[pdntspa]

The hackathons I have been forced to participate in always seemed like a cheap shot at labor and ideas from some corporate overlord

And for the record.... PIZZA is not an appropriate compensation. Especially if someone is lactose intolerant!

[Twirrim]

They did a great one at Amazon several years ago. Engineers had been loudly complaining about the elevators in one building, and how long it could take at lunchtime to get one. All sorts of crap about how the elevator algorithm sucked, etc.

Amazon eventually arranged a weekend hackathon with someone from the elevator company. Whole bunch of engineers tried their hardest to do a better scheduling job, and failed. Almost like engineers at elevator companies have had decades to experiment and refine things.

It did shut down all the complaints.

[jimbob45]

It’s always Little Caesars too. At that point, I’d rather just have the $5 that the pizza cost.

[rikthevik]

The box it came in probably tastes better.