Hackathon follow-ups

Preconditions

A hackathon event has taken place.

Roles involved

Participants, Organizers.

Outputs

All reimbursements and budgeted arrangements are executed. A report on the hackathon is provided to the sponsor.

Process

The nature of a hackathon is that participants set aside their ordinary duties for a limited time to work on something new and unusual. Organizers have limited access to the attention of participants: we recommend to use this access to encourage the completion of tangible outcomes by the end of the event. Experience shows that, once the event ends, teams disperse, participants go back to their day jobs, and further action is unlikely, even if team members were excited about their work.

Nevertheless, the most far-reaching tangible impacts of hackathons occur through follow-ups, activities carried on by an individual or a team after the event. Follow-ups may include developing a communication (blog, poster, meeting presentation), convening the team for further work, or seeking funding. Success is more likely when follow-up activities align with ongoing professional goals of team members, and when they have short-term pay-offs.

There is no fixed recipe for follow-up activities. For hackathon organizers, we suggest the following:

• during the event, remind participants to consider the potential for follow-on products
• make a discussion of possible follow-ups part of the wrap-up activities on the last day:
  • ask each team what would be the most promising or feasible follow-up activity
  • ask each team what it would take to make that follow-up happen
• encourage the emergence of a leader to take primary responsibility
• where feasible, the organizers may wish to offer leadership
• allow the team to redefine itself: existing members may opt out, and others may join
• recommit the team: estimate time requirements and ask for a commitment of hours over a specific interval (e.g., 12 hours over the next 2 months)