Behind the scenes at the Nine Hackathon
Data Engineer, Morgan Kerle and his team won both Best Overall Hack and Most Popular Hack. Here’s how they did it.
The hackathon at Nine is a fast-paced, high-energy event where teams from across the business come together to build, innovate, and problem-solve. It’s an opportunity for employees to apply their skills in new ways, collaborate across teams, and create something impactful in just 48 hours.
Data Engineer, Morgan Kerle and his team won both Best Overall Hack and Most Popular Hack, making them the standout team of the event. Here’s how they did it.
The big idea!
From the moment the hackathon was announced, it became a hot topic around the office. Morgan, who only joined Nine two months prior to the recent hackathon, recalls the chatter.“There was a real buzz. Everyone was kind of talking about it, and I jumped on and thought, oh yeah, I’d love to participate.”
For many, the challenge isn’t just in the execution but in coming up with a compelling idea. Over a casual lunch some of his team mates were floating ideas around. Morgan’s idea was a multiplayer head-to-head puzzle game inspired by an existing trivia game he loves to play. The problem: he knew nothing about how puzzles were implemented at Nine.
Putting the final pieces of the concept together was a stroke of fate. “I was in the office and overheard someone sitting next to me talking about the puzzles in the Mastheads. I thought this is my chance…”
That person turned out to be Frontend Developer Simon Lim. “We got chatting about my idea for the hack and then thankfully Simon said he was interested in joining the team – we would have been absolutely lost without his expertise.”
How the hackathon comes together
Once the idea takes shape, the next step is the lightning pitch rounds, where you present your proposal to secure a spot in the hackathon. This not only validates the idea but also helps attract potential teammates from across Nine. Morgan recruited a crucial Product designer, Emma Smith and enlisted a few members of his data team to bring the project to life.
While some preliminary strategy and organisation happens beforehand, all concept-building and execution takes place during an intense 48-hour sprint. As a late entry, Morgan’s team felt more unprepared than most, scrambling to get up to speed while others had already settled into their plans.
The hackathon event itself then kicks off with an exciting launch event, and then it’s all systems go!
The rollercoaster ride to success
Morgan’s team faced challenges right out of the gate. “We lost six hours on the first day where basically nobody could do anything. Multiple times I thought we’re going to get up there, have absolutely nothing to present, and it’s going to be terrible.”
But the team pulled together, adapted, and powered through. They even made the risky decision to do a live demo when presenting their proof of concept back to the business. “At the 11th hour, we decided to go for it, knowing that we were still having intermittent technical issues where it worked about 50 to 60% of the time. It ended up going off without a hitch. I was absolutely shocked.”
The result? Their project won Best Overall Hack and Most Popular Hack – an unexpected but well-earned victory. “I remember saying to the team, no matter what happens, I think we can all be really proud of ourselves and what we have accomplished. I wasn’t expecting to win any of the award categories because the competition was extremely stiff.”
A unique opportunity to connect and learn
“One of the most exciting aspects of Nine’s hackathon is the opportunity to work with people you might not ordinarily interact with. It’s really crosscutting in terms of having product people, designers, tech, front-end, back-end all coming together. It’s great to build those connections across the business.”
Team members are also taking a step away from their day to day role. “I ended up working on some very complicated front-end logic which had absolutely nothing to do with my day-to-day responsibilities, and not something I’d ever worked on. It’s a great opportunity to get some on-the-job experience if you have an interest in another area.”
The real win of the hackathon
Taking out the win should have surely been the highlight but for Morgan the real achievement came following the event. “The product team is now planning to build the puzzle into the product roadmap for production. If all goes to plan I’ll be joining the Metro Web team on a secondment to help bring it to life.” This initiative would be part of the Tech Team’s ‘Explorer program’, where you can trial a role to gain more experience and develop your skills.
From what began as an impromptu conversation to taking out the ‘Best Hack’, this year’s hackathon created a launchpad for new ideas, friendships and career opportunities. No doubt, plenty of team members are already planning for the next Nine Hackathon.
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