What happens when you bring together a group of incredible university hackathon organisers, student hackers, and technical event experts? You create a recipe for really great hackathons.
On August 29, 2015, organisers gathered as a community for the first Hackcon EU. Experienced and first-time hackathon organisers learned from their peers and industry guests, while discussions and workshops were held about best practices for making a hackathon great.
We’re excited to be able to share videos of the talks that took place, and we’ve included some of our favourites below!
If you’re interested in throwing your own hackathon, we’d love for you to join us at Hackcon IV, which is being held in Colorado at the end of June. Go grab your ticket today before they run out!
Hackathons are for Hackers – Tim Messerschmidt, Head of Developer Relations International at Braintree, a PayPal Company
Tim Messerschmidt talks about making your hackathons great for everyone involved, leaning on his experience as a long-time hacker and being part of the team behind 3 years of BattleHack.
Hackference – Michael Elsmore, Developer Advocate at IBM/Cloudant
Mike founded and leads one of the favourite events in the UK hacker scene: Hackference, a 1 day conference and 2 day hackathon. This talk is all about building a thriving community from scratch, and how intrepid organisers can kick start a movement in their own towns and universities.
Youth and Tech Events – Jessica Rose, Developer Relations at DreamFactory
Jess shares her experiences and best practices for providing a safe environment for young people at tech events, answering popular questions from EU hackathon organisers.
What I learnt teaching 150 Women to Code – Etiene Dalcol
We speak a lot about the learning benefits of hackathons. Etiene shares some of her experiences, and what we all stand to gain from building this movement.
Sponsor Q&A
At heavy request from attendees of the conference, some hackathon sponsors held an impromptu Q&A session! Questions included what they look for in events, and what they consider a successful sponsorship. Fantastic insights from James Milner of Esri, Tim Messerschmidt, Michael Elmore, and John Stevenson of Heroku/Salesforce.
Be on the lookout for the next iteration of Hackcon EU! If you’re interested in organizing your own hackathon, check out the rest of the playlist, videos from past Hackcons, and our guide for more help!