 6 (PS5) + More surprises!
- Price “One-For-All” to the Best Cooperation: 1 x It Takes Two (Switch) + More surprises!
- Price “Fun and Serious” to the best Social Inclusion: 1 x Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) + More surprises!
- Price “Entertain ME” to the Best AI Entertainment related Idea: 1 x Elden Ring (PS5) + More surprises!
* Prices will be given in the form of different gift cards.
Schedule Summary
The event will be held on Feb 2-7, but the creative weekend happens on Feb 2-4:
| Date | Description | Location |
| Jan 12th | Registration Starts | Here |
| Feb 1st | Registration Closes | Here |
| Feb 2nd | 16:00 – Hack’n’Jam Presentation and Meeting Ceremony * Presenters: Dr Iván José & Dr Victor Manuel Pérez Colado “This presentation will introduce you to the creative weekend format, tasks, awards and more. You will also brainstorm projects and create your teams for the upcoming days!” | Storsalen (MazeMap ) |
| Feb 3rd | 10:00-23:59 – Hack’n’Jam Marathon Day 1 “The marathon starts! This day you will setup your teams in the Kantine, and start creating! The space is free for you and you will have supplies for Lunch and Dinner all on the house*”. | Levanger Campus Kantine |
| Feb 4th | 00:00-18:00 – Hack’n’Jam Final Projects Submissions and Celebration “Final sprint! This day you will finish the touches and produce a promo video of your product. Same as the previous day, you will have supplies for Lunch and we will have a small dinner and celebration at the end all on the house*”. | Levanger Campus Kantine |
| Feb 6-7th | 09:00 – 17:30 – Nord Entertainment Conference Happens * Projects will be exhibited to the audience in the Confecence Gallery 15:15 – 17:00 – Project presentations | Confecence Gallery / Daniel Mortensen, Nylåna |
| Feb 7th | 10:00 – 10:30 – Hack’n’Jam Awards Ceremony | Storsalen, Nylåna (MazeMap ) |
* Subject to availability.
Participants and Inscriptions
Everyone is allowed to participate. Students from all three years of BASPO, BAFTV and BAGCA are all invited to participate, and their participation might be required to some of the courses (with some exceptions). This creates a solid base of 120+ potential participants.
Because all the students should be able to participate, the “Hack’n’Jam’ is going to provide 120 slots. Team sizes are not restricted.The online inscriptions for the “Hack’n’Jam” will be open from Friday 12th of Jan to Thursday 1st of Feb, but participants will be able to also register on Feb 2nd if slots are still available.