

Ask HN: Best strategy for mix-and-match at hackathons - scardine

Hi,<p>Sorry for the accent, my native language is Portuguese.<p>My name is Paulo and I&#x27;m helping the preparations for (possibly) the biggest hackathon in Brazil, sponsored by FIESP (the Sao Paulo State Industry Syndicate, more than 30% of the Brazilian GDP flows through associated entities).<p>We are expecting 800 attendees (roughly 160 teams of five members). I&#x27;ve participated of smaller events organized by AngelHack, where  incomplete teams and lone attendants were allowed 1 minute to pitch.<p>I was wondering if there are better strategies for the mix-and-match step, definitely we don&#x27;t want to waste 2 hours on this. It is the first time I&#x27;m working in the organization and I would appreciate any tips on how to make it a great event.
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seism
Preparation goes a long way to create a great event. Start planning at least 3
months in advance. Do pre-hackathon meetups, where people already start
brainstorming projects. On a wiki, have lists of data sources, resources to
get started, links to the best tools, and example projects. In e-mails to
registered participants get people excited and thinking ahead and perhaps
contributing or voting up ideas on a project site.

All this will make your mix-and-matches easier, because the more people have a
good idea of what their aims are at the hackathon, the easier it will be for
others to join in and collaborate. Especially if you have hundreds of teams.

As to the actual format of the mix-and-match, I've seen it all as participant
or as organiser, and there is no best way to do it. In smaller groups, post-
it-note or chalkboard brainstorming works well to get people to agree on one
idea. For larger events like yours you should have people there to challenge
participants to use an API or dataset or device, solve a particular problem,
work in a particular way. You could even have people hang up posters of what
they plan to work on and let the crowd sift its way through. Or you could
leave it completely open, just distribute people into groups and let them have
at it, like at some dinner parties.

Closing thought: set your expectations well. Your sponsor must have a vision
for the hackathon, otherwise they wouldn't sponsor it. Support them in making
this vision clear to yourself and others involved in organisation, and finally
make sure the participants are well aware of what they are there to do. Then
put in an earnest effort into making the event great: be there, make sure
people are having fun, build an atmosphere of empowerment and community, using
whatever has worked best for you in the past (e.g. food, music, ambiance, geek
toys, VIP visitors, ...).

And let us know how it goes! :)

