ETHChiangmai Hackathon Booster Workshop

A booster workshop to help participants find meaningful problems, form teams, and enter the hackathon with clarity and confidence. 🧭 Morning: Explore & Find Your Direction 09:30 – 09:45 | Arrival & Warm-up Light icebreakerQuick orientation of the daySet student mindset: curiosity over perfection 09:45 – 10:00 | Opening & Purpose (15 min) What is ETH Chiang Mai?What is a hackathon really about?From “cool tech” → “real problems” 10:00 – 12:00 | World Café: Explore 5 Frontiers (2 hrs) Format: 5 stations1 mentor each20 minutes per roundStudents rotate in small groupsLight notes + discussion The 5 Topics: Privacy – ZK, Private PaymentsDigital Resilience – DWeb, P2P, censorship resistanceDigital Economy – DeFi, Payments, StablecoinsAI x BlockchainLocalism – Local communities, public goods, local economies Each round answers: What problem does this field try to solve?Who suffers most today?What’s broken right now? 12:00 – 12:30 | Harvest & Interest Mapping (30 min) Each topic mentor shares key insightsStudents reflect:What excites themWhat feels meaningfulInitial interest-based grouping 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch 🔍 Afternoon: From Problem → Solution → Hackathon Readiness 13:30 – 14:00 | Re-energizer + Final Grouping Light movement or reflectionConfirm final problem groups3-5 students per group 14:00 – 15:30 | The Five Whys: Find the Real Problem (90 min) Each group: Starts with a surface problemAsks “Why?” five timesReaches the root cause Outputs: 1 clearly defined real-world problemWho it affectsWhy it truly matters 15:30 – 15:45 | Break 15:45 – 16:45 | Design Thinking: From Problem → Solution (60 min) Each group: Brainstorms solutionsMatches:ProblemUserTech possibilityProduces:One early project ideaClear value proposition 16:45 – 17:15 | Demo, Reflection & Hackathon Send-Off (30 min) Each group presents: ProblemRoot causeProposed solutionWhy they’re excited Closing: What to expect at the hackathonHow to form teamsHow to keep the momentum into Jan 28