The way people interact with others has changed since the outbreak of COVID-19. In order to maintain social distancing, we’ve had to cut down on face-to-face interactions. From Kate Gu’s article ‘A Pandemic-informed and Digitally Empowered Hackathon’, you might know that M+ Online Hackathon — City of Objects was originally a two-day physical event scheduled in late February. To adapt to changes brought on by the pandemic, Kate and I worked with facilitators Chun-wo Pat and Christian Marc Schmidt to transform the event into a virtual format.
With challenges come opportunities
This was the very first time we organised an online Hackathon, and we encountered several challenges during both the planning stage and event period. Some challenges were predictable and we were able to create solutions to tackle them one by one, but some were unforeseeable, and we were only able to manage these issues when we actually faced them.
A new online event spanning three time zones
The time difference was a significant consideration when we redesigned the event. Our facilitators Pat and Christian were in New York and San Francisco, while we were in Hong Kong. The time differences of twelve and fifteen hours limited the feasible length of the event. Instead of having the event over two whole days, we designed it as a fifteen-day event, with a short session of two to three hours each day. Two individual breakout sessions were available to each team so they could seek advice from facilitators about the project concept.
Event schedule:
Day 1–2 HKT 9–10am Introduction
Day 3–7 HKT 9–10:30am Individual breakout sessions
Day 8–9 HKT 9–10:30am Group presentations
Day 10–14 HKT 9–10:30am Individual breakout sessions
Day 15 HKT 9–12pm Final group presentations
Building the virtual event space
It was a new idea to hold a collaborative event in a virtual space. We read peers’ sharing posts (including lance weiler’s article ‘From the Futures: experiments in collaborative art & collective wayfinding in a time of ambiguity’ and Cristina Juc’s article ‘Online Hackathon: PROs & CONs’) and did research on similar events but were not able to find a suitable all-in-one platform to hold our event. We wanted to have a manageable video-conferencing tool with functions for breakout rooms. An instant chatroom and an online document-sharing hub were also required so that teams could communicate and receive relevant materials. We explored different options for this event and selected a combination of online tools, including Hopin (video conference), Slack (chat communication), Dropbox (document sharing), Miro (idea collaboration), and Paste (idea presentation). The first three tools were required and the latter two were optional.
Working around the online tools
If you plan to hold an online event, we suggest you choose the tools that match your needs as much as possible, but restrictions and challenges always exist regardless of platforms. We researched the online tools and tested them using different devices. Going through the tools helped us compose a comprehensive rundown and also create self-help materials for participants. We also understood more about the tools and what we could not do with them. For example, for our event, we chose Hopin as our main stage. It is an online events platform where people can show themselves on screen and talk to each other using their microphones. However, events hosted on Hopin are restricted to a maximum of three days. To solve this problem, we divided the online Hackathon into five Hopin events. It was more like a workaround than a perfect solution.
Provide onboarding support on the first day
M+ Online Hackathon, a digital collaborative programme, was completely new to our participants. Hence, it was important for us to give onboarding support to them, including by covering the online tools and providing the event schedule and the expected gains from the programme. We created several self-help materials, such as a guideline illustrating the essential functions of our selected tools, a digital booklet with the schedule and a description of the event, as well as useful resource references and a project-outline document. But documents alone were not enough — we also needed to demonstrate the usage of tools to participants to confirm that they understood what was going on. In our case, Kate gave a quick tutorial on how to use the platforms during the introductory session on Day 1.
Understanding participants ahead of the event
Our target participants were students, designers, artists, technologists, and cultural enthusiasts. However, we did not have a deep understanding of the participants. To understand them more, we collected information about their skill sets by sending out a questionnaire to each of them one week before the event. The responses helped facilitators adjust the event materials and the wording of the presentations. Even though we collected information ahead of time, we did not have a clear picture of the participants until the event began. Moreover, we designed M+ Online Hackathon as a collaborative event. In our plan, participants should work in teams of four. We grouped individual participants into teams based on their skill sets, but we were still faced with a challenge: how could we help team members feel a sense of connection through a screen? We used brainstorming sessions and ice-breaker tasks to solve this problem (details are explained in the next part!).
Keep the momentum going!
As organisers, we actively managed the event flow and monitored different teams’ progress from behind the scenes. We worked with facilitators to virtually assist participants, such as by helping them form their teams, reaching out to unresponsive participants, encouraging team members to connect and exchange ideas, and making sure each team was constantly progressing without dropping behind. As teams could not easily meet face to face, we tried to replicate the experience through a virtual environment where people could work together with a set of online tools. There were, however, still some online communication gaps among different parties due to time differences and the event duration. We set up Slack channels for each team and one bigger Slack channel for posting event reminders. We also set up individual online meeting rooms for each team on Hopin, which members could freely use to have video chats with their teammates. We also invited people to sit in on breakout sessions if possible, so they could learn from other teams and gain more inspiration.
Network failures and technical issues
It was essential to rehearse before the event. With the drafted rundown, we did a mock-up with the facilitators to test the tools and get ourselves prepared for the event setting. Different issues were spotted. To solve these, we adjusted the rundown to achieve the target time distribution, and we also made sure the browser’s security setting confirmed that the video-sharing function was not blocked. There were, however, still some unanticipated issues, such as network failures and a computer breakdown. Fortunately, we worked simultaneously in pairs — Kate and I as one pair and our two facilitators as another pair — and when one of us faced any issues, another person would handle the event and help solve the problem by communicating through the Slack channel.
Despite the unexpected incidents, we are grateful that those issues did not create a significant impact on the event, and M+ Online Hackathon was able to run smoothly over the course of its two weeks.
Elements that made M+ Online Hackathon engaging
We received positive feedback from participants. M+ Online Hackathon was an experimental online collaborative programme, and I would like to highlight the key components that enhanced its quality and created a wonderful atmosphere in a virtual space.
Starting point of the virtual journey: event theme
In the virtual world, it was hard for us to keep track of the engagement levels of participants as their cameras turned off at times. Planning out the virtual journey was important, especially when we could not have any face-to-face interactions with participants. The event theme was the starting point we used to bring people together and introduce them to each other. In the beginning, facilitators did a simple sharing about objects and their different forms. After that, we asked participants to perform offline and online activities to help them break the ice and start brainstorming. Once participants became active, the teamwork and project could be built up smoothly.
Ice-breaker task: select nine objects to complete the form
After the introductory talk on Day 2, facilitators assigned a task for everyone to start on. The task acted as an ice-breaker to get participants ready for the event. They collected nine personal objects and filled in a worksheet explaining each object’s nature and functionality. This task started as an individual activity but later turned into a collaborative project as facilitators asked participants to share their objects with teammates. Most of the chosen objects were related to the participants themselves, reflecting their daily lives, habits, and special memories. When they were sharing their objects, they shared their own stories as well. After listening to every team member, facilitators pointed out the similarities or differences among the objects and guided them to use these objects in a brainstorm for their final projects.
Breakout sessions between facilitators and participants
Each team had two individual breakout sessions with facilitators. During the first round, participants took turns to share their objects and the stories behind the objects with facilitators. Facilitators then guided the teams to explore the various similarities and differences between the objects as a way to develop their project ideas. Teams used one week to work on their project ideas and presented their initial concepts on Day 8 and Day 9. During the second breakout sessions, facilitators helped the teams consolidate their ideas and gave suggestions for their final presentations.
All the smiling faces!
As a result of COVID-19, we’ve all been advised to stay at home or to wear a mask when we do go out. During M+ Online Hackathon, we were able to take off our masks and chat with each other freely through our computers. This interaction created a cheerful environment for all of us and made the event very engaging. Every morning, we chatted with each other while waiting for everyone to arrive. These casual conversations were powerful in that they allowed us to connect with others even under restrictive circumstances. Technology can create magical virtual spaces; even though, sadly, we could not meet each other in person, we still gathered together in this online environment and shared our daily lives during those two weeks.
Connecting people as a creative community
Although M+ Online Hackathon ended close to four months ago, I can still recall those mornings of chatting with facilitators, seeing participants’ smiling faces, and listening to their joyful sharings. I was nervous during those two weeks as the virtual event flow was new to us. But I was moved by all the people I met. It felt so good to connect with people from different time zones and observe how they developed their final projects from their selected objects. I was also surprised by their teamwork as some of them had just met each other during this event. M+ Online Hackathon brought people together. I hope these little connections will continue to grow further to become a creative community.
Last but not least, I want to thank our amazing facilitators Chun-wo Pat and Christian Marc Schmidt for spending fifteen consecutive nights to facilitate the event. They were so kind in sharing their thoughts towards M+ Online Hackathon — City of Objects and giving professional advice to participants to guide them in this unique creative journey.
If you are interested in the projects created by the participants, please kindly check out Kate Gu’s post!
