CAN YOU BUILD IT IN A DAY?
The biggest hackathon ever in the Catskills. One Saturday, one build, $10,000 in cash and prizes.
The room holds 75 builders. When it fills, it closes.
Tickets are $50 a seat — a team of three covers its own seats, $150 total.
Students: $10 off — ask your teacher or the organizers for the student code.
DOORS AT 9. AWARDS AT 8.
Eleven hours, start to finish. Parents are welcome for pitches and awards.
NOBODY KNOWS THE THEME. NOT EVEN YOU.
The theme is sealed until 9 AM on the day. When it drops, every team in the room starts from the same blank screen and has until 6 PM to build something real against it.
The theme stays hidden
One prompt, revealed on stage at 9 AM. No head start, no inside track, no pre-built projects.
A website. An app. A tool.
You choose the shape your answer takes. What matters is that a judge can open it and use it.
Real, by 6 PM
Not a slide deck. Something that works, built by you, in the room, in a single Saturday.
You do not need to arrive with an idea. You could not have one anyway — the whole room finds out together.
FOUR THINGS THE JUDGES SCORE
Each team gets three minutes on stage and two minutes of questions. Scores are equal weight across all four.
It works
A judge can open it and tap through it. Working beats ambitious.
Impact
Socially and financially. Who is better off because this exists, and how does it keep paying for itself?
Craft
Clear screens, readable copy, decisions you can defend. Taste counts.
The pitch
Three minutes, everyone on the team speaks, no slides required.
THE JUDGES
Five seats on the panel. Two are reserved for sponsors.
EVERY TEAM SHIPPED SOMETHING ON 7/27.
Our first build day ran with Bold Gold Media Group and a room of 14 to 16 year olds. All of them left with a working app, and most had never written a line of code that morning.
FutureLab is the same day with the training wheels off, on a college campus, with prize money on the line.
COME WITH FRIENDS. LEAVE WITH A TEAM.
Sign up as a team of two to four, or come alone and get matched at kickoff. Nobody builds by themselves and nobody eats alone.
BUILD YOUR TEAM
Every team runs three roles: Creative, Architect, Voice. Claim yours, invite someone into each open role, and they get a card with their name on it.
A DJ, not a silent room
Music runs all day, prizes get handed out between rounds, and a countdown clock on the wall keeps the whole room on the same beat.
Food is covered
Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and coffee, included with your ticket. Bring an appetite and a phone charger.
1,000 YOUNG BUILDERS IN SULLIVAN COUNTY
FutureLab is one activation of the 1,000 Youth campaign. School-day workshops reach students under 16 where they already are. The hackathon is where 16 to 24 year olds go head to head. Both routes feed the 1,000.
School-day workshops
A full day of hands-on instruction inside the school day, for students under 16. Ran with Bold Gold on 7/27.
FutureLab, ages 16–24
Competition format on a college campus. Job Corps serves 16–24 and SUNY Sullivan students are the home crowd, so the age range matches the partner pipeline.
Built it, pitched it, can do it again
1,000 young people in this county who have shipped something real, not 1,000 who have opened a chatbot.
EVERYONE'S IN.
Presented by the People Patch Foundation with partners across the county.
MENTOR FOR A DAY.
We need about thirteen adults on the floor: people who build software, run a business, teach, or just ask good questions. No prep, no curriculum to learn. Show up at 10, sit with two teams, help them get unstuck.
SPONSOR A SEAT. NAME A BUILDER.
Sponsorships are sold by the People Patch Foundation, a 501(c)(3), so every dollar is tax-deductible. Sponsors are named on the site, on stage, and in the radio ads. Every tier is priced as the number of students it covers — a seat is $50.
Sponsor early to be named in the ads and on the shirts — both go to print before the event.
"FutureLab, presented by you." Named in every radio ad, top billing on stage and on the site, and an award presented by your team. $5,000 buys every one of the 75 seats at $50 and puts the remaining $1,250 into the grand prize and a meal for every builder.
Claim the presenting tierOr have us invoice you insteadLogo on the site and event tees, a table at the venue, stage shout-out at awards.
Sponsor 50 seatsOr have us invoice youFunds the grand prize or a meal for every builder. Logo on the site, named at awards.
Sponsor 20 seatsOr have us invoice youIn-kind food, venue gear, prizes, and mentor time all count. Local shop, family, or a figure between the tiers — any amount sponsors seats at $50 each. Covering more than the top tier? Email us.
help@unlock.academyGIVE WHAT YOU CAN.
Every $50 puts one more young person in the room on November 14. Give any amount — or pick a sponsor tier above and it will be filled in for you. Your receipt comes from the People Patch Foundation, so every dollar is deductible.
Form not loading? Open it in a new tab, or email help@unlock.academy.
A DAY THEY WOULD NOT OTHERWISE GET
A sponsorship covers a seat, a meal, and a day of instruction for a young person in Sullivan County. Here is the gap it closes, and the labor market they are walking into.
Starting something costs less than it used to, and most young people say they want to. Every $50 of a FutureLab sponsorship puts one of them in the room on November 14.
PARENTS ASK. WE ANSWER.
What families usually want to know before Saturday.
Who can compete?
Builders ages 16–24: high schoolers, Job Corps members, SUNY students, and young adults from anywhere in the county. Teams and solo sign-ups are both welcome.
Does my kid need to know how to code?
No. Teams build with AI tools and mentors are on the floor all day. Bring an idea and we help with the rest.
What is the schedule?
Doors at 9:00 AM, kickoff at 10:00, pitches at 6:00 PM, and awards at 8:00. Families are welcome from 6:00 on.
Will there be photos and video?
Yes. Bold Gold Media Group is filming. A media consent form is part of registration, and participants under 18 need a parent or guardian signature.
How do they get there?
FutureLab is on the SUNY Sullivan campus in Loch Sheldrake. Most 16+ participants drive or carpool, and parking is free. Drop-off and pick-up times will be posted before the event.
How much is a ticket?
$50 per builder. Students get $10 off with a discount code — ask your teacher or the organizers. A team of three covers its own seats — $150 total.
What do winners actually get?
One team wins the $500 cash grand prize. Sponsor gifts and awards across the field bring the total to $10,000 in cash and prizes.