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Run a Learning Hackathon
in Less than a Day!Darren Nerland
Erin Peterschick
Darren NerlandHead Mucker
dnerland
Erin PeterschickSenior Mucker
ejpeterschick
To Hack or Not to Hack…
WHAT IS A HACKATHON?
Maybe it
could be
like this…
or this...
or this…
What is a hackathon?
Hacking is creative
problem solving. (It does
not have to be about
technology.)
A hackathon is any event
of any duration where
people come together to
solve problems.
Participants form groups
of about 5-10 individuals
dive into problems.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
“The strongest solutions happen through the
process, not in a moment at the end of
the process”
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Who runs Hackathons
and Why?
Running a
Hackathon
Build
Excitement
Pick a Date &
Location
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Set-Up &
Logistics
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Themes and Team
Formation
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Time & Agenda (Sample)
8:30 AM Doors open, check-in begins, breakfast is served
9:00-9:30 AM Event kickoff
9:30-10:00 AM Themes (problems) and group formation
10:00 AM Hacking begins!
12:00-1:00PM Lunch is served
4:00 PM 30 minute warning!
4:30-5:00 PM Project demos
5:00-5:15 PM Judges confer on their top picks
5:15-5:30 PM Prizes awarded, closing statements
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Gallery
Walk
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
The Rules
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
Darren NerlandHead Mucker
dnerland
Erin PeterschickSenior Mucker
ejpeterschick
Hack the Day
Time & Agenda (Sample)
8:30 AM Doors open, check-in begins, breakfast is served
9:00-9:30 AM Event kickoff
9:30-10:00 AM Themes (problems) and group formation
10:00 AM Hacking begins!
12:00-1:00PM Lunch is served
4:00 PM 30 minute warning!
4:30-5:00 PM Project demos
5:00-5:15 PM Judges confer on their top picks
5:15-5:30 PM Prizes awarded, closing statements
Kick off the event
The kickoff sets the tone for the whole event.
Introduce yourself and the other event organizers.
Review the schedule, goals, and rules for the event.
If you have a team(s) or community representatives there who have come
with problems they need help solving, give them a chance to present their
case.
(Optional) Give everyone a chance to introduce themselves.
Themes and Team Formation
Keeping Things Moving Along
Have table captains or advisors roam and make sure people aren’t stuck or
have questions.
Keep everybody well hydrated and caffeinated.
Don’t break for lunch. Announce that lunch is available, and either ask teams
to go up one by one or pace themselves so that the line doesn’t get too long.
Have a hard stop when development should be completed, and make sure
people know that it’s coming. Nothing provides motivation like a deadline.
Presentations and Judging
Get your judges ready, call everybody back into the main room, and get ready for teams to show
off their work.
Each team should receive between three and five minutes to describe their theme (problem),
how they intended to solve it, and demo what they came up with. Make sure teams know that
it’s a hard limit, and don’t be afraid to cut off teams that go long.
It’s up to you whether or not to allow Q&A, which tends to consume a lot of time. For larger
events, it’s often better to ask people to save questions for later, or only allow the judges to ask
questions.
Keep things moving. Part of the competition is being able to concisely describe what you did.
After the demos, move all the judges into another room and have them discuss each team and
rank them. It’s okay to be a little subjective – it’s hard to judge based on scores alone. Once the
judges are done, gather everybody together again and announce your winners!
Post-Event & Follow Up
After the event, follow up with an email to all attendees thanking them for
their attendance. Make sure you provide information about any shared ideas,
pictures of demo posters, and other information from your hackathon.
You can use Google Docs, Etherpad or a wiki. Make sure that all attendees
have write access and can concurrently edit. Plan for the hack listing to stay
around as a historical record.
Some Pointers
The most successful company hackathons take place when there’s a diverse
perspective from different company functions and teams.
If you have budget - make sure everyone who shows up gets some swag. Free
T-shirts, coffee mugs or stickers help make those involved feel their
participation was worthwhile.
Freedom should be given to explore any idea imaginable, whether it relates
to the business or not.
The Other Stuff
(Appendix)
Intellectual property
The intellectual property rights of hacks produced at the event should belong
to the attendees, and not to the organisers, sponsors, or partners, with the
obvious exception of (a) hack days based around the further development of
an open source project, or (b) commercially run hacks.
Intellectual property can be a big issue; it is best to make expectations clear
in advance, both to developers and to sponsors or data providers.
More Rules
Our hackathon is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of the following.
gender
gender identity and expression
age
sexual orientation
disability
physical appearance
body size
race
ethnicity
nationality
religion
previous hackathon attendance or lack of
Links and Inputs
http://hackdaymanifesto.com/
https://socrata.com/
Onboarding hackathonDisrupting how we onboard new hires
Get to Know your Table Colleagues
Who are they?
What is their role and where do they work?
What’s their level of experience?
Is there a life or work hack you’ve successfully implemented in your own life?
Expectation?
Thank you to our sponsors
Thank you to our Hosts
Call for volunteers: sharing today’s
learning
Let us know if you’d like to help collate results
Publishing a report and sharing with participants
Biz card/index card with your contact information for follow-up
agenda
7:45 – 8:30 Check-in & Networking
8:30 – 8:45 Getting to know your tables & Instructions
8:45 – 9:30 Act 1
9:30 – 10:15 Act 2
10:15 – 10:45 Prep for Presentations
10:45 – 11:15 Gallery Walk & Leaders Meet
11:15 – 11:45 Team Presentations
11:45 – 12:00 Wrap Up
Housekeeping
Take breaks as you need them
Snacks & Beverages
Restrooms
Notetaking, Research, & Questions encouraged
FUN! encouraged
WHAT IS A HACKATHON?
The Themes
Cost, technology, & resource deficits
Consistency with onboarding across teams and geography
Compliance vs. culture
Employee, team, manager assimilation
WRAP-UP
What did you learn?
What did you accomplish?
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