WHAT IS A HACKATHON? 

A hackathon is an event, where individuals get together for a pre-determined amount of time, say, 24 hours or a weekend, and during that time work collaboratively or individually (yet side-by-side) with a common goal, to either fix one issue, or come up with a new system. Hackathons are competitive, where teams are created to win a prize. Originally started by and for programmers, Hackathons have become popular for social causes and improving government systems, and healthcare systems.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE STARTING 

• Recruitment is key, so leveraging your network will be essential.

• Give yourself 6 months minimum lead time.

• More is better when it comes to volunteers.

• You will need some event collateral can help keeps things organized: whiteboards, markers, timers, team lanyards or tags or zoom backgrounds.

• Determine a prize, ideally a cash/or fund but it can be anything, if you’re just starting out.

FIRST STEPS 

• Determine the challenge (i.e. What are we trying to solve?)

• Recruit judges (ideally people from that industry or field), a keynote speaker, and panelists.

• Select your team leaders and determine a submissions process (teams should max out at 10). Try not to have more than 20 teams.

• Recruit mentors (these are usually individuals from the planning team who presents the challenge).

  • Identify one or two people from your planning team to review and approve submissions

WHAT IF I NEED HELP?

The Alumni Association is always here to help. Please email alumniservice@mit.edu for guidance and answers to any questions regarding your project.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• https://hackmit.org/

• https://www.hackingdiscrimination.com/hackingdiscrimination

• alum.mit.edu/alumni-service