Codefi Vibeathon Rules

The official rules are subject to change per event. Here is a broad overview of general rules for most events.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT) AND CODEFI.


SPONSOR & ADMINISTRATOR

Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation (“Codefi”), 338 Broadway, Ste. 601, Cape Girardeau, MO.


LOCATION, DATES, AND TIMING

Location: The event location will be announced on the official Vibeathon website.
Dates: The event dates will be announced on the official Vibeathon website.
Schedule: The event schedule will be announced on the official Vibeathon website.
The Sponsor will be the official timekeeper for the Vibeathon.


ELIGIBILITY

A. The Vibeathon is open to:

  • Individuals who are citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 years of age or older (“Eligible Individuals”).

  • Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”). If a Team is entering the Vibeathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission on their behalf. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above. By entering a Submission on the Site on behalf of a Team you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team.

  • The above are collectively, “Entrants.”

B. The Vibeathon is not open to:

  • Individuals who are residents of, or organizations domiciled in, a country, state, province, or territory where the laws of the United States or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Vibeathon (including, but not limited to, Brazil, Quebec, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control).

  • Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.

  • Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).

  • Employees, representatives, and agents** of such organizations, and all members of their immediate family or household.*

  • Any other individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, and each member of their immediate family or household.*

  • Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge.

  • Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate*** of any organization described above.

  • Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Vibeathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest.

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year.
**Agents include individuals or organizations that, in creating a Submission to the Vibeathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.
***An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by, the other organization.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in these Official Rules, the Sponsor is the sole arbiter of eligibility and, accordingly, reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, deny eligibility or other participation in the Vibeathon to any person or entity for any reason.


SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

How to Enter:

Entrants may enter by visiting https://vibeathon.us (“Vibeathon Website”) and following the below steps:
A. Register for the Vibeathon on the Vibeathon Website by clicking the “Register Now” button. Entrants must also complete all required fields of the entry form, including providing your full name and email address.
B. Build and submit a vibe coded prototype of a software application that is designed to solve a presented problem (each an “Application”). Problems will be provided at the Vibeathon.
C. Entrants shall use their platform of choice to create their vibe coded prototype. Entrants are responsible for any vibe coding platform related expenses they incur while participating in the Vibeathon.
D. Submit the prototype by (1) posting a public GitHub repository link on app.vibeathon.us or (2) uploading a zip file to app.vibeathon.us (“Submission”) during the Submission Period and following the requirements below.
E. Entry in the Vibeathon constitutes consent for the Sponsor to collect and maintain an entrant’s personal information for the purpose of operating and publicizing the Vibeathon.


Submission Requirements:

A. What to Create: Entrants must build a vibe coded prototype of a software application that is designed to solve a presented problem. Problem(s) will be provided at the Vibeathon. Entrants may choose to submit a prototype that is designed to solve one problem per Submission. Participants need to submit a prototype for each problem they want to compete for. Participants cannot create one prototype that solves all problems collectively. Each is its own product.
B. Text Description: Provide a text description along with the Submission that explains the features and functionality of your Application.
C. Visual Representation: Create a visual representation of the Submission that clearly explains your Application’s features and functionality through a demonstration. This may be in the form of a video demonstration. The video submission:

  • should be less than five (5) minutes;

  • must include footage that clearly explains the Application’s features and functionality through a comprehensive demonstration;

  • must be provided to Codefi through a link to app.vibeathon.us when the Submission is submitted; and

  • must not include third party trademarks or copyrighted music or other material unless the Entrant has permission to use such material.

D. Testing: The Entrant must make the Application available free of charge and without any restriction, for testing, evaluation, and use by the Sponsor, Administrator, and Judges during the Vibeathon and until the Judging Period ends. Entrants may be required to show a working prototype on their computer to the Judges.
E. Original Work: Applications must be the original work of the Entrant, be solely owned by the Entrant, and not violate the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity.
F. Protected Information: Applications shall not use any protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information (PII). Any use of PHI or PII will result in automatic disqualification.
G. Third Party Data & Tools: Applications may utilize data from outside (public) sources and may integrate SDKs or APIs, provided the Entrant is authorized to use them.
H. Financial or Preferential Support: An Application must not have been developed, or derived from an Application developed, with financial or preferential support from the Sponsor or Administrator. Such Applications include, but are not limited to, those that received funding or investment for their development, were developed under contract, or received a commercial license, from the Sponsor or Administrator any time prior to the end of Vibeathon Submission Period. The Sponsor, as determined in its sole discretion, may disqualify an Application if awarding a prize to the Application could create a real, apparent, or potential conflict of interest.
I. Multiple Submissions: An Entrant may submit more than one Submission, however, each submission must be unique and substantially different from each of the Entrant’s other submissions, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.
J. Language Requirements: All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Entrant must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted.
K. Intellectual Property: Your Submission must: (a) be your (or your Team’s) original work product; (b) be solely owned by you or your Team with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it; (c) not violate the intellectual property rights or other rights including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity; and (d) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code. An Entrant may submit a Submission that includes the use of open source software or hardware, provided the Entrant complies with applicable open source licenses and, as part of the Submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open source product. By entering the Vibeathon you represent, warrant, and agree that your Submission meets these requirements.


SUBMISSION RIGHTS

A. Intellectual Property Rights: All Submissions and any intellectual property, source code, and related materials created during or arising from participation in the Vibeathon will become the intellectual property of Codefi. By submitting an entry, Entrants agree that Codefi will own any intellectual property associated with or arising from the Submissions. Entrants will have no intellectual property rights in the Submissions, intellectual property, source code, and related materials created during or arising from participation in the Vibeathon immediately upon Entrants submitting a Submission.


B. Submission Display: The following Submission components may be displayed by the Sponsor, the Administrator, or any other third parties acting on the Sponsor’s or the Administrator’s behalf to the public: name, description, images, video URL, website URL, and team members. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the Sponsor, Administrator, and Judges for screening and evaluation.


JUDGING AND CRITERIA

A. Judges: Eligible Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor (the “Judges”). Judges may be employees of the Sponsor or external, may or may not be listed individually on the Vibeathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging will take place in two rounds.
B. Scoring: The Judges will score eligible Submissions using the following criteria (the “Judging Criteria”):

  • Impact & Relevance (40% of total score): Includes how effectively the Application addresses the industry problem.

  • Feasibility (15% of total score): Includes how readily the Application can be piloted to a real use application.

  • Innovation (15% of total score): Includes creativity and originality of the Application idea and solution; strong use of AI.

  • User Experience (10% of total score): Includes the clarity and accessibility of the Application to the end user.

  • Demo Quality (20% of total score): Includes the description of what problem the Application addresses, how the Application solves the problem, what technology is used, the connection the Application makes to real-world problems, and the reliability of the Application.

C. Finalists: The top 3 Entrants’ video submissions per problem will be shown as winners are revealed.
D. Tie Breaker: For each Prize listed below, if two or more Submissions are tied, the tied Submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion listed above will be considered the higher scoring Submission. In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more Submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied Submissions and determine the winner in their sole discretion.
E. Winner Announcement: Potential winners will be announced at the official Vibeathon event.


PRIZES


Prizes may or may not be available at each official Vibeathon event and will be listed on the official Vibeathon website and are subject to change at the discretion of the Sponsor.
Note on multiple prize eligibility: Entrants are eligible to win a Prize for each problem for which they enter a Submission. Entrants’ prizes will be awarded by Judges’ scores.


VERIFICATION OF POTENTIAL WINNERS


A. Verification Requirement: THE AWARD OF A PRIZE TO A POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY, QUALIFICATIONS, AND ROLE OF THE POTENTIAL WINNER IN THE CREATION OF THE SUBMISSION. The final decision to designate a winner shall be made by the Sponsor and/or Administrator.

B. Required Forms:

  • Each prize recipient shall be required to furnish their Social Security Number, residential address, and banking account information. Such information shall be utilized for the purpose of complying with federal tax reporting obligations, including the issuance of Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 in the event that the aggregate value of the prize(s) awarded equals or exceeds six hundred dollars ($600.00), as well as for facilitating payment of the prize by means of direct deposit.

  • Prize recipients shall have fourteen (14) days to provide the required information. Upon timely receipt of the required documentation, Sponsor shall disseminate the prize payment within forty-five (45) calendar days. Failure to provide the required documentation within the specified fourteen (14) day period may, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, result in disqualification and forfeiture of the prize.

C. Disqualification: The Sponsor and/or Administrator may, in their sole discretion, deem a potential winner (or participating team members) ineligible to win if:

  • The potential winner is not present when the Winner Announcement is made;

  • The Required Form is not returned within 14 days after announcement of the potential winners; or

  • The Submission or the potential winner, or any member of a potential winner’s Team, Small Organization, or Large Organization, is disqualified for any other reason.
    In the event of a disqualification, the Sponsor and/or Administrator may award the applicable Prize to an alternate potential winner.


PRIZE DISTRIBUTION

A. Substitutions & Changes: Prizes are non-transferable by the winner. Sponsor in its sole discretion has the right to make a prize substitution of equivalent or greater value. Sponsor will not award a prize if there are no eligible submissions entered in the Vibeathon, or if there are no eligible Entrants or submissions for a specific prize.
B. Prize Delivery: Prizes will be payable to the Entrant, if an individual, or to the Entrant’s Representative, if a Team. It will be the responsibility of the winning Entrant’s Representative to allocate the Prize among their Team’s participating members, as the Entrant’s Representative deems appropriate. A monetary Prize will be mailed to the winning Entrant’s address (if an individual) or the Representative’s address (if a Team), or wired to the Entrant or Entrant Representative’s bank account, within 45 days of Sponsor’s receipt of the Required Form. Failure to provide correct information on the Required Form, or other correct information required for the delivery of a Prize, may result in delayed Prize delivery, disqualification of the Entrant, or forfeiture of a Prize.
C. Fees & Taxes: Winners (and in the case of a Team, all participating members) are solely responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a prize, including but not limited to wiring fees. Winners (and in the case of a Team, all participating members) are solely responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial, and local). Winners may be required to provide certain information to facilitate receipt of the award, including completing and submitting any tax or other forms necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements. United States residents are required to provide a completed form W-9. The Sponsor, Administrator, and/or Prize provider reserve the right to withhold a portion of the prize amount to comply with the tax laws of the United States.


ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE

A. By entering the Vibeathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a Team, each participating member) agree to the following:

  • The relationship between you, the Entrant, and Sponsor is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.

  • You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor and/or the Vibeathon Judges, which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Vibeathon.

  • You release, indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Sponsor, Administrator, Promotion Entities, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising, or promoting the Vibeathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives (the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to an Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission, or entry of a Submission, participation in the Vibeathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto), and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation, or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules.

B. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with:

  • Any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or Administrator’s electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Vibeathon;

  • Technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Vibeathon Website;

  • Data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to, or alteration of Submission materials, loss or otherwise;

  • Unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Vibeathon;

  • Technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Vibeathon or the processing of Submissions; or

  • Any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Vibeathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.
    The Released Parties are not responsible for, among other things, incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor or Administrator. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.


PARTICIPANT WARRANTIES AND OBLIGATIONS


A. By submitting an entry to the Vibeathon, you agree that you have full right and authority to enter and participate in the Vibeathon. You are solely responsible for your entry. All entry information is deemed collected in the United States.
B. Participation is subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. You are responsible for checking applicable laws and regulations in your jurisdiction before participating in the Vibeathon to make sure that your participation is legal.
C. Each Entrant is solely responsible for all equipment, including but not necessarily limited to a computer and internet connection necessary to access the Vibeathon Website and to develop and upload any Submission, as well as all costs incurred by or behalf of the Entrant in participating in the Vibeathon.
D. By entering a Submission, you represent and warrant that you have the right and authority to make the Submission on your own behalf and that your Submission:

  • is your own original work;

  • does not contain confidential information;

  • does not violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights, copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity;

  • does not and will not violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation; and

  • does not trigger any reporting or royalty obligation to any third party.
    E. A breach of any of these warranties will result in the corresponding entry being invalid, as well as other legal obligations.


PUBLICITY


By participating in the Vibeathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments, and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes.


GENERAL CONDITIONS


A. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify the dates and deadlines, and the right to modify, add, or remove additional Vibeathon deadlines for any reason.
B. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the Vibeathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not or could not have been anticipated or is not otherwise within their control.
C. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Vibeathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of the Vibeathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.
D. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Vibeathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should Sponsor suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.
E. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Vibeathon materials, including but not limited to the Vibeathon Website or advertising (including but not limited to television, print, radio or online ads), the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.
F. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor. Sponsor will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Vibeathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.
G. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification.
H. The Sponsor’s failure for any reason to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Official Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the Sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.
I. All intellectual property related to the Vibeathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans, and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.


LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY


By participating in the Vibeathon, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team, all participating members) agree to be bound by the Official Rules and hereby release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Vibeathon.


PRIVACY


Entrants agree that personal data submitted and any other information provided in connection with the Vibeathon may be processed, shared, and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the Vibeathon and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules. The information collected is subject to the Privacy Policy found at https://www.codefiworks.com/privacy/.


GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE


A. Entrant agrees that, to the fullest extent permitted by law:

  • Entrant releases and will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Sponsor, Administrator, and Promotion Entities from any and all Claims from third parties related to Entrant’s participation in the Vibeathon;

  • Any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Vibeathon or the Prizes awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action;

  • Any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Vibeathon or the Prizes awarded shall be resolved solely and exclusively in a federal or state court located in Missouri. Entrant submits to sole and exclusive personal jurisdiction to said courts in Missouri for any such dispute and irrevocably waives any and all rights to object to such jurisdiction;

  • Any and all claims, judgments, and awards shall be limited to actual damages of out-of-pocket expenses associated with entering the Vibeathon, but in no event attorneys’ fees, and under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, and consequential damages or any other damages, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

B. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, your rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Sponsor in connection with the Vibeathon, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Missouri in the United States, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules.