| I've done quite a few hackathons and can speak to this a bit. Feel free to email me if you have more detailed questions. Here are some of the things that have stood out to me over the years (good and bad): - Be clear on what you want people to build. Some hackathons want a cool hack or feature while others want a prototype/MVP that could be an actual startup. - Have real prizes (cash and/or useful things). I was at a healthcare hackathon recently and the prices were ... engraved plaques. - Have some real, experienced VCs help with the judging. They are generally good at knowing what's actually useful and spotting BS. Plus they're a good draw because people love to network with them and hear them speak. - Get other companies and services involved by offering sponsor or API prizes. A big, "winner-take-all" hackathon isn't fun. If you don't win the grand prize, it's nice to know you might still win a gift card or iPad from a sponsoring company. It should be easy to get such companies involved (cheap exposure for them). - I don't like "science fair judging" (i.e. judges walk around to each group/table and do a private demo). Make everyone present with a time limit and a projector. Part of hackathons IMO is being able to present your product and do a live demo under pressure. If it's a big hackathon, you might need 2 rounds of judging ... but it's the best way. - Require entries to be new, working software or hardware. Unless you're explicit, people will try and enter anything from mockups, powerpoint slides, to a "feature" bolted on to an already existing product/service. - I think 36-48 hours is the sweet spot for time. But I personally don't work through the night. - I've seen some hackathons require teams (i.e. no solo people). I don't see the point. A max size of 5 or 6 is a good idea but there's no good reason to not let people enter alone. You can even have a category "solo" winners. - Despite the above, people will still cheat. Don't sweat it. - Good wifi - T-shirts ... lots of t-shirts Hope that helps. The best hackathons I've been to were AngelHack, Twilio, and On Deck Cup. |