What is CodeMania?

The City of Coral Gables, in partnership with the University of Miami and Salesforce, is excited for the return of the hackathon event CodeMania. CodeMania is a 3-week competitive, hands-on learning experience for high school students to learn how to build and present a solution using Salesforce to solve real-world problems. Together with your team you will plan, create, and present a public-facing digital experience and/or chatbot concept that can help the City of Coral Gables improve the lives of its residents and visitors.

Whether you are a coder- or app developer-in-training, get ready to gain valuable and marketable skills creating portals, chatbots, and digital experiences on one of the most used customer relationship management (CRM) systems on the market, Salesforce. Go as out-of-the-box or custom as you like but remember to keep your end goal in mind! Not a coder? Never fear! We want to help bring your ideas to life and will teach you what you need to know to get started with your build. Remember, this is a team effort. All teams must be two to five students and have an official sponsor from their high school. Teams are required not only to create a proof of concept but also to present the solution and connect it back to the real-world problem you are attempting to solve.

Assemble a team and compete

• Two to five students from each high school.
• All teams must have an adult sponsor.
• Teams must commit to participating in the three-week competition from start to finish.

The timeline

Registration is done via online form and is due Feb. 9, 2024. Don't miss out! Register now. Once registered, each team will receive additional information and resources to help prepare for the event.

You will have two weeks to build your solution. Get stuck or need some guidance? We will be hosting office hours during week two with mentors and experienced Salesforce administrators to help you on your way. Each team must submit an abstract of their solution and their final project submissions.

The kickoff event will be Feb. 28. During this meeting we will explain the prompt of the competition, go over office hours, and introduce key individuals. 

Teams will participate in an in-person event at the University of Miami on March 15 where they will present solutions and a panel of judges will select CodeMania winners. After the judges convene, we will have an awards ceremony and celebration.

CodeMania Challenges

Your goal this year is to build a public-facing digital experience or chatbot concept to help students find one of the following:

• Explore and Organize Scholarships and Internships
  • Develop a Salesforce solution to identify and categorize scholarships and internships for high school students. The solution should provide an organized view of these opportunities based on the student's interests, qualifications, and career aspirations.
• Career Path Exploration
  • Create a Salesforce-powered solution that matches high school students with potential career paths. The solution might incorporate quizzes or assessments, which then use those results to suggest suitable career options. The solution should provide insights into educational institutions aligning with the suggested career paths.
• Volunteer Opportunities
  • Develop a Salesforce solution to connect high school students with relevant volunteer opportunities. The solutions should consider students' preferences, skills, and locations to recommend volunteer programs, such as environmental cleanups, community service, and social initiatives.