What a hackathon is and why it works for your organisation

The quality of a hackathon starts with the challenge. Too vague and teams don't know where to start. Too specific and there's no room for creativity. The right balance: a sharply worded question with enough openness to be surprised by the outcomes.

A good hackathon challenge has three characteristics. First, it's relevant: the question touches a real problem or opportunity for the organisation. Attendees feel that their work matters. Second, it's bounded. The scope is clear enough to reach something tangible in the available time. Third, it's open in execution: there isn't one right answer. Creativity pays off.

Some hackathons work with one central challenge for all teams. Others offer two to four challenges that teams can pick from based on interest or expertise. With that second format, engagement rises: people work harder on a question they've chosen themselves.

Frame the challenge as a how-question: 'How could we speed up our customer onboarding without giving up on quality?'. That's inviting, concrete and creative all at once.

The make-up of the teams largely decides whether your hackathon reaches its goal. Never let teams pick themselves — you'll get cliques and homogeneous groups. Mix deliberately on three levels: by department (to break down silos), by seniority (to bring experience and fresh eyes together), and where useful by skills: a techie, a communications person, an operational thinker.

Teams of four to six people work best. Smaller misses the diversity. Bigger makes it hard to keep everyone's contribution visible.

The venue has to play along. A hackathon needs space: tables to work at, walls to stick things on, room to move. No bare meeting room, but a creative environment with whiteboards, post-its, flip charts and good wifi. Add energy with continuously available coffee, snacks and possibly music. The venue should say: you're allowed to think differently here.

The finale of a hackathon (the presentation and the judging) is the moment when everything comes together. Make sure it feels like a real pitch session, not a school presentation. That means: a jury panel with authority and involvement, clear criteria, and a setup that builds tension.

Let teams present in 5 minutes maximum, followed by 5 minutes of questions from the jury. Judge on criteria like: originality, feasibility, impact and quality of the presentation.

Decide in advance what happens with the outcomes. Will the winning team actually develop the idea, and do they get a budget, time or a mentor for it? The value of a hackathon is decided by what happens afterwards. If the ideas disappear into a drawer, so does the motivation to take part in the next edition.

Make it festive. A hackathon deserves a real closing moment: announcement of the winner, applause, a prize, a photo. That acknowledges the hard work of every attendee, not just the winner.

A corporate event costs roughly €200 to €500+ per person ex. VAT for 250 to 500 guests. For 500 to 1,000 guests, count on roughly €150 to €400+ per person. For 1,000 to 2,000 guests, roughly €125 to €350+ per person. For more than 2,000 guests, roughly €100 to €300+ per person. All amounts exclude VAT, including venue, catering, entertainment and production.

The exact budget depends on the type, the venue and the programme. The brackets above give the range for an average corporate event.

Organising a hackathon isn't a standard event. It has its own programme logic, a thought-through challenge structure and a day coordination that keeps the apparently 'free' moments tightly held. That calls for experience.

Live Impact guides hackathons from challenge design through to the award ceremony. We think along on the right questions, build the programme and arrange the right venue and materials. On the day itself we coordinate everything, so that you as the client can be fully present: as host, not as organiser.

We organise hackathons for technology companies, but also for HR teams, marketing departments, educational institutions and government bodies. The format works for any organisation that wants to make serious work of innovation or cooperation.

Ready to organise a hackathon that actually delivers? Call 085 401 40 14 or mail hello@live-impact.nl. Seriously fun.