Cultivating Good Projects

Not every project makes a good hackathon project. It is extremely important to maximize the following qualities in the projects at your event:

• Clearly articulated. Projects should have a clear question or problem they are trying to solve plus a reasonably specific proposed solution.
• Attainable. Most projects will accomplish about 25% of what they think they can accomplish in the limited time they have. Manage each project’s goals so participants are able to feel accomplished at the end of the session, not interrupted.
• Easy to onboard newcomers. Projects should have ready-to-go tasks for newcomers with a variety of skills and at a variety of skill levels. For coding projects, these tasks can’t require an intimate understanding of the code base, and make sure the build environment can be spun up in less than 20 minutes. Make a list of tasks or create github issues ahead of time!
• Led by a stakeholder. A stakeholder (or “subject matter expert”) guides a project to real-world relevance. Projects without a stakeholder can “solve” a problem that doesn’t exist. Ideally the leader (or one of the leaders) is a stakeholder, or a good proxy for a stakeholder. I strongly recommend reviewing Laurenellen McCann’s Build With, Not For series on involving stakeholders in all civic tech work. Additionally, it is never enough for a project leader to just be an ideas person. Beware when the leader is a stakeholder but can’t foresee how he or she might be implementing along with the rest of the team.
• Organized. For projects with four or more members, especially newcomers, the project leader’s role should be to coordinate, ensuring each team member has something to work on and helping to welcome new team members.

Treat these bullets like a checklist. Projects that think about themselves in terms of these qualities tend to be happier and more productive.

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GUIDE:

Hacking is creative problem-solving.

• A hackathon is any event of any duration where people come together to solve problems. Most hackathons I’ve run also have a parallel track for workshops.
• Participants typically form groups of about 2-5 individuals, take out their laptops (if the event is technology themed), and dive into problems.
• Hacking begins with project introductions. Participants that bring projects to the event have an opportunity to briefly (1 minute max) explain what they are working on at the very start of the event so that other participants can join that project. At the end of the event, a wrap-up session gives each project a chance to demonstrate some accomplishments.

Venue & Sponsors:

• Start:  ? End:   ? Plan at least 30 minutes before and after the event
• Sponsors will give you something — cash, space, food, t-shirts — with the expectation that they get something out of their support for your event. They might be recruiting/hiring and are looking to scout out your attendees, or they might be marketing a product that they want to promote.

Find project leaders

Bobbi, Hardik, Nicko - and others. 

• Guide them on how to make progress on their projects
• Identify what sort of help their project needs

Email attendees / Social Media / Blog

Set up group communication Discord

• Choose a hashtag
• Set up a metaverse space
• Computer Requirements
• Email any journalists you know who may be interested in the event

Email to registered participants. Include:

• Your contact information, including your cell phone number so participants can call/text you if they cannot find the venue
• Start and end dates and times of the event
• Your code of conduct (or a link)
• Any read-ahead materials to prepare them for the topic of the event
• Names of the organizers and acknowledgement/thanks to sponsors

INFORMATION

 Participants:

• Zoom Room info 
• The event’s hashtag and URL
• Discord Channel
• Post Hack a thon schedule

Welcoming session

Start with a brief session welcoming everyone and laying out the day:

• Introduce the organizers
• Thank the  sponsors (do not forget anyone — this is why they sponsored you)
• Explain the history and purpose of the event
• Mention the code of conduct 
• Encourage people to share project on social media / tell the hackathon’s story

All of the participants introduce themselves.

Problem statement, the solution, and the skills/help needed.

Wrap-up

The wrap-up session gives everyone a chance to hear what everyone else worked on during the day. For a small group, ask volunteers to report what they accomplished or what they learned (especially for workshop participants)

• Thank the venue and sponsors
• Thank the attendees and co-organizers
• Discuss Next steps

After the event:

• Write down everything that went right so you can repeat it next time
• Write down everything that went wrong so you can avoid it next time
• Compute how much the event cost in total and per participant, just to know
• Survey the attendees about what they liked and didn’t like
• Blog about the event

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© Joshua Tauberer 2014-2017. Feel free to use under the terms of CC-BY 4.0.

• Don’t expect to have actually solved a problem by the end of the hackathon