Hackathons are really fun, but I think recently there needs to be more of a cultural shift towards hacking and learning and away from just showing off and trying to build something “impactful.” We should realized that there’s literally nothing practical about them. They’re insanely costly and take tons of time to set up and run, and the key thing they ideally provide is a magical environment where everyone pushes themselves to the limit. This is what we need to move towards. There should be beginner guides and tutorials as well as links to helpful resources. There should be tech support staff at all times (though they can only provide hints and resources to check out). There should be cool themes and prize tracks. To be honest, I’m not sure I even like the competition part of it. Does that really motivate the hacking that much, or does it actually subtract from it because setting up a winning presentation takes time? Maybe it should just be a science-fair-style showcase where everyone has fun and views progress + meets people they hadn’t met yet. In fact, this format is probably better for learning.