10 Platinum Rules for a Successful Hackathon @ E-ATP
The Hackathon gains tremendous interest in the assessment industry! At its
premiere, the Hackathon was voted the best session at the 2014 E-ATP
conference. The Hackathon is an annual master workshop class that will lead you
through the essential elements of a successful certification program business
plan. But this formula only works if you have the right ingredients!
As a participant, you are assigned to a team to develop a certification program,
monitored by your team leader, around a predefined topic. You and your team’s certification program
presents your plan to a panel of judges and peers. Finally, the plan is evaluated by these judges who
provide feedback and determine the winning team. Think you’re up for the challenge on September
24th at the Intercontinental in Dublin? Then read on for the recipe for success.
Purpose
A Hackathon is a perfect format to impact people and
organisations. It is an opportunity to innovate and
inspire others to grow beyond their imagination.
This first white paper is part of a trilogy, custom made
for the E-ATP conference in Dublin.
The second paper – expected in June – introduces our
three shark tank judges and six team leaders including an
explanation of the assessment format.
The final paper - published right after the conference shares the 2015 Hackathon experience, acknowledges
the winning team and provides a summary of their
certification program. So what makes a Hackathon at EATP successful?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Assign a spot-on topic. Develop a certification program
around a topic that is breaking news or talk of the town.
A relevant topic to the assessment industry attracts
attention and initiates discussion among the conference
delegates and through social media. Previous topics
were: energy conservation and online learning.
Choose the right industry leaders as judges. When big
names from the assessment industry contribute, it
makes a huge difference to how the teams are assessed
and judged. This also makes the winning team stand out
as to why their program was reviewed as best of the best.
Select the right team leaders. The role of the team
leader is crucial. They are the single point of contact to
keep the team members focused. There is no time for
distraction. This is why the leaders have complete
insight, what is expected from their team and what
needs to be produced.
Keep the topic confidential. The topic is announced at
the opening of the Hackathon, not in advance. The idea
is that the contestants cannot have a head start to
benefit from. The contestants need to work on the spot
and use their improvisation skills. This makes the
Hackathon even more exiting.
5.
Compile the teams in advance. To create a fair
competition, the compilation of the teams is
fundamental. Expertise and positions must be equally
distributed across the teams. To ensure this task,
participants are encouraged to register 6 months in
advance.
6.
Consider personality traits when selecting your host.
Yes, content is king, but let’s not forget about the
humour. Make sure that you have a host who is able to
“spice things up” and engages the audience. Humour can
make a lot of difference.
7.
Take care of your teams and judges. It’s an intensive
session that demands consistent focus of team
participants and judges. So, make sure they are treated
well with a good venue, climate, equipment, drinks, and
small snacks.
8.
Be strict! It’s all about time management. Design a script
and thorough time schedule in advance. When time is up,
time is up! You have to move on to the next program
chapter. Keep the momentum going by making sure that
everyone gets his or her spotlight.
9.
Make your point. It’s all about the pitching. Each team
identifies their presenter. Five minutes for each team to
say what they want and impress the audience and
convince the judges they are the best team. Make sure
that the teams pitch their program based on a
predefined format (slides).
10. Winning is nice, but getting the acknowledgement from
the industry is much better. Let the winning team shine,
get them on stage and give them a standing ovation. Get
the word out that their program was exceptional.
Do you think you are a winner? We invite you to register
– as Hackathon contestant – before August 15th by
following this link.
Follow us on LinkedIn – E-ATP Discussion and Meeting Point – and
Twitter – @EATPConf – for updates to this contest and conference
information.
Erwin van Schaffelaar, your Hackathon host for 2015.