Developer Engagement

• Hackathons generate actionable ideas, strategic product concepts and process improvements.
• Internal hackathons –organized within a company — provide a great way to inspire teams and promote creativity, collaboration, and innovative thinking.
• If run properly, hackathons can establish a stream of valuable ideas.
• The gamification layer on top of hackathons can further motivate and reward employees for being innovative while staying aligned with the strategy of the corporation.

The most important though from a developer’s point of view is resources and sponsorship to drive the product/idea to the next stage. This could be the most inspiring award of all — the winners ability to use specialized resources (developers, equipment, software, services) — according to a suitable plan — and get prepared for a formal presentation of the outcome to the senior stakeholders, leaders and decision makers. 

When designing your ice breaker, think about the "ice" that needs to be broken.

• If you are bringing together like-minded people, the "ice" may simply reflect the fact that people have not yet met.
• If you are bringing together people of different backgrounds, cultures, and outlooks for work within your community, then the "ice" may come from people's perceptions of each other.

• Make sure that the activity is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.
• Clarify the specific objectives for your session.
• Ask yourself questions about how you will meet your objectives. 
• These questions can be used as a checklist once you have designed the session
• As a further check, ask yourself how each person is likely to react to the session.