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PRANJUL RATHOUR
PRANJUL RATHOUR

Posted on Originally published at pranjulrathour.scult.in

Inviting a hackathon judge: what organisers should send in the first email

#hackathonjudging #organisers #invitation #colleges

A judge who arrives knowing the theme, the rubric and the number of teams gives every team a fairer score and better feedback than one who is handed a clipboard at the door. Organisers control that entirely with the first email. Here is what mine should contain if you want the best session out of me — or any judge.

The brief

  • Event name, dates, venue or platform, and the organising body.
  • Theme and the actual problem statements.
  • Number of teams, team size, and how many the judge will see.
  • Pitch and Q&A timings.
  • Whether you want judging only, mentoring during the build, or both — and whether they are separated (see what a hackathon mentor actually does).

The rubric

Attach it, or ask the judge to help write one. A weighted rubric with descriptors, shared with teams in advance, is the single biggest improvement most college hackathons can make; there is one to copy in a hackathon judging rubric organisers can copy.

Logistics

  • A judges' briefing call or meeting before the first pitch — fifteen minutes to calibrate.
  • Submissions shared an hour before presentations.
  • A quiet space and a schedule that includes breaks; judging thirty teams is real work.
  • Travel and stay if on-site, or a stable video link and a co-host if remote.

What to ask the judge for

Written feedback for every team, two sentences each, tied to the rubric — the practice in how judges should give feedback. And five minutes after results for teams who want to ask questions. Judges who care will say yes; judges who will not are telling you something.

Courtesies that matter

The correct spelling of the judge's name on the certificate and the poster, a photograph with the winning teams, a public thank-you that names them, and the results announcement sent to them afterwards. These cost nothing and are why judges return.

I judge student hackathons on-site and remotely and bring the rubric above; the invitation details are on the campus invite page.

About Pranjul Rathour

Pranjul Rathour giving a talk titled 'How and what I do', with demo videos of his products Vaidya and Annapurna on screen
Talking through the products he has shipped

Pranjul Rathour in a black t-shirt holding a microphone in front of a chequered wall
On the mic

Pranjul Rathour pitching with a microphone in front of a projector slide at CSJMU, Kanpur
Pitching at CSJMU, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour speaking from the podium at VSICS, Kanpur
At the VSICS podium, Kanpur

Pranjul Rathour holding a trophy and a certificate of merit after a win
Trophy and certificate after a win

Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG,
fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at
student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-06.

Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge:

Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus
Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to

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