nwChats: What is a hackathon?
Hackathon basics — as told by hackathon organizers around the world
“So do you like… hack into people’s computers during a hackathon?”
Participating in your first hackathon can be a daunting experience, regardless of whether you’ve ever touched code before or whether you already have a plethora of technical internships under your belt. Before even participating in a hackathon, every hacker has probably wondered… what even is a hackathon, and what do you do there?
We have invited a few of our organizer friends from around the world at Major League Hacking, Hack the North, LA Hacks, Hack UTD, and HackKosice to join us in our new nwChats series — designed to help break barriers, dispel common misconceptions, and answer the most frequently asked questions about hackathons. 💬
In this first installment of nwChats, we’ll be highlighting some essential hackathon basics, like what hackathons are, what the hackathon experience is like, and why you should attend them (even if you know nothing about tech)!
What is a hackathon?
“A hackathon is a 24 to 36 hour invention marathon. We get a whole bunch of people together in a room and we tell them, “build whatever you want”. Over the course of the next day or two, they build amazing inventions, things like self driving cars for under $100, or an app that can tell you if you have a concussion and how bad it is.”
— Nick Quinlan, Major League Hacking (New York, USA)
“A hackathon is basically an event where a bunch of people, usually students, come together to build really cool software and hardware projects from the ground up in a limited amount of time. It’s really high adrenaline, a lot of fun, and you get to meet a community of people that is really passionate about the same thing as you.”
—Kristine Clarin, Hack the North (Ontario, Canada)
“A hackathon is basically a very hype, one-weekend event where where you can just go and innovate and create applications or prototypes of different products. Often, it’s a very, very hype environment where many people strive for the best during that weekend.”
— Juraj Mičko, HackKosice (Košice, Slovakia)
How do hackathons actually… work?
“The process of a hackathon is: you’ll typically show up on Saturday morning, pretty early, to check in. You’ll get a lot of awesome swag and meet your team, maybe you have your team or you need a team. Over the course of the next 24-hours, they’ll have meals, they’ll have workshops, they’ll have games — and of course, between all of that, you’re building your project. At the end of that, you’ll have the judging ceremony where judges will come and judge your project based on the challenge you’re working for. Then, you might win some really awesome prizes!”
—Caitlin Tibbetts, Hack UTD (Texas, USA)
“At a hackathon, you go in and you might have an idea already or you can hear other people’s ideas and join a team. Then, with your idea, you work to create something that that solves a problem or that makes your life better or somebody else’s life better in some way, shape or form. You spend 24 or 36 hours working and building something. At the end, you demo a finished project or something close to a finished project that shows what you built. Sometimes there are prizes, sometimes there are things past that, but the general idea is: come in with an idea, build that idea, and make something cool.”
— Nick Quinlan, Major League Hacking (New York, USA)
Why are hackathons important?
“Hackathons are important since you get to learn new things and explore new technologies in such a short amount of time. You get to connect with others who are as passionate as you, and you also get access to resources and mentorship that would usually be hard to find on a regular basis. There are a lot of things to do there that are pretty rare opportunities.”
— Kristine Clarin, Hack the North (Ontario, Canada)
“Hackathons are important because they’re an opportunity for you to go outside of your comfort zone and not only meet new people, but also learn a lot of new skills that maybe you don’t have the support to learn in a traditional classroom setting, so I think they’re really fun to really apply your classroom skills.”
— Sriram Balachandran, LA Hacks (Los Angeles, USA)
How did you approach your first ever hackathon?
“I think you should not hold any expectations and just come to the hackathon. Make the weekend something where you don’t expect anything in particular to happen, and be open minded and be welcoming to everything that may happen at the hackathon.”
— Juraj Mičko, HackKosice (Košice, Slovakia)
“My first hackathon was in high school — me and my friend were the only high school kids there and we kind of just said, “We have nothing to lose”. There are no standards like that, no one really has any expectations of you and you probably don’t know people there. Honestly, it’s more of an opportunity to learn, meet people, and consume caffeine.”
— Sriram Balachandran, LA Hacks (Los Angeles, USA)
What is your best hackathon experience?
“My best experience was actually my first one at HackUTD. I did it with people I knew, we were hanging out the whole time, and I made a lot of new friends there that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Because it was at my university, I kept in touch with them really well and that was definitely my best hackathon experience.”
— Caitlin Tibbetts, Hack UTD (Texas, USA)
“This is maybe a little bit out there, but one of my absolute favorite hackathons was one that happened on a bus headed down to Austin, Texas. I spent three days on my computer without Wi-Fi trying to build an app and the challenge of trying to build an app without Wi-Fi when you’re on a bus hurdling down a highway 75 miles per hour is a really interesting and fun experience.”
— Nick Quinlan, Major League Hacking (New York, USA)
Every single hackathon is unique in its own way, but they all have one thing in common: it’s a place for tech lovers from diverse backgrounds to learn new skills, make new connections, and have fun while building something new! Check out our full video series on YouTube to hear more from our nwChats series.
Thank you once again to our friends at Major League Hacking (MLH), Hack the North, LA Hacks, HackUTD, and HackKosice for sharing their hackathon experiences with us.
Stay tuned to our next iteration of nwChats, where we will be debunking misconceptions and answering the most-Googled questions about hackathons! 👋
— Words by Rebecca Xie, Marketing Director 2020/2021
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