A film has the work of lots of people into it: the actors, the composers of the soundtrack, the screenwriters, the sound mixers and camera operators… However, there’s a person who needs to lead all the project, have a clear vision of where everything is going, and guide everyone to the completion of the movie. That’s the director.
In HackUPC, exactly the same happens. Directors (we have two of them) lead the organisation, coordinating the whole team and taking the final decisions when there are different options to follow. They’re also in charge of managing some of the most important things, such as negotiating with the university for the venue and the dates, and giving the opening and closing talks. It is a stressful position, and, to the date, none of the directors have repeated, but they’re always there to advise the ones who are carrying the torch now.
This year, our directors are Marina and Fèlix. Both of them worked together in Staff in the last edition, so they already had a clear understanding of how the event works, and have been involved in the organisation for more than one edition. Now’s their turn to tell you about their experience.
Why did you want to be organisers of HackUPC?
Marina: I loved the idea of being part of a big family working together for a purpose. Creating HackUPC is an amazing challenge!
Fèlix: In my first hackathon (HackUPC Winter 2016) I had a lot of fun and I just wanted to help to create this kind of event at my university. They weren’t so common in Catalonia and Spain, and I felt like it was a great opportunity to create a hackathon/hacker community in the area.
How long have you been organisers?
Marina: I’ve been part of the organiser team for a year and a half, since HackUPC Fall 2017. Before that, I was a volunteer just during the events for a year.
Fèlix: Around two years and a half, since HackUPC Fall 2016. This will be my fourth hackathon as an organiser.
Which have been your favourite moments here?
Marina: My favourite moment in every edition of HackUPC (as a volunteer or organiser) is always the end of the weekend. It’s when I realize that all the work done has made hackers feel comfortable, happy and hyped for a new edition to arrive. I really feel proud of us and amazed by what we can achieve with effort.
Fèlix: One of my favourite moments was during the opening ceremony of HackUPC Winter 2017. I was recording it with my phone. One of the sponsors exceeded the time in their speech and the responsible of Sponsorship down in the seats started waving a red paper to tell them that they were out of time, but they continued talking. Then, one of the presenters started walking slowly to the stage to kick them out. Finally, they stopped talking. I stopped recording the general view and started focusing on the people involved in this scene.
What differences have you seen between attending a hackathon as a hacker and organising it?
Marina: When you are a hacker you enjoy being with your friends having a great time and collecting swag, but you only think about the details if the food is good, if ceremonies are cooler than you expected or if activities and talks were of your interest. When you are organising it, every little choice matters, you have to think about the interests of hundreds of people! During the event, there isn’t a minute that your mind isn’t working, because everything has to be achieved the best way possible, and resting is quite difficult.
Fèlix: It is very different, the first is like being the client and the other, being the seller. As an organiser your work happens basically before and also during the event, you also have to think like a hacker to know what to do and what is worthy to work on.
You are a director of the hackathon. What is exactly your job?
Marina: Our job is to have in mind every deadline for each step needed to be followed until the hackathon and going to meetings about the university management for the weekend of the event.
We have to inform each department of their deadlines and try to ensure that no one feels apart during the 8 months that we are organising it. Also, we carry out lots of intern meetings, in little groups for concrete tasks and generals meetings to have all the team always informed about what’s happening or what is needed.
Fèlix: The directors have to delegate work, sync the departments and drive the whole team to the general goal. I usually compare it with the conductor of an orchestra: they don’t play any instrument but knows when each instrument has to play, what has to be played, and how it has to sound all along with the rest of the band. They’re responsible for the music as a group but not individually nor instrument by instrument. The conductor must know when the violins must play loud, quiet, fast, slow, alone or all along with the cellos or a bunch more instruments and musicians.
n any event like this (the same happens with movies) the director has to manage the whole team and make it work together smoothly. They must know when to shut different departments or other organisers up, and when to listen to them. They must know how to delegate the work all along the team. They must know how to sync all the departments.
One thing that a lot of people think that a director should do is a lot of work of different departments, and that’s a horrible mistake. Imagine an orchestra conductor going down and starting to play an instrument. The orchestra will lose the guide that makes them complete the whole musical work.
Last but not least, I would say the most important thing a director has to do is managing to get the best team they could. If all the members of the team are better than yourself, success is ensured.
As directors of the edition, how do you feel about having this degree of responsibility?
Marina: At first I felt nervous, I felt I wasn’t prepared for it. HackUPC is always wonderful and having the opportunity to take this challenge scared me but it also caught my attention. Now, after all the work done by our amazing team, I feel strong, supported and confident to give hackers the best hackathon we’ve been able to prepare with all our love.
Felix: I don’t feel afraid. At the beginning, I thought I would be very afraid and insecure, but I feel confident. The trust I put in the team might be a very important reason why.
Is being directors different from what you expected?
Marina: Being honest, no, it’s exactly what I expected. I might not have imagined that it would take as much time as I have been spending on it, although it is true that this last month before the event is being as stressful as I thought.
Fèlix: Just refer to my previous answer.
Which are your responsibilities regarding departments?
Marina: As deadlines are really important to prepare an event like this, our job regarding departments is to remind each department about all the necessary tasks that have to be carried out, and check that they’ve been done.
Which is your role when departments decide different things?
Fèlix: If the team itself does not “auto-balance”, then we have to analyze the situation and choose what’s best for the hackers, sponsors, and organisers (in this order).
What are you most hyped for in this new edition?
Marina: As we have decided to prepare just one hackathon per year, I really want to show hackers, mentors and sponsors what we can achieve with more time and to demonstrate them why we thought that this is a win-win for all.
Fèlix: A lot of hackers, a lot of sponsors, a lot of activities, a lot of new ideas and a lot of attitude.
Finally, tell us a funny moment in the hackathons you have already organised.
Marina: I think that the funniest moment was during HackUPC Fall 2017. After moving all the mattresses during the evening and having put together the hacking rooms, our exhaustion was turning to craziness… and I got on a cart and started racing with my volunteer friends.
Fèlix: In the last edition, some volunteers and I were picking the garbage and throwing it into the big trash cans. It wasn’t a fun job to do, so we made it funny. We took the cart and started running with it. The venue is on a hill so the speed we gained was pretty high. Now, thinking about it I can see that it was very dangerous…
Meet the team is a series of posts that tries to show the kind of people who are behind a big event like HackUPC and the work that’s required to bring it to life. You can read the rest here: Logistics, Sponsorship and Finance, HackerXperience, New faces, Staff, Webdev, Marketing
