--- /dev/null
+leonidg's notes for running a hackathon
+=======================================
+
+This is basically just a braindump I made while running Pterohacktyl
+(2010-06-26).
+
+
+Before:
+=======
+
+Announce the hackathon at the SIPB meetings coming up to it.
+
+Send out an email to sipb-announce@mit.edu, mentioning date, time,
+place, name, etc. Sound excited and enthusiastic. Add a "tl;dr" for
+lazy people.
+
+Create a Facebook event. You probably want to be an administrator of
+the SIPB Facebook group for this.
+
+Add it to the SIPB Google Calendar. You need to get bits for this as
+well, obviously.
+
+Advertise the event on your Zephyr class.
+
+Send a reminder email the day before.
+
+
+Expenses:
+=========
+
+SIPB allocates $150 to a hackathon. Most of this should be used on
+food (see below). If you have extra money, you can be creative. For
+Hackasaurus Rex and Velocihacker, we purchased prizes off of ThinkGeek
+and raffled them off on the hour. It was reasonably popular.
+
+You should expect to spend, out of pocket, most of the $150. You will
+be reimbursed by SIPB. Make sure to collect itemized receipts for all
+purchases and put them in an envelope in the treasurer's drawer
+("incoming" folder).
+
+
+Food:
+=====
+
+Purchase snack food at La Verde's. Two 2-liter bottles of soda, two
+large bags of chips and two jars of salsa have served us well in the
+past. Greg Price also suggests hummus and baby carrots as good
+alternatives.
+
+You will also want to purchase dinner food. Ask around for
+preferences. In the past, we have purchased large amounts of Indian
+food, including 20 mango lassis. If you call and ask to talk to the
+manager, you can likely get a small discount.
+
+(N.B.: Dhesi Daba is not a good choice for cost efficiency reasons.)
+
+It is generally a good idea to have a good idea what people actually
+want. In particular, take note of spiciness and vegetarian
+preferences.
+
+You should order food well enough in advance that the restaurant has
+time to prepare and deliver it by the time you want it, but also not
+so early that you don't have a good sense of how many people are at
+the Hackathon and what they want to eat. Probably around 2-3 PM is
+the best time.
+
+
+Technical stuff:
+================
+
+Login script:
+-------------
+(Make sure you are on moira group sipb-www, as you will need to create
+files in that locker).
+
+For statistical purposes, it is useful to know how many people came to
+the hackathon. A simple Python app is available at
+
+ /afs/sipb/project/sipb-www/web_scripts/hackathon-signin/
+ http://sipb.mit.edu/hackathon-signin
+
+The file
+
+ /afs/sipb/project/sipb-www/web_scripts/hackathon-signin/HACKATHON_NAME
+
+contains the name of the current Hackathon. This script will record
+the users' input in YAML-encoded text in the file
+
+ /afs/sipb/project/sipb-www/web_scripts/hackathon-signin/records.txt
+
+You can use this file for raffles (for prizes), statistics, spam,
+stalking, etc.
+
+Wiki:
+-----
+
+After this, you should create relevant pages:
+
+ http://sipb.mit.edu/hackathons/<HACKATHON_NAME>
+ Take a look at, e.g. http://sipb.mit.edu/hackathons/velocihacker/
+ for ideas. Also, have http://sipb.mit.edu/hackathon and
+ http://sipb.mit.edu/<HACKATHON_NAME> redirect to this page.
+
+ http://sipb.mit.edu/hackathons/<HACKATHON_NAME>/projects This
+ should be a list of projects that are being worked on, including
+ people and locations. Have an item for "your project here!" or
+ similar.
+
+ Also have http://sipb.mit.edu/<HACKATHON_NAME>/projects redirect
+ there.
+
+Note that the wiki has no "create page" button, and there is no "edit"
+button on pages that don't exist. To create a new page, go directly
+to
+
+ https://sipb.mit.edu:444/ikiwiki.cgi?do=edit&page=<PAGE>
+
+To add a redirect on a page, the wiki code you want is
+
+ [[!meta redir=<DESTINATION>]]
+
+Zephyr:
+-------
+
+Encourage discussion on zephyr, either on -c sipb or
+-c <HACKATHON_NAME>.
+
+
+Social stuff:
+=============
+
+A hackathon is every bit as much a social event as a technical one, if
+not more so. It provides a unique opportunity for people to meet each
+other and work together in informal environments, and for people to
+get to know SIPB (and vice-versa).
+
+As organizer, you should make every effort to talk to new people.
+Make sure they feel welcome, answer their questions (and ask them
+some!), and generally try to make sure they are engaged and
+entertained. It is very easy, especially near the end, for SIPB
+regulars to get into a niche and for new people to feel excluded. Try
+to make sure that that doesn't happen.
+
+
+Afterwards:
+===========
+
+In general, it seems that Hackathons end with mostly hardcore SIPB
+members sticking around the office (which is, of course,
+understandable). You should make sure that you clean up the office
+(if you have to leave early, either clean up before going or delegate
+someone else to do so). If you want, you can try to organize a small
+event (e.g. movie night). Note that movie nights should not be
+organized as official, public SIPB events (which the hackathon is) for
+legal reasons.
+
+Send a follow-up email, discussing stats, thanking people for coming,
+etc. Mention it at the following SIPB meeting.
sipb-www / wiki.git / blobdiff