Anyone have experience in organizing a Hackathon in NYC ?

Hey Devs, I am looking to help one of the Techstars NYC companies help organize a hackathon. Anyone has experience in organizing and is willing to connect with the company for quick 5-10 min feedback? Thank you!

Comments

[Nitya Narasimhan, Ph.D]

Hey @jess - thanks for the tag! Happy to chip in.

Hey @alexiskold - we've met way back in the day! I now organize the Google Developer Group NYC and have run hackathons for a few years now as part of the annual DevFestNYC conference. I also served as a mentor on the SheHacksNYC series which gave me additional useful insights that have helped us be more efficient with our own events since.

Let me know how I can help.

Some areas that need to be mapped out

• Venue (desks, capacity, WiFi etc.)
• Sponsors (food, drink, prizes, challenges etc.)
• Recruitment (invite only? open CFP?)
• Team formation (the hardest part - even + diverse)
• Agenda setting (is it a 1-day, 2-day or multi-week event?)
• Communications (notifications, templates, Slack tips & tricks)
• Mentors & Judges (based on goals)
• {Pre-, During-, Post-} Event logistics (forms, feedback)

Once you decide topic, target size of group, and duration - the rest become a checklist for execution.

[Jess Lee]

@nitya @musingmurmurs any insights?!