Ask Slashdot: What Makes a Great Hackathon? 79
beaverdownunder writes "I recently attended a 'hackathon' that was really just another pitching contest, and out of frustration am tempted to organize an event myself that is better suited to developers and far less entrepreneur-centric than some of the latest offerings. What I'd like to know from the /. community is, what would you like to see in a hackathon? What are some good hackathons you've attended that weren't just thinly-veiled pitch-development workshops? I have an idea around assigning attendees to quasi-random teams based on their skill sets, then giving them 48 hours to complete a serious coding / engineering challenge (probably in the not-for-profit space) — but maybe you've got some better ideas?"
Machetes (Score:5, Funny)
Re:learning management software (Score:4, Funny)
A brilliant idea. Gotta make sure though that it's laid out enough beforehand that it doesn't end up being nothing but planning stages and no actual results by the end. Like any such event, preplanning is key. Involve the participants in the planning of course, but the event should be about getting those plans accomplished.
In order to be like a "Real Job", then it needs to be done with no planning and result in wasted effort with no results.
Re:Pitch contest? (Score:5, Funny)
"So, they get a bunch of young smart people in a room with some smarmy guy and maybe bimbos? maybe energy drinks?
Then they just ask "Hey, give us some ideas so we can become rich!" Then the smartest idea guy, gets like a t-shirt and maybe like an X-box or something?"
You know you are on slashdot, when you put bimbos in the room and the best reward you can think of are t-shirts and X-boxes...
Re:Actual hacking? (Score:5, Funny)
It's really hard to say what makes a good hackathon. But, you can judge your success easily enough. If within two or three days, the FBI, CIA, ATF, ICE, and other government agencies kick everyone's doors in, and confiscates everything that everyone owns prior to flying everyone to Guantanamo, you KNOW you had one hell of a hackathon!
"If there's a hackathon heaven . . . "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IEemZ6-LZc [youtube.com]