Supporting remote participation (optional)

Preconditions

A list of individuals committed to participating remotely, and a commitment by organizers to support them.

Roles involved

Participants, Remote participants, Organizers.

Outputs

Integration of remote participants into day 1 activities and a team project.

Process

• Deciding whether to support remote participation - Even if the hackathon is advertised as a face-to-face event, individuals may contact the organizers to ask if they can participate remotely, due to personal or professional reasons that prevent travel. The organizers should consider this decision carefully, in advance. Remote participants will not hear or see all of what happens in the meeting, and they will miss out on the shared social environment of extra-meeting activities. Although they will not be able to participate fully in the team-formation process, they can join a team of their choice on day 1. Effective remote participation requires technical support and constant attention from participants. Nevertheless, remote participants may benefit from participation, and hackathon teams may benefit from their contributions. Remote participants often have a specific, justified reason for wanting to participate, e.g., they foresee a role on a likely hackathon team based on ideas that are already being discussed in the community.
• Communication strategy - Given that the use of a VTC is almost never feasible, we recommend communication using peer-to-peer technologies for video-, audio-, and text chats. In the avatar strategy, the remote participant, via an extra laptop with a live video connection, virtually sits in the room with the camera facing the plenary speaker or the team. In the alternative buddy-system strategy, the remote participant is paired with an in-person participant who maintains a continuous connection by video chat or other means. We find the buddy system more effective, especially when it leverages a pre-existing relationship between the two partners.
• Coordination strategy - Coordination of activities and attention is required for plenary sessions and team-based work sessions. When the buddy system is used, the on-site partner serves as a conduit to relate questions and comments to other participants. To maintain coordination, facilitators keep the meeting on schedule, and notify remote participants of any changes. If Day 1 speakers link their presentation materials to an online agenda, remote participants can follow along.
• Managing commitment and expectations - The same reasons that prevent a participant from attending in person may prevent effective participation (e.g., schedule conflicts, deadlines). We recommend asking remote participants to commit to a daily schedule, with a limited allowance for time-zone differences. Facilitators make all participants aware of the importance of supporting remote participants by staying on schedule, and by allowing extra time to communicate with off-site participants.