24 Hours, 14 Teams, One Life-Changing Experience 

In the beginning of August, I got a call from our partners at MiQ inviting me to participate in a unique experience. Spark24 is a hackathon, bringing together media clients and data partners with MiQ employees to solve industry problems through the literal build of ad tech products in a mere 24 hours. The catch: it was on the other side of the world in Bangalore, India, the location of MiQ’s 400-person Center of Excellence (COE).

Around this time, my daughter was prepping to leave for her freshman year of college. She was scared, nervous and anxious about leaving home, but I knew that when she got to Chicago, she would have no regrets. I asked her to trust why she wanted to go in the first place, take a leap and do the hard thing. I knew that meant I had to do the same or I would regret it if I passed this up. So, after 24 hours of contemplation (things like malaria, 22 hours of travel one-way, and missing a week of work were top of mind), I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the chance of a lifetime.

To be honest, India was never on my bucket list. I admire the culture, the people and the food, but I have a long list of other places on my must-see travel list. But travel is an adventure no matter the destination and my thoughts have changed dramatically because of this experience.

As soon as I got on the plane from Chicago to Doha, I knew this would be unlike anything I experienced before. Our flight pattern took us over Istanbul, Baghdad and Kuwait. I had lobster for dinner, was offered pajamas and slippers and cozied up in my seat-turned-bed for the 13+ hour flight. I marveled at the Hermés, Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton stores in the Doha airport. I felt the effects of being a woman in the Middle East as I was subtly, yet effectively, treated as a second-class citizen. Upon arrival in Bangalore, I saw bustling roadways at 3am where lane markers be damned, and honking was constant. Even though my eyes were mostly shut on that harrowing drive into the city center, they were opened wide to the week ahead.

There are almost 1.5 billion people in India. Infrastructure is poor. Cows have the right of way. There is a distinct class system sans the middle class with prevalent poverty. Arranged marriages are still frequent as you are both finding a spouse and marrying two families. And according to Google, there are 121 languages and 19,500 dialects in the country, which makes communication with outside villages challenging and English prominent.

Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India, where tech companies and more modern practices are common. Before the work started, I had plenty of opportunities to explore the city, taking in the culture, the shopping, the food, harrowing tuk tuk rides, and playing roulette with my life just crossing the street. I was alongside the MiQ team and the COE locals, who were often our tour guides, showing us all this city had to offer. When I say that I have never met a more kind, hospitable and lovely group of people, I’m being honest. They made a girl from Kansas City feel so welcomed into their city, their office and onto their team.

After a day and a half of typical conference sessions, it was time to start the hack. There were 14 teams who, after pitching ideas to leadership, were selected to participate in Spark24. Our team, Team Scripts, focused on a healthcare planning tool that would make planning for our healthcare clients more robust and data driven, led by brand and competitive audience and channel insights. In a highly regulated and restricted industry, data integration is often a compliancy challenge, leading to a more generalized approach. We aimed to change that. The gong sounded at 12 noon and our 24 hours started!

What I witnessed in those 24 hours (okay, I left at 1 am and slept for 3.5 hours of that time) was inspiring, energizing and just plain awesome. The product team and data analysts asked my opinions to ensure the tool would be most useful. There were whiteboard scribbles and hand-drawn pictures to convey ideas. Collaboration and teamwork were high with incredibly smart people turning ideas into reality, combining data sources, coding the back and front end and integrating AI into this tool. Sleep was lacking, caffeine was flowing, food was plenty and a band, VR games and chair massages helped break up the night. I helped build slides and prepare for the pitch presentation. We had two check-ins with judges, refined ideas, reworked slides, practiced talk tracks and ultimately hit send on our presentation with a working tool and an elated team as the clock struck 0:00.

Teams had eight minutes to present to MiQ leadership and two minutes of Q&A. Believe me when I say this is an extremely short amount of time to set up the challenge, describe the solution, run a demo of the tool and communicate all the commercial upsides to both agency and MiQ. Truth be told, we got the gong on our last slide but communicated the heart of what we intended to get across. I left that room feeling accomplished, proud, honored to be a part of the team and, honestly, like a badass.

The hack culminated in a huge rooftop party (rooftops are definitely a thing in Bangalore) where food was abundant and drink flowed, and music and dancing were constant. We celebrated our successes and enjoyed the company of new friends. Winners were announced, and I’m proud to say that out of 14 teams, Team Scripts received the honorable mention, finishing one point (!!) out of third place. The tool is viable, my contributions were acknowledged and appreciated, and we changed how agencies will plan for healthcare clients. I was a part of that all because I pushed out of my comfort zone and took a leap of faith. And it was worth it a million times over.

Namaste.