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  •   10 months ago

Request for Grace Extension Due to Prolonged Power Outage

Hi Michelle,

I had a bit of an issue being unable to submit my projects on this end. I am from South Africa, and as most people know we are famous for something called "Load Shedding" AND OR "Power System Failure" sometimes leading to heavily prolonged power outages. So, We had a regional Power Plant go out of Service on Thursday and only returned to working state today 02/07/2025 at around 17:30PM - 17:50PM, as you can see I was unable to finish my submission but this was out of my control. I did attempt to do what I could over mobile device but I wasn't able to reach any solid point of productivity as it was constantly running out of memory and crashing so often that I just couldn't deal with the frustration any longer. Not having access to my laptop, really broke my ability to finish and submit everything on time, I solo'ed four Apps.

I have a One Shot Prompt App Entry, that I was busy with the last time we had power on either late Thursday or very early Friday depending on how you look at it, before bad coal almost blew up the power generation unit. So I am begging for some extension so I can finish the Demo Videos and last implementations of Tavus and Eleven Labs on my two Main Projects and the finishing touches of my Devvit App and then the Formal Submission of my One Shot Prompt and the other apps that I wasn't able to complete. I was busy with the submission of the one shot prompt entry when the power went out. Is there at all a possibility to get a few grace hours to finish these off? And submit them? These are some really ground breaking apps. I'd take whatever extra time I can get to have these out in the world while there is so much attention on the event and improving the world and the way we live in it.

I would be super grateful should I be granted the opportunity to get these Golden Eggs submitted.

I thank you in advance, and for making us as a community more included in the new era of tech. I love bolt.new and it's team members for they great work they are doing.

Kind regards,

Ryno.

  • 5 comments

  •   •   10 months ago

    Good day,

    Does anyone know how to get a hold of the Bolt.new Hackathon manager Michelle? This is taking too long and there's no response.

    If anyone can help I'll appreciate it.

    Thanks.

  • Manager   •   10 months ago

    Hello Gerbrand, Thank you for reaching out! I'm very sorry that you missed the deadline for the World's Largest Hackathon presented by Bolt, but in fairness to the other contestants, the deadline is firm. Unfortunately we can’t accept your submission into the Hackathon at this point. That said, we do appreciate all of the hard work you put into your app and hope that you can enter future Hackathons.

  •   •   10 months ago

    Good day Ma'am,

    Thank you for your response. I am writing to you one last time, not to argue the rules, but to appeal to the human spirit of this competition, especially in light of the full timeline and the time-sensitive nature of my work.

    I need to be completely transparent: receiving the final decision on July 8th was heartbreaking. I sent my initial, urgent request for help on July 2nd, the very day my power was restored after a crippling five-day municipal outage. At that point, the judging had not yet begun, and as per the stated schedule the judging only started 7 July, is there truly no way to make it happen?

    I held onto the hope that a quick response might allow for a solution. The week-long delay in communication, unfortunately, closed a door that might have otherwise remained open.

    For me, this hackathon wasn't just a contest; it was a critical window of opportunity. I poured weeks of my life into developing four fully-functional applications and lost so much sleep due to my dedication. Crucially, the ideas I've built are at the razor's edge of current technology. In an industry that moves at this pace, a delay of even a few weeks can be the difference between a market-defining venture and a forgotten idea. This hackathon was the launchpad, and I fear that without this chance, the window for these specific innovations may close.

    I worked my absolute hardest, only to be blindsided at the final hour by a force of sheer, uncontrollable bad luck. There was nothing I could do.
    I know you must ensure fairness. But I would gently ask you to consider if true fairness accounts for such devastating, verifiable, and extraordinary circumstances. The spirit of a hackathon, especially one presented by a disruptor like Bolt, is to find and elevate innovation that might otherwise go unseen. My work is done. It is ready. It exists. The only thing preventing it from being seen is this cruel twist of fate, compounded by a communication delay.

    All I am asking for is a chance. Not special treatment in the judging, not a guaranteed win, but simply the opportunity to submit my work so that it can be part of the conversation. Throw me at the back of the line. I don't need any special favors in the actual competition I have everything—the apps, documentation, and video demos—ready to go.

    I lost 5/4 days due to something I could not control, I am only asking for 1 to ensure that my apps are submitted correctly.

    This was about more than just a deadline for me. It was about bringing time-sensitive work to a community that would understand its immediate value. That is what this was all about, right?

    I have to believe there is room for grace when a dedicated participant does everything right, only to be thwarted by the unpredictable nature of life.

    Thank you for hearing me out one last time.
    Sincerely and hopefully,

    Ryno

  •   •   10 months ago

    I can provide you with the communication from the local municipality as evidence.

    Please let me know where I can send it to should it be required as it doesn't seem like I'm able to attach or upload it to the discussion board.

  • Manager   •   10 months ago

    Hello Gerbrand, Thank you for reaching out! I'm very sorry that this happened to you but we must keep the deadline is firm. In fairness to the other contestants and due to the size of this competition, we cannot take individual cases. Unfortunately we can’t accept your submission into the Hackathon at this point. That said, we do appreciate all of the hard work you put into your app and hope that you can enter future Hackathons.

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