You Don’t Need to Compete in a Hackathon to Reap the Benefits: Attending HobbyHacks, My First Virtual Hackathon
When you see the word “hackathon,” what comes to mind?
If you’re a seasoned hackathon-goer, you already know that there’s a variety of things to do and learn at a hackathon. But if you’re just starting in computer science, you may only have a vague idea of what a hackathon is. When I became interested in CS last year, I thought that hackathons required you to submit a project and compete for a prize — what a big misconception that was!
My HobbyHacks Experience & Advice for New Hackers
Three weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend HobbyHacks, a hackathon organized by TechTogether. At HobbyHacks, I was reminded that there is no “right” way to participate in a hackathon — I didn’t need to build an entire project to learn something new. It was my first virtual (and third ever!) hackathon, and the experience gave me a few key takeaways for any new hacker:
1. Event Prep: Set Expectations
Before you attend a hackathon, reflect on how you can make the most of your time there. The Friday prior to HobbyHacks, I asked myself, “What exactly do I want to get out of this event?” With assignments to complete for my summer classes and work shifts for my job, I knew that I didn’t have enough time to fully commit to a team project. Mindful of that, I decided to spend the weekend attending workshops on topics that I had always been curious about but had yet to explore: ones about product management, web development, and React especially caught my eye. I set reminders on my trusty Google Calendar, and I was good to go.
2. Take Every Opportunity to Connect with People
Around 9 A.M. on Saturday, I logged onto the Discord server, curious to see what a virtual hackathon would be like. Even though this was not the typical venue (my laptop + bedroom combo was a far cry from the conference rooms and arenas of hackathons past), I still felt everyone’s enthusiasm as I scrolled through conversations in the Discord channels. Not only were these discussions a ton of fun, but they were also a great source of inspiration for potential projects.
After looking through the hobby chats, I went over to the team formation channel. Although I wasn’t planning on joining a team for the entire weekend, I wanted to see what other opportunities existed. I reached out to someone who mentioned a potential sewing project because I was curious to see what her ideas were. I made sure to be upfront about my time restrictions to avoid overcommitting. Thankfully, she was understanding and invited me to a brainstorming session with her team. Although I ultimately wasn’t able to continue working with them, I was grateful for the opportunity to get creative and stir up ideas.
People were also sending their LinkedIn profiles through the team formation channel, and I spent around an hour messaging and connecting with everyone. When you’re on LinkedIn, it’s really worthwhile to look through people’s profiles and see who has similar interests or who is on a career path you might want to have. For example, I asked someone about her experience with bootcamps and received valuable insight from her story. Hackathons are full of awesome people!
3. Workshops Are Great For Getting Started
I attended several workshops throughout HobbyHacks, my favorite one being Temi Obaisi’s Product Management 101: The Early Years — I have 2 pages of notes from it! If there’s a topic you’ve wanted to learn more about but you’re not sure where to start, workshops are a good way to jump right in. But make sure you have realistic expectations: sometimes, the person leading the event uses a different operating system (so the whole workshop’s process is different for you), or the topic may still be confusing even after the workshop. Don’t be discouraged! You can always follow up with the workshop leader to see if they have other resources to point you to. The workshop leads are there to help!
Looking to the future
It really is true that you get out what you put in. No matter what your skill level is, don’t feel pressured to craft your hackathon experience in a certain way. Everyone is on a different path, and your learning style will probably be different from the learning style of the next coder. I encourage you to stretch beyond your comfort zone and try new things in any capacity you can. Remember, learning one thing is better than learning nothing.
As for me, I’m looking forward to the (virtual!) TechTogether Boston this fall. I hope you’ll be there, too :)
Special Thanks
Thank you to Fiona Whittington for editing this and giving me the opportunity to write this article. I know I was a bit hesitant at first, but your encouragement was just what I needed to take a piece of my advice and try something new.
And of course, a BIG thank you to TechTogether for creating inclusive events like HobbyHacks and for pushing to increase diversity in the tech space. Without this organization, I wouldn’t have learned the lessons I’ve written about here.
