I organized hackathons for Python, Java, and .Net, each attended by 100 to 250 people. As the organizer, I observed the participants from the sidelines and ensured that a hackathon is not just about technology but also about proper preparation, teamwork, and communication. In this article, I've gathered the most common mistakes and some not-so-obvious tips that will help newcomers prepare for the upcoming season.
Assemble your dream team
Yes, there are lone participants at hackathons, but I can't recall a single instance where they managed to win prizes. Why is that? Four people can accomplish four times more work in 48 hours than one person can. This raises the question: what should an effective team look like? If you have friends you trust and who have been through thick and thin with you, it's clear. But what if you want to participate but don’t have a full team?
In general, there can be two scenarios:
- You are so proactive that you're ready to find and unite people around you, becoming the leader and captain of the team.
- You don't want to overthink it and are ready to be part of a team that is looking for someone with your profile.
In any case, you need to go through the following steps:
- Analyze the information available about the task.
Organizers intentionally don't always provide full information about the assignment to prevent teams from cheating and preparing solutions in advance. But almost always, even a little information is enough to assess your current skill set.
For example, the task states that you need to develop a prototype of a mobile application. If you only have experience in web development and design but are weak in backend, database integration, and testing, these are the skills you should seek in your potential teammates.
- Look for teammates among friends, acquaintances, and colleagues.
If you have people in your social circle who have already won hackathons, freelance, or work in a field related to the task topic, these are the ones you should invite to the hackathon first.
- Tell the world about yourself.
If the second point wasn't enough, don't hesitate to throw out a call on social media. Try to be concise and as straightforward as possible:
Hello everyone! I'm looking for teammates for the N hackathon. We need two ambitious and victory-driven people – an analyst and a frontend developer. There are already two of us:
- Egor – fullstack developer, winner of hackathon X;
- Anya – UX/UI designer, working as a freelancer, providing web + mobile solutions for clients.
DM me, we need two more heroes for our fantastic quartet.
Feel free to copy the text, just change the names and tech stacks :)
- Start looking for a team
- Post a call for teammates on your social networks (Facebook, VK, your blog, if you have one)
- Use chats from previous hackathons you’ve participated in
- Write in the group of participants for the upcoming hackathon (often organizers create them in advance)
- Look for groups or event pages (official event meetings on VK and Facebook)
Prepare for the hackathon
A ready team is half the victory. The other half is thorough preparation for the hackathon. Usually, participants think about preparation just before the hackathon starts. However, some steps taken in advance can make things easier. Remember that you might spend up to 48 hours at the event space, so it’s essential to stay focused and create a comfortable environment for yourself. How can you do this?
What to bring with you:
- Your favorite pillow, blanket, or sleeping bag is a must-have for hardcore hackathoners
- Passport and medical insurance
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Wet wipes
- Check if there's a shower at the venue (if yes, bring a towel)
- Spare clothes with you
- Spare shoes (comfortable sneakers, loafers, or slippers)
- Umbrella
- Pain relievers
- Laptop + charger + extension cord
- Power bank for your phone
- Adapters, USB drives, external hard drives
Ensure that all paid software on your PC is licensed, and the necessary libraries are loaded.
How to plan your team's work
- Determine how you will make decisions in conflicting situations. The best way is to simply vote and come to a consensus.
- Think about who will monitor the dynamics of your work, facilitate and plan the team's work, and manage communication within the team. Usually, this role in agile teams is performed by a scrum master, who oversees the scrum process. If you're not familiar with this role, be sure to look it up.
- Set timers for every 3-4 hours to monitor the overall progress of time. Establish internal checkpoints for yourself, when you check the time: at what hour and what needs to be ready to complete everything without a last-minute rush.
- It's a misconception that a sleepless night for the whole team will lead you to success. The longer the hackathon lasts, the more important sleep becomes. In fact, evenings and nights are usually the most memorable moments in hackathons: all the fun and noise happen then. Don’t get too focused on coding; allow yourself some rest.
- Organizers often set up Sony Play Stations or Xboxes, show movies, create quests, and offer other parallel activities to create a comfortable emotional atmosphere. Take advantage of these amenities so your brain doesn't overheat.
- Remember the Pareto principle: 20% of your efforts should yield 80% of the results. Think about how much effort you will invest in each solution and what effect you may achieve. The team's time is limited, as are their skills, which means resources need to be allocated efficiently.
Presentation and evaluation of your solution
What to consider before the presentation?
- Familiarize yourself with the evaluation criteria, write them down, and keep them in mind while working on the solution. Constantly refer to them.
- Study the profiles of the judges and their professional backgrounds. Look for articles on niche blogs or publications on the official pages of companies. Consider what expectations they may have when evaluating. For judges with strong technical backgrounds, reviewing your code is crucial, while an experienced designer will focus on user experience and features. This idea may seem obvious, but it's often overlooked.
- Don’t forget the power of networking. Your team actually consists of more than just four people; you have colleagues and friends. You can use any open, legal sources and connections you can find. If it helps your solution!
- It’s valuable to explain the logic behind your solution and the data sources during the pitch. If you found an unconventional way to test your hypothesis, be sure to share it. This will add value to your solution.
For example, one of your friends turned out to be a representative of your target audience, and you managed to conduct a smoke test with them. Or you found interesting analytics and reviews that helped you save time.
- No one has ever forbidden teams from communicating with each other and checking ideas. By the end of the hackathon, your idea will surely be protected, so some hypotheses can be tested on your neighbors.
- Hackathons always have consultants and experts who are there to help you and share their experience. You may choose not to incorporate their comments into your work, but getting feedback and looking at the current solution from an outsider's perspective is an important step toward victory.
- Think about a template for your presentation in advance. Create a slide with your team's profile and information: your photos, contacts, educational background, or relevant work experience. You can add links to your GitHub or portfolio if you want the jury to get to know you better.
- If prototyping and interface tasks are planned, pay for Marvel or other services in advance to avoid worrying about it during the hackathon.
- Once you have an understanding of the final solution, take time to prepare your presentation — try to rehearse it several times, and focus on the structure and the following additional recommendations.
What to remember during your presentation?
- Do not repeat the task and waste valuable presentation time; the judges and participants already know it.
- In the very beginning, talk about the key solution and the approach you used. This is a great life hack used in business presentations. This way, you immediately capture the audience's full attention and interest. After that, you should structurally explain how you arrived at this solution, what the logic was, the hypotheses, how you tested and filtered them, what patterns you found, and how your solution can be utilized.
- If a prototype was expected, show it and explain. Think in advance about a QR code link so that the audience can gain access.
- Consider how your solution can manifest in financial terms. How much money will it save the client? How will it reduce time to market, customer NPS, etc.? It's important to demonstrate that you not only have a strong technical solution but also one that is economically viable. This is the essence of business value.
- Don’t dive too deep into the technical components. If the judges have questions about the code, algorithms, and models, they will ask. If you believe some information is crucial, add it on a specific slide and tuck it at the end in case of questions. If the judges have no questions, initiate a dialogue and discuss what still remains outside the scope of your presentation.
- A good presentation is one where every team member has a chance to speak. Ideally, each should cover the scope of tasks they accomplished.
- Live presentations, spiced with a good sense of humor, are always better than perfectly rehearsed monologues on stage 🙂
Nutrition life hacks
A few life hacks about nutrition, because it truly affects your well-being, mood, and energy levels. There are two main rules here:
- Protein satiates and provides a feeling of fullness. This includes fish, poultry, and cottage cheese.
- Carbohydrates provide energy. Simple carbohydrates lead to a quick energy spike followed by a sharp drop, which can make you sleepy after pasta, potatoes, cutlets, chips, etc. In contrast, complex carbohydrates (buckwheat, oatmeal, bulgur) digest slowly and gradually fuel you with energy—like a battery, they will recharge you.
Therefore, if you want to be in great spirits during the hackathon, forget about unhealthy snacks, cola, Snickers, and chocolate. A hearty breakfast with porridge in the morning, grains at lunch, and protein, topped off with vegetables and protein in the evening. The best drink is water; instead of coffee, it's better to drink tea, as it contains more caffeine and will surely invigorate both body and spirit.
That's it! I hope this was helpful!
By the way, in September we are organizing a hackathon for Raiffeisenbank for Java developers (and not just them).
Come meet us in person 😉
Source: habr.com
