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How to setup and run a successful hackathon
Major Attributes Defining A Hackathon
- Date, duration, lead time and venues: lead time is especially important in order to allow participants to prepare by discussing ideas, teams and collaboration scenarios.
- Participation rules: defining who can participate (for instance full-time employees from particular teams, venues etc.)
- Minimum Deliverable: the type of deliverable required for a successful submission. This is key information which can have significant impact on the participation rates.
- Context: the focus of the event in terms of technologies and problems to be solved.
- Scope: if it is an internal, company-wide or public event.
- Assessment criteria and process: the rules, priorities and processes in order to evaluate submissions.
- Award: number of winners and type of award
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
Community Creation
Hackathons can activate a tech-savvy community to rally around a cause and help. It often fosters the desire in the participants to keep working on the projects after the hackathon is over t...
Developer Engagement
Hackathons can expose a community of developers to new technologies while the technology providers get in-depth feedback and the knowledge of watching how their tech is used “in the wild.”
Recruiting
Hackathons allows companies looking to hire to see beyond a resume of potential employees. A well themed hackathon identifies people who have a common passion with your organization and expose their behavior through the range of experiences an employee faces while working.
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Key Ideas
Hackathon
... is a term used in reference to innovation jams and describes an event that pools eager entrepreneurs and software developers into a confined space for a day or two and challenges them to inn...
A Good 24-hour Hackathon
- Centers on the customer process or journey and supports a clear business target.
- Involves employees from all relevant areas to find different ways of working a problem.
- Challenge participants to reimagine an existing method to try to find the most efficient way to improve the customer experience.
- Sessions start with ideas but end with a working prototype.
- Output includes a clear development path that highlights all the steps needed to accelerate production and implementation.
- The hackathon concludes with a presentation to senior leaders, including a real-life demonstration of the new prototype and a roadmap of IT and other capabilities needed to bring the final version to market.
- Once the teams agree on what to do, those responsible for execution create a virtual model that the group vets, refines and re-releases in continual cycles until the new process or app meets the desired experience criteria.
- Management prevents the dissipation of enthusiasm and energy created on the hackathon by placing new processes to sustain it.
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Key Ideas
Assembling the Team
... that's capable of executing in a remote setup:
- Hire doers: they will get stuff done even if they are working from a secluded island.
- Hire people you can trust....
Software/Tools
In a remote team, you'll need the right tools to make sure everyone stays on the same page and can continue to execute without a physical person standing next to them.
You likely will need a tool in certain categories like group chat and video conferencing to make remote successful.
Processes
Good processes let you get work done in the absence of all else. They provide structure and direction for getting things done.
A few examples from Zapier:
- Weekly Hangouts;
- Weekly One-on-Ones;
- Bring the team together 2 times/year somewhere cool;
- Automate anything that can be automated.