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Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

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Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#111

Post by distances »

aiforecastthway wrote: post #57
krrishd wrote: post #4

I mostly agree with the premise, but to point out something kinda funny: these complaints are basically identical to the ones I remember from a time I personally remember as the "heyday" of hackathons (early/mid 2010s). I think: - they've had this degree of fakeness for almost the entirety of their existence (as long as they've needed "sponsorship" / been 6+ figure events) - at its best, there also was a scene/subcul…

I have never heard the term "Hackathon" used in any context other than a recruiting/sales event targeted at early-career types. Meatspace get-togethers focused on hacking, either for a specific project or for a clique, never used the term "Hackathon". At least in my circles. Those were just "get togethers" or maybe "hacking weekends". But with small caps. I.e., not "Hacking Weekends" or "Hackathons", but "a weekend w…

Most of the Hackathons I've seen have been company internal events. Usually two days set off for projects, with demos of the results in the end. Come to think of it, that's probably been the only kind of Hackathon I've ever perticipated.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#112

Post by Aeolun »

sublinear wrote: post #85
gyomu wrote: post #54

When I was in college (over 20 years ago now), what we called “hackathons” was a bunch of us (4-6 max) holing up in an apartment for the weekend, and working on our personal projects while ordering pizza and sleeping on couches. It was really nice having a group of people you could demo what you were working on/ask for help or feedback within immediate range at all times. There was also something really peaceful abou…

I... I'm about to hit 40 in a couple of years, and I still pull all nighters on the couch when I'm deep into my weekend hobby projects. Not to be overly sentimental, but for me the 5am feeling is still the same if not better with family and pets around and the sunrise view I created for myself.

Why would you sleep on the couch?

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#113

Post by Aeolun »

sdrinf wrote: post #93
colechristensen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that I still can do the all nighters but much like the festive overconsumption of alcohol, the recovery time tripled and made the whole thing very much not worth it (except maybe on very rare occasions). Sure I can stay up all night but it really just ruins the entire next week.

Early-40s here who still does all-nighters. How long is recovery time for you? What does it entails -ie what doesn't work as much as it should / takes longer while you recover?

At 37, it always seems like I’m still fine after several days of this, but then randomly I’ll suddenly be so sick that I need days to recover.

I’m guessing this means that the longer it goes on, the worse of an idea it will be.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#114

Post by volkk »

Aeolun wrote: post #112
sublinear wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I... I'm about to hit 40 in a couple of years, and I still pull all nighters on the couch when I'm deep into my weekend hobby projects. Not to be overly sentimental, but for me the 5am feeling is still the same if not better with family and pets around and the sunrise view I created for myself.

Why would you sleep on the couch?

probably to avoid waking up his wife/kids if he's going to sleep at 5am

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#117

Post by Fuhrmanator »

applied_heat wrote: post #90
colechristensen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that I still can do the all nighters but much like the festive overconsumption of alcohol, the recovery time tripled and made the whole thing very much not worth it (except maybe on very rare occasions). Sure I can stay up all night but it really just ruins the entire next week.

I swore them off after my last one. Mid 40s. All nighters used to be a source of joy though to get what felt like days worth of work done in a single sitting enabled by the absence of distractions

It's anecdotal, but several nasty bugs involved code committed (according to git blame) between 11pm and 6am. Sometimes I hardly recognized the code as mine.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#118

Post by codr7 »

cortesoft wrote: post #19
codr7 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could never wrap my head around the idea. They're often framed by employers as perks: Look, we're giving you the chance to come and work overtime for free, isn't that great?

I only think this is true if the hackathon is around projects that are part of or similar to the normal work. In those cases, they should be during work hours and treated as work. My company 15 years ago or so did a hackathon with arduinos, where they provided a bunch of arduinos and hardware and food, but the projects we made were completely unrelated to work and served no practical purpose. My team made a Simon say…

Sure, hacking during normal work hours is a completely different deal.

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#119

Post by codr7 »

sshine wrote: post #29
codr7 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could never wrap my head around the idea. They're often framed by employers as perks: Look, we're giving you the chance to come and work overtime for free, isn't that great?

It’s not free, you get pizzas! A recent boss mandated that people come on weekends. Everyone’s contract said you have to, except mine. I pointed out to the boss that even though he can ask people to work on weekends, there are laws that prevent how much (you need more and longer breaks, and you can’t do it every weekend.) He got cold feet and cancelled the event. But he forgot to tell people. The most junior develope…

Come on, everyone knows that computer nerds live on pizza.

Says a thing or two about the typical manager world view...

Re: Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now

#120

Post by dogleash »

> Been going to a bunch of hackathons in SF lately and honestly, everything feels fake.

SF software scene exuding the hacker aesthetic while killing the ethos? You don't say.

> Was it always like this and I'm noticing it now, or has something changed?

I can't speak to absolute numbers, but cold corporate hackathons have always existed. In my experience the majority of ones you hear about. The makeup might be changing, but what is also changing is the vibe of attending. It's one thing to attend a thinly-veiled marketing event and have fun anyway during the early 2010's excitement of the software possibility space, and another in the bleakness of what big tech has wrought.

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