Have you ever heard of a hackathon? Although it’s a common word in the tech world, it’s worth getting to know this type of event, which has been gaining ground in companies of all kinds!
After all, who wouldn’t want to promote networking, problem-solving, and talent scouting?
All of that can happen at a hackathon, and both organizing companies and participants can benefit from it.
So, learn more about:
- What is a hackathon?
- What are its benefits?
- How does it work?
- Hackathon examples;
- 5 steps to organize a hackathon.
What Is a Hackathon?
To start, this English term is the combination of two other words: “hack,” which refers to programming, and “marathon,” a reference to a running competition.
In other words, a hackathon means a programming marathon.
In this case, the event is known by this name because it usually brings together technology professionals to solve real problems during long-duration events.
And the best part: to reach the best solution, participants usually split into interdisciplinary teams, increasing the chances for networking.
In addition, a hackathon usually includes discussions, talks, and workshops, offers prizes for the most innovative ideas, and can even help recruit new professionals for the companies involved in the organization.
Because of all these benefits, this type of event has been becoming increasingly popular.
Hackathon Benefits
- Challenges professionals and encourages problem-solving;
- Speeds up problem-solving;
- Opens space for innovative and different solutions;
- Enables practical knowledge exchange and networking between professionals;
- Promotes the organizing companies’ brand;
- Attracts the best professionals in the market.
How Does a Hackathon Work?
Venue
Whether in person, online, or hybrid, a hackathon should take place on a platform that enables different professionals to gather and interact.
For this reason, the event is usually held in person, at companies or innovation spaces.
But with the right events platform, it’s possible to run an online event and attract participants from different parts of the world and the country. Have you thought about that?
Duration
Since a hackathon is an event that aims to solve a problem, its duration depends on the complexity of the challenge.
In addition, parallel activities, such as talks and coffee breaks, should also be taken into account when planning the schedule.
That’s why there’s no fixed duration — hackathons can last one day or even a full week.
Challenge
The challenge is at the core of the hackathon. For the event to exist, there needs to be a problem-solving proposal.
Common challenges include projects to develop an app, solve city issues, improve a company’s internal processes, and so on.
Team Division
As mentioned, to solve the problems, hackathon participants split into teams made up of diverse professionals.
In this case, there are no restrictions on who can take part in the event.
Since the goal is to bring different disciplines together, everyone is welcome, especially now that the format has become more popular.
So it’s not a space just for programmers — it usually attracts designers, developers, entrepreneurs, communicators, and anyone interested in the topic.
Presenting the Solutions
A hackathon also prepares professionals to present and defend an idea.
At the end of the challenge, the groups present their innovative proposals, exchange experiences, comment on their peers’ solutions, and create a collaborative environment.
Awards
Finally, an important part of the hackathon is the competition’s awards. In fact, this is one of the biggest draws of this type of event.
At this stage, the hackathon organizer has the opportunity to show its value, offering cash prizes for the best proposals and even hiring the professionals who stood out the most.
You can also get inspired by looking at what kinds of prizes are common at hackathons out there. Learn more below:
Hackathon Examples
NASA’s International Hackathon
One of the most famous hackathons in the world, NASA Space Apps Challenge is an event that has been running since 2012 and brings together professionals from around the world to solve problems on Earth and in space.
The event is hybrid, using a multi-hub meetings format. In other words, it combines the technological experience of a large streamed online event happening across different physical locations at the same time.
This way, participants share a 48-hour experience with the whole world, and the 10 best teams are awarded prizes.
Campus Party
The famous Campus Party is an international event also held in several Brazilian capitals with the goal of bringing visionary ideas together in one place.
For this reason, its program is diverse and packed with various challenges, including hackathons focused on social themes, such as mobility and public safety.
SEBRAE Hackathon
With the goal of developing technological solutions, SEBRAE runs a three-day in-person mentoring program focused on building initial answers into viable businesses.
Uber Hack
Uber HACK is a nationwide challenge launched by Uber with the goal of developing mobility solutions through technology.
The event takes place in different cities across Brazil, with 5 regional stages, each one lasting a weekend.
At the end of the championship, the winner can take home a prize of R$10,000.
But a successful event goes far beyond a good prize, did you know that?
After this moment of inspiration, it’s time to put everything into practice!
5 Steps to Organize a Hackathon
1. Define the Theme and Challenge
To start, define the most important thing: what problem does your event want to solve?
From there, you’ll have your theme and challenge — in other words, the foundation of your hackathon. After that, you can start thinking about your target audience and schedule.
2. Build Your Event’s Schedule in Advance
Everyone knows that a schedule defined in advance is essential for any type of event, but for complex events like a hackathon, it’s even more important!
So you’ll need to map out all the phases of the event when building your schedule. Remember to plan for:
Pre-event:
- Securing sponsors and partners;
- Promotion through the right channels;
- Opening registration.
During the event:
- Opening;
- Talks and workshops;
- Marathon days for project development;
- Closing and awards.
Remember: this is the phase where you’ll define how long your event will run.
So, assess the complexity of the problem and choose enough time for your participants to make the most of the marathon experience!
Post-event:
- Issuing certificates;
- Hiring the winners and announcing the event results;
- Meetups and networking moments.
3. Find the Perfect Venue
Speaking of schedules, the number of marathon days you decide on will directly impact your event venue.
Since this is a long, constant-interaction event, the venue needs to support connection between participants to make sure everyone is giving their best in solving the problems.
For in-person events, it’s ideal to offer a comfortable, safe, and inspiring space to spend the whole marathon period.
In fact, that 24-hour togetherness in the same space can be extremely positive for the participant experience, since it encourages networking.
On the other hand, since it can be a lot of work and limits remote participation, some hackathons have opted for online broadcasting through an events platform.
This way, there’s no need to rent a venue to host the competition, and all projects are submitted remotely within a set deadline.
However, this format rarely allows participants to get to know professionals outside their own team.
So you’ll need to choose whatever makes the most sense for your event’s goal.
3. Set the Rules
Alright, now that almost everything is defined for the marathon, how about thinking about the rules?
After all, every competition needs a set of rules to run smoothly, so when defining yours, think about what matters for your event, such as:
- Who can participate? Will the audience be limited, or open to everyone?
- What tools will be used to solve the problems?
- What are the limitations on team composition? Define the minimum and maximum team size;
- Describe in detail how the prize will be awarded and split among team members;
- Set the rules for how projects will be shared publicly.
4. Set the Evaluation Criteria
You’ll also need to think about other rules: the evaluation criteria. These are extremely important to ensure a transparent and fair competition!
So it’s ideal to define your criteria and make them easily accessible to everyone.
They can even boost competitiveness, since participants will know exactly which areas of the project to focus on to earn more points.
Also, try to put together an evaluation committee made up of professionals in the field, ready to answer questions and give feedback to participants. Building a good team is essential!
5. Turn Your Ideas Into Reality
Finally, it’s time to create! With the right instructions, your hackathon is ready to move from planning to execution.
But you can go even further and automate most of the important processes involved in running an event, such as registration, project submissions, sending emails, certificates, and much more.
To do that, count on an events platform like Even3 to help you. Try it for free today.
