We've attended and supported quite a few hackathons over the years and have learned some lessons about elements that can help make a hackathon more successful. Most recently, we sponsored a hackathon at API World where we challenged participants to use our API creation tool, JustAPIs, as part of the overall solution they built. Below are a few things to keep in mind if you’re planning a hackathon:
- With logistics, it’s the details that matter: It’s your job to make sure you pick a location that is easy to access, and close to public transportation. If in a larger city, it is much easier for attendees to use public transport and the closer your location is to it, the greater chance you’ll have for a higher turnout. It’s also a good idea to have a signup site or website dedicated to the event, like meetup.com. That way, attendees can keep up with updates and the latest information regarding the event. It’s also a way for you to push specific information to them in an orderly fashion. Another detail is the quality of wireless Internet connectivity: make sure there is sufficient bandwidth for all participants, and separate networks, if needed, for different groups (sponsors, participants, event coordinators).
- Select an overall theme and market it well: Establishing the theme of the hackathon is critical, as it allows participants to come to the event with ideas already formulated based off of the theme. What is the end goal? What type of problems do you want them to solve? How will what the developers build contribute to the greater good of something else? If you have sponsors, they would ideally be aligned or associated with the theme. It may also be worth spending some budget to market your hackathon and get it in front of the right kind of developers. Not all developers are interested in the same sorts of problems; take for instance front end development versus backend.
- Food/beverage: Everyone likes good food and drinks. If you’re on a budget, you can limit folks to a few drinks with designated drink tickets but ideally you have options for people to eat and drink at the event. Alternatively, tap into local sponsors who value your hackathon audience to help offset the cost. Most hackathon organizers keep it simple and order pizza and have a selection of beer and wine. While, some others offer extensive buffets to mixed cocktails. Again, it depends on budget.
- Swag /free stuff: Make sure everyone who shows up gets some swag. Free T-shirts, coffee mugs or stickers help make those involved feel their participation was worthwhile. It also serves as a long-term team building exercise. Everyone can have a laugh or reminisce when folks wear their hackathon T-shirts after the event.
- Offer interesting prizes/incentives and try to align sponsors to the theme if possible: Developers will be more inspired and motivated if they are given a clear and interesting incentive that drives them. Cool prizes will not hurt either. There are a ton of different contests or challenges that offer some Apple product or electronic but try to think outside the box and about things that developers actually use on a daily basis.
- Give developers sufficient accelerants and support: Try to make it as easy as possible for attendees to get access to the technology you want them to incorporate into their hackathon solution. Most companies think good documentation will suffice, but there is a lot more that can be done to lower the barrier to API adoption, especially on the shortened timeframe of a hackathon. For example, providing cross-platform SDKs, sample apps, and sandbox environments gives developers a head start towards building a solution that incorporates your technology, and let’s them focus on the functional aspects of the solution, rather than the infrastructure setup. Check out some of our webinars on this topic: Best Practices for API Adoption and Beyond APIs: Mobile-Enabling Developer Ecosystems for Innovation
- Be as transparent as possible about the judging: Let attendees know ahead of time what criteria you will be judging the solutions against and how the winners will be selected. Be as quantitative and objective as possible in defining the process. Be clear on the rules and be up front on who the judges will be. The more information you can provide, the better.
- Follow-up: market the winners, leverage the sponsors, etc.: Whatever you can do to promote the winners or winning teams at the end of your hackathon and beyond, do it. People love recognition and they deserve to get credit for attending, building something cool and using your technology. Ideas for promotion are blogging, social media sharing, press releases, and webinars. Spreading the word will not only help get your technology and name out there more but will make attendees feel appreciated.