FollowI sort of hate to say it: it’s not your food, it’s not your numbers, it’s not that awesome photo booth you ordered or that 3 AM snowball fight you organized. The most important part of your hackathon is probably your sponsors. And not just how much they’re paying—although that matters, too—but who’s paying. Who are you inviting to your hackathon? Who’s getting access to your mailing list? Remember: You are selling me. I am your product. As the …
8 articles Articles posted in Hackathons
PennApps 2012 Sells Out Faster Than Justin Bieber’s North American Tour
At 11:25 last night, the PennApps team sent an email to everyone on their mailing list. “Registration is now open!” they said. PennApps is the largest student-run hackathon in the country, so they expected some interest. But they didn’t anticipate what happened next. By midnight, all 100 of the “visiting hacker” tickets were gone. There were still some tickets available for Penn students, but all of the open tickets had been sold already. (In case …
The 8 Kinds of Projects You Meet at a Hackathon
I went to my sixth hackathon this weekend, and by now I’ve met all 8 kinds. First, a quick note about that hackathon: Facebook’s Summer of Hack in Seattle was a blast. There were plenty of things that set it apart from the other hackathons I’ve been to–the relatively relaxed atmosphere and the amazing view were a good start. But there were also some characteristic hackathon hallmarks I noticed–the energy drinks, the midnight raffles, and …
HackNY Recap
I went to my first hackNY hackathon this past weekend, and, boy, am I glad I did. The energy there is incredible. I’m pretty sure that hackNY is beginning to outgrow its venue, but, really, that just contributes to that buzzy feeling I had throughout the event. The quality of the hacks was also great. I am repeatedly amazed by the stuff that my peers can throw together in 24-hours. I also noticed that the …
Dear Wired, Women Go to Hackathons, Too
Dear Wired Magazine, I want to thank you for sending a photographer to PennApps. PennApps is the University of Pennsylvania’s biannual, student-run hackathon. It was a big honor to be featured visually in “The Hackathon Is On,” and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing photographs of my friends in your magazine. Some of my classmates are upset that you didn’t mention PennApps anywhere in the article, but this doesn’t really bother me. I understand that you’re trying …
TartanHacks vs. PennApps: The Ultimate Showdown
This past weekend, I went to TartanHacks, Carnegie Mellon’s brand new 24-hour hackathon. Though the event was technically CMU-only, the organizers graciously invited eight students from Penn to partake, as a sign of goodwill and hacking-unity. Six of us made the trek. TartanHacks went very smoothly–I could hardly believe it was a first-time event. The hacks were impressive and everyone really got into the spirit of it. So I couldn’t resist the temptation to compare …
Why Grassroutes Went a Tiny Bit Viral
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Grassroutes went a little viral during SOPA Blackout. It wasn’t like bird flu or SARS or anything, it just made a couple corners of the internet a little sniffly. (Pardon the pun.) Drew posted some numbers up over on our makeshift Grassroutes blog, if you want to see them. By all means, Grassroutes probably shouldn’t have gone viral, not even a little bit. We started …
What Matters and What Doesn’t at a Hackathon
I need to begin by saying that I’m no hackathon expert. I’ve partaken in three: one Startup Weekend, as an observer; and two PennApps’s, one very successfully. I think I’ve recognized some patterns among hackathons. If you’re trying to be successful, some things are just a lot more important than other things–and it’s not what I would have necessarily expected. Your team matters. This is the single most important factor in any hackathon. At Startup …