8 golden rules for organising a successful hackathon
Although hackathons are a regular occurrence these days, it would be wrong to assume it’s easy to organise one everyone in your tech community will remember. I’ve both co-organized and attended several hacking days, small and global ones like recent TechCrunch Disrupt London, and can easily say it’s a true challenge to set grounds for this time-limited idea pool.
It’s not easy to offer a generic recipe for a successful hackathon. Still there are some tips & tricks that have come from experience of those who hacked the hacks, so here is the list of eight essential how-to guidelines for organizing a successful hacking event.
1. Prepare well and on time.
Depending on the goal and size of the hackathon, it’s extremely important to plan the event precisely. Get ready two months in advance — even earlier when there are 100+ hackers attending. Logistics is critical when setting up a schedule, finding the sponsors, promoting and finalising the technical details of the infrastructure.
2. Calculate your budget.
Costs can range enormously, depending on the sort of prizes, food and drinks, set-up, event judges, volunteers and venue rental. Before you start, organise the whole thing on paper. List the things you will need to pay for and approximate costs. Then add an extra 10%-15% for unforeseen eventualities. Stick to your budget and try to cover as much as possible with sponsor companies.
3. Choose the right venue.
Finding the right venue is already half job done. Without the secured location, you just cannot start planning all other stuff. Many hackathons take place in a range of corporate venues. Why? Because it means enough power outlets, projectors, WiFi and high speed connection. And these are must-have when it comes to hackathon.
4. Pick a theme.
Organisers normally do this but bear in mind that events with a single focus are usually more successful than those that do not. If you think that choosing a specific topic might constrict hackers ideas, pick a theme that is neither too broad nor too narrow. For example, education, tourism or gaming.
5. Attract the attendees.
This might seem obvious. However, the list of attendees is as important as the prizes themselves. If not enough of the right people attend, why organise a hackathon? It is also crucial to have a good mix of developers and non-developers with complimentary skills within a certain field, such as designers and marketers.
6. Find sponsors and secure prizes.
Sponsors need to know what you can provide in exchange for financial support and prizes. Usually, company exposure and branding is important to the sponsors, and useful and interesting prizes are important to the hackers. It is better to offer inspiring prizes rather than expensive ones. Drones and techie gift-cards are on the top of the list of the things hackers want. If you’re really on the budget, branded t-shirts will do.
7. Organise food and drinks, keeping it simple.
Offer three different kind of pizzas, juice, water, some beer, snacks and A LOT of coffee. Hackers are not fussy when it comes to food but the essential rule for food and drinks at a hackathon is not to under-order!
8. Follow up!
After the dust has settled, make sure you contact attendees, volunteers and sponsors and actively engage with them. Say “Thank you!” and share photos or videos of the event. This is more important if you plan to organise more hackathons in the future and create communities.
And one more thing… Don’t forget to have fun!
This is how we @WhoHack did it back in 2013 when we’ve organised our first international hackathon.
Marija is a journalist and co-founder of WhoHack. She loves science fiction, french bulldogs and tweets at @MarijaButkovic.
