Office Closed for Hackathon

by Kyle David on December 21st at 8:10 am EST

For the first time ever, we will be closing our office from December 27th – January 2^nd and hosting our first annual (hopefully) company hackathon.  A hackaton is "an event when programmers meet to do collaborative computer programming." (Thank you Wikipedia.) However, we will be doing more than just computer programming, we will be developing a web-based system/product from concept to design to implementation to promotion in FOUR DAYS TOTAL.  That means by the end of the four days we will have a completed project and have spent enough time to get people (however many that may be) using it.  The site could be anything from a blog, to a twitter picture host, to a site that shows a random video from youtube.  Anything and everything are fairgame so long as it abides by the requirements.

The purpose of this exercise is to allow all of our staff to “switch jobs” for a week and take on a different aspect of our company for a collaborative benefit.  And yes, there will be a new CEO for the week.  As a company we really try to allow our staff to see the different aspects of our operations as frequently as possible.  Now, they will get to live them.  If you’ve ever said, “I wish I had your job,” be careful what you wish for!  At the end of the day, this could be a total (public) success or a total (public) disaster.  However, we’re willing to take that risk to have some fun and learn new things about each other’s job.

Everyone who is willing to participate must provide a “pitch” for a project/product that they would like to see created by the whole team.  On December 23^rd before we break for the holidays, the pitches will be given and the winner will be selected by silent ballot.  The person with the winning idea, becomes the man/woman in charge for the week directing production, development, design, marketing, sales, etc.  However, all of the ideas must follow a set of guidelines.

Our internal goal is to become cash-flow positive with the project within 30 days.  Will we be able to do it?  Keep checking the blog/twitter to see how we are doing.

 

Guidelines for the project:

 1.  Site must use social media in a way that allows whatever it does/sells/promotes to be easy utilized and distributed through social media.

2.  Site must be appealing to all audiences, young and old, business or consumer, with no objectionable content, products, items AND we must not have to do anything to maintain it or its content.

3.  We may not sell tangible goods unless we never have to handle them, however the site must generate revenue (advertising or otherwise).

4.  The site must be 100% complete by 5pm on Thursday December 30th.  No additional work can be completed after the bell.

5.  Everyone must participate in all aspects of the project to varying degrees.

6.  We may "borrow" up to $500 in capital for any expenses for the project, however we must devise a plan to "pay back" the $500 through our revenue plans. 

7.  All staff that are participating may come in as late/early as they want and leave as late/early as they wish. 

 

Requirements for making a pitch:

(These were provided to all staff interested in making a pitch.)

1.  The success and failure per the guidelines will be solely dependent on if we become cash flow positive very quickly or not.  So it is advisable to present your pitch in the context of how it's going to get us there.  As great of an idea as it may be, we need to ensure that we can generate revenue.

2.  You need a marketing plan to support your idea and people to use your idea.  Getting people outside of the company to sign on to your idea would hold a lot of leverage.  For example, saying you have 10 people already willing to shell out $20 for your idea is a clear way to win votes for your idea.

3.  Be sure to think of things in the context of the 4 days we are allotted.  If you have some massive system that needs to be developed, it's likely going to be hard to design, develop, implement, and promote in a few days.

4.  Come up with a rough and preliminary schedule for how you want it to go, because remember if you're picked, you run it.

5.  Make sure that your idea is fully developed.  If you are challenged on your idea, be prepared to fight back.

6.  Always have plan B ready to roll.  If we all love your idea and it is starting to go a way you didn't want it to go, make sure you have something to roll off toward if need be.

 

Voting Criteria

1.  How does the concept meet the guideline requirements sent earlier?

2.  How well do we think that the concept will be able to be executed effectively and ON TIME?

3.  Will the concept be able to meet our goals in the specified period of time?

4.  Do you believe the idea has legs in the market space we are shooting for?

 

 Be sure to get ready for the summary of pitches as well as the wining pitch revealed on December 23^rd.