First Time Hackathoner

Hackathons are something that should be quick to evolve in this rapid changing collective learning internet enabled culture. Last weekend I attended AngelHack NY - my first hackathon experience is described as sharing ideas and finding synergy then attempting to make the most efficient use of 24hrs while coworking with a floor of maker awesome people. With unlimited Red Bull, Snacks, food, and internet at our disposal, teams hustled their way from idea to prototype and pitch in one day. Coming without an idea makes you a free agent focused on finding an interest and placing skills with a team to launch something with.

Many called it unorganized, and there were disappointments with how projects were discovered, people learned of each others' skills, and even the judging seemed a little arbitrary. And if someone built a usable hackathon recruiting platform, it could help solve a cutting edge problem of how to assemble teams that ship products quickly. In the end, several strangers came together, committed to and executed an idea, and shipped a prototype product - that is undeniably awesome.