What Makes a Hackathon Successful?

Question

I am hosting a month long hackathon starting next week and am looking for your suggestions on what I can do to make it an AMAZING experience for hackers.Here are some questions I have: - What makes a hackathon engaging? - What type of support would you look for as a hacker?Any advice is appreciated!

bhu1st · Accepted Answer

I used to run hackathons when I was a community manager for local developers group. Apart from being technical and challenging a successful hackathon will present a lot of opportunities for networking between the participants and help them make connections. Not only within a team but also cross-team and amongst the whole participants.

minhmeoke · Answer

If the people participating don't know each other yet, setup a team matching / speed-dating-style activity where people can introduce themselves, and brainstorm and share ideas.
Invite a few guest speakers and possibly organize some events (eg: yoga, snack time, improv exercises, video game break) to break up the monotony of everyone just staring at their screens.
Setup a support staff / helpdesk queue with mentors (either more senior students or staff, or possibly volunteers from industry) to help out teams that get stuck.
And make it easy to share contact info (eg: QR code badges which you can use to share email or chat information) for networking purposes.

askafriend · Answer

Making it a month long is a mistake. Make it 24hrs, or a weekend max.

mejutoco · Answer

The best hackathons I attended had a very clear set of rules, freedom in how to achieve them, and generous prizes.