In this post, I want to share my hackathon experiences and hopefully persuade you to go to one yourself (if you haven’t already).
What is a hackathon?
A hackathon generally refers to an event where hackers (generally makers, designers, programmers, or other creative people who like to make things; generally not hackers in the cyber security sense of the word) gather for 24-48 hours to make and present something cool. It can be a solution to a real problem, or something a little more silly. Frequently there are prizes. Food and sources of caffeine are generally free. The event is sponsored by companies who would like to create a presence among the tech community (although not all hackathon entries are tech-based), and they frequently bring free swag (fun fact: “swag” is actually an acronym for “Stuff We All Get”).
I love hackathons for many reasons. In addition to the obvious benefits one could see from the above paragraph (free food, swag, etc.), you get a unique opportunity to learn something new in an environment where you are surrounded by experts in the thing you’re learning, you meet fun new people, and you have an opportunity to present yourself to potential employers.
In short, hackathons are fun.
My experiences
I’ve been to three hackathons so far and I don’t regret any of them. My first hackathon, Earthack 2017, showed me that you don’t need to know a lot to be able to solve a problem, you just need to have a decent idea and sell that idea. My teammates and I joked that we got $300 for duct-taping flashlights to a shoe. In reality it was a little more complex than that, but overall we really didn’t have to do much. What I think set us apart from many of our competitors was that we devoted a large portion of our time to preparing for the demo (~1 hour if I remeber correctly). Another thing that really impacted me was a talk by Christian Genco about retiring before age thirty. That was part of the reason I decided to start making small projects that I could actually make some money from. I took a lot away from his talk, but I think the most important was this quote from Warren Buffet:
“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die”
After my first hackathon, I was eager for my next one. Unfortunately, it was hard for me to find any near home. It wasn’t until after Christmas that I got to go to my next (in-person) hackathon: TAMUhack 2018. I did participate in the Alexa Kids Skills Online Hackathon, but that was mainly as a team building exercise for the computer science club I am president of. It did help provide me with valuable insight into AWS, however.
Before I talk about my experience at TAMUhack, I want to make a quick note about entry into hackathons as a minor. The majority of hackathons are organized under Major League Hacking. If you were to look at the websites for most of the MLH-sponsored hackathons, you would see that they are only for college students (age 18+). If you are a high school (or even junior high) student, this can be discouraging. However, for the most part, they only have this rule in place to protect themselves from legal liabilities. If you get in contact with the Hackathon organizers, they usually allow high school students as long as you have a parent/legal guardian sign a waiver releasing them from liability and have a legal adult to supervise you.
Anyways, TAMUhack was a different experience from Earthack. First off, it was 24 hours of hacking instead of 36. While it was better schedule-wise (shorter hackathon means more time to sleep afterwards), it was a bit more stressful. However, TAMUhack was the first time I did backend programming. It was when I fell in love with Go(lang). We did win a small prize for our work, but I was much more excited now that I had a new tool in my tool belt. I remember having a feeling of anticipation the next day about all the possibilities that were opened up to me by my new ability.
My most recent hackathon was Earthack 2018. I would say that Earthack 2018 was the least stressful hackathon for me. I really didn’t have to do much, and my teammate was able to get the Android version of the app working fairly quickly. I tried making an iOS version, but it didn’t end up well. However, I did gain a lot of confidence in iOS development that weekend. When I first tried to make the iOS version of the app I was overwhelmed. I had never tried it before; I had only watched a few lectures from Stanford’s CS 193p course on Youtube. At first, I just gave up. However, after taking some time off, dabbling in low-poly art for the first time (I’ll share some in a later post), and taking a nap, it all clicked. Unfortunately, by that point, it was too late to make a fully functional prototype. However, we really fell short in our demo. We didn’t put as much time into prepping for our demo.
I didn’t agree with some of the judging decisions at Earthack 2018, and I’m not saying that because we lost. Several projects made it to the finals that didn’t have any actual product or proof-of-concept; just ideas. But I digress.
Why you should go to a hackathon
If someone were to ask me whether or not they should go to a hackathon, my response would be “yes”, with very few exceptions. If they were creative, liked to learn new things, and/or curious, then I would say “yes”. If they were just starting out in a field whose technologies could be applied in a hackathon setting (things like programming, design, or even marketing), and they were eager to learn more, then my response would also be “yes”. If the person asking only thinks “inside the box” but is interested in learning a new mindset and a new skill, then my respone would still be “yes”. If the person asking was not at all interested in any hackathon-related field, I might still recommend them to go, just as a chance to try something new.
In general, the people who would ask about attending a hackathon are the type of people who would want to.
What have your hackathon experiences been like? What type of people would you encourage to go to a hackathon? What type of people wouldn’t you encourage to go to a hackathon?
You can see all my hackathon projects (past and future) on my Devpost page.
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