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11 Steps to Get The Most Out of Any Hackathon

Steps to ensure you have the best, enjoyable and educational experience

Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash
Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash

One of the best ways to meet new people and put your knowledge to good use is by attending a hackathon. And what a better time to do so than now? Today, because of COVID, all events have moved virtual, giving a chance to people to gather from all around the world and collaborate to create solutions for urgent problems.

Moving international events online may be the only good thing that came out of living through a pandemic. But if you’re attending your first hackathon, then you might be asking yourself a few equations. Like, should I try to find a team? Do I know enough to even participate in the hackathon? What can I do to be fully ready for the event? And most importantly, how can I guarantee that I learn the most during the event and have fun at the same time?

I asked myself all these questions before my first hackathon, which I joined despite my doubts that I don’t know "enough" and that I wasn’t ready to compete with people who have more knowledge than me also new experiences.

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But, I moved beyond my self-doubt and pushed myself to experience what Hackathons are all about finally. After my first one, I started playing different roles, help to organize hackathons, participating in some, and in one case, I was a judge. And after attending a couple of hackathons, you start developing a plan that will allow you to make the best of the experience and emerge successful even if your team didn’t win a prize.

In this article, I will share my hackathon game plan with you, which allowed me to move beyond my self-doubt and enjoy every hackathon I ever attended or helped to organize.

№1: Before the event

Making the most of a hackathon starts even before you register for one. Here are a few steps I do before and after I register for a hackathon.

1. Don’t be afraid to signup as an individual.

One of the most common reasons that may cause some people – including myself – to back out and not register for an event is if they don’t have an already assembled team to signup with. I realize that it might be a tad intimidating to signup for an event alone, but you can’t always sit around and wait until you have a team to start competing and learning. Also, registering as an individual will give you better chances at meeting new people and creating new friendships.

2. Make clear goals you want to achieve.

We do everything in our lives for a reason. Joining hackathons is no different; you may want to join to meet people, or test your knowledge, or solve real problems, or maybe just because you want to know what hackathons are all about. That’s why you need to have a clear vision and reason for why you’re joining the hackathon so you can achieve your goals by the end of the event.

3. Research the topic and theme ahead of time.

Almost all hackathons resolve around a specific theme or problem area. This theme will often be known to the participants even before they register for the event. Make sure you read about the theme and problems you will try to solve during the event. Having a background of the problems set or the theme will help you make the best in the event instead of wasting time trying to catch up on the theme.

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4. Start communicating with other attendees through Discord or Slack

Most hackathons and events, in general, create a specific way for the participants to communicate with each other as well as the organizers of the event, whether it be Slack or Discord or any other platform. Often, the participants will have access to these platforms a day or two before the event. Make sure to introduce yourself and try to "meet" people there before the event.

№2: During the event

You made it to the day of the event. How should you utilize your time?

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Always keep in mind that no one knows everything, and no one expects you to know everything. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Hackathons are also an amazing opportunity for people with more experience than you, like the mentors or judges, that are often happy to help you better understand tools and concepts. So, always ask if you’re confused, and don’t hesitate.

2. Learn as much as you can.

Learn, learn, and then learn some more. For me, hackathons are the best way to learn particle knowledge in any tech field. You get to meet people from all knowledge levels. Beginners, intermediates, and even experts in the field. Having this mixed level of knowledge is a great way to see concepts and terms from different perspectives and help expand your understanding of them.

3. It’s not all about coding. Take breaks and socialize.

I know that when anyone thinks about hackathons, they think of a semi-dark room with some people all typing fast on their keyboards. But, hackathons are more than just a speed coding contest. Take breaks and talk to your team, talk to other teams and the organizers. Hackathons are a great chance to build a network that can help you in the future when you start looking for jobs or internships or anything.

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4. Be proactive.

Don’t be afraid to talk and discuss your ideas. There are no bad ideas, and maybe your idea could trigger the correct answer to the problem. So always participate in the conversations and discussions and show your point of view. An important thing to remember is not to be rude or attack others’ ideas, be proactive, respectful, and engaged.

5. Do your best you can in the time you have

During my first hackathon, all I could think of is, how can we finish the project. Later, I realized that finishing a project is not the goal of hackathons; it’s rather about finding ideas and developing prototypes. So please focus on the solution itself rather than the complete final project. Because most hackathon is time-limited and the chances to build a fully functional solution is not always feasible.

№3: After the event

You’re done! The experience doesn’t have to end just because the event did.

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1. Keep in touch with your connections

During the hackathon, you’d probably get the chance to meet many new people and share contact information with them. Try to keep in touch with your new connections to keep your network thriving and alive.

2. If you have the time, continue working on the project

As I just said the during the event stage. Most likely, you won’t be able to finish your project 100% during the event time. However, that gives you the chance to work on the project after the event and build an actual application or product.

Final Thoughts

I must admit that my first time joining a hackathon wasn’t early in my learning journey. In fact, the first hackathon I ever joined was during my master’s degree, and my teammates were all undergrads. Being there made me feel tons of regret that I wasted many opportunities to learn and meet new people by hiding behind my self-doubt. It also made me realize that all the reasons that caused me to doubt myself were not true and invalid.

After that first hackathon, I started attending and organizing more events and competitions; not just that, my main goal was to encourage people to go for it and not doubt themselves. After all, regardless of your knowledge level, in a hackathon, everyone often has something to offer the team.

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If you’re not a great coder, you can be a designer, if you’re not good a designing, you can manage the team, and if you’re not good at any of those things, then maybe you can make the final presentation. The point is, you have something to offer your team, so stop doubting yourself and focus on making the best out of the experience.


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