Hackathon No More

If you use that much Red Bull, you got 2 issues (at least): the sugar gives a rush, but the bloodsugar level will plunge. And each time you continue it plunges even harder and faster.

Second, Red Bull or any caffinated beverage will attack your adrenal gland badly. Realy hard. Your adrenal gland is responsible for your adrenaline (duh) and gets triggered by the caffeine. So, it's not the caffeine that gives you a boost, but the adrenaline that gets released. Until it's gone, drought up, vanished. You can drink Red Bull till you die, but the adrenaline won't be there. Until you fix it.

You see, your body is a bank. A bank full of nutrient to be released when some other part of the body needs it. If you never make deposits, you won't get any interest either. If you only make withdrawals, you will end up with debit. If you continue you go bankrupt and die.

Healthy hackathons? I guess it's possible. I eat a lot of butter from grass-fed cows. I use omega-3 a lot and magnesium. My brains work much better and that without any caffeine. There are other supplements one can use, but always with moderation and enough sleep. Without sleep, your hormones won't get any rest or balance.

Hackers who think they have super powers and don't need sleep are having a Wall-Street mentality prior to 2008. Grow up, you only have one body, so you better take care of it.

overall, we did a lot of what you suggested at PennApps. I think the key is to provide an avenue for both types of hackers: if you want to stay up all night, we have Red Bull and late-night give-aways. If you want to sleep, we have a quiet area with portable hammocks or sleeping bags. Healthy food is available throughout and organized exercise is available to those who seek it out.

By the way, if you (hackathon organizer) have the budget for it, bringing in masseuses (15 minutes per person, sign up/raffle spots off) is an amazing Saturday break. Sponsored by pick-your-favorite-VC.

I agree, especially on the food & drinks and on physical exercise.

That's why hackerspaces are better imho. You don't have to rush an idea to be finished in a weekend.

That's why over at Berkeley we at Hackers at Berkeley decided to start hosting Hackjams. They're twelve hour events from about 1 PM to 1 AM. We have much less pressure, more emphasis on fun and trying things out and showing what you learned, even if you don't have anything approaching a product (I once showed an awful demonstration of all that I had managed to learn about Three.JS in five hours).

I would recommend taking a look at http://hackdaymanifesto.com

Also as someone who has runs about one community event be it hackday, designjam or barcamp a month I have learned to cater for everyone as best as possible.