Copyright © 2017 Oracle Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Innovation Labs:How to Run aHackathonBy Laurie Pattison, Senior DirectorOracle Applications User Experience

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

2

IntroductionOracle has been running innovation events for several years, and the momentum and demand for them continues to accelerate. The Apps UX Innovation Labs was formed with the objective of accelerating in-novation and supporting the overall UX organization innovation goal to deliver high quality software quickly to customers.

If you are considering running events in your organization to accelerate innovation, you’re in good com-pany. Companies use design jams or hackathons for goals ranging from product roadmap definition, proof of concept designs and prototypes, to talent retention and training their own customers and part-ners to increase adoption of their new products and showcase their innovation-driven culture.

Hackathons are intense events, typically 1-3 days, the majority lasting 2 days. The hackathon deliverable is working, demonstrable code behind a new trend or technology.

After running an average of one innovation event per month for the past few years, we’ve learned a thing or two about what makes them work. This guide isn’t exhaustive, but focused on some key points of planning a hackathon. We hope it will help you as you incorporate hackathons into your innovation tool-kit.

Introduction

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

3

Determining Event GoalsLater on in this guide, we’ll give you a checklist to help with the nuts and bolts of planning. Before you start planning, consider why you want to do an event. Before doing anything else, create an executive summary of your goals and scope and determine how you will measure it through judging criteria.

Consider who your sponsors are, if applicable, who your target participants will be, and possible judges. Once you do that, you have your vision and scope in your own version of an elevator pitch and you’re ready to get down to planning.

Determining Event Goals

Try to limit the judging criteria to a few things you really care about. We typically measure on a maximum of four criteria: Completeness of Entry, Enterprise Applicability, User Experience, and Productizability, and adjust weighting depending on the event.

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

4

Roles and DescriptionsThe following is a description of the roles we consider essential to running a good event. In some cases, the same people may fill multiple roles, while in other cases; it is useful to keep those roles separate.

• Facilitator or MC - Having a named event lead is key. That person will typically announce the event, and be the primary communicator before and during the event.. The Facilitator or MC will work with the judges to choose a winner and present prizes. This person is typically also one of the organizers of the event.

• Organizers - Organizers of the event need to be a focused, committed group of individuals who will meet regularly to plan the event and the event logistics. The organizers will also prepare any required materials, recruit mentors and judges, and hold information sessions. They will also advertise the event, respond to queries, blog/tweet during and after the event. Organizers also facilitate the day(s) of the event.

• Mentors - Mentors play a crucial role in the success of an event. Mentors are typically chosen for their expertise in the subject matter, technology or design and their eagerness to help participants be suc-cessful.

• Judges - Judges should be recognized experts in the technology or trend the event is about. Ideally, there should be 3-5 total judges for the event.

• Sponsors - Sponsors can be the sponsor of the event theme, can help to target participants and pub-licize events, and are the primary strategic leaders in driving the output from an event to production. Sponsors are critical when holding events in cities or countries where you don’t have a presence, and should provide a local point-of-contact for the organizing team.

Roles and Descriptions

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

5

Role of a MentorMentors have a huge impact on the success of an innovation event. They are typically chosen for their ex-pertise in the subject matter, technology or design and their willingness or eagerness to help participants be successful.

Mentor Responsibilities

Prior to the Event

• Attend planning meetings, usually weekly in the ~6-8 weeks before an event

• Provide input on communication and evangelize the event

• Lend expertise in Information Sessions, sometimes preparing training material

• Mentors can involve helping teams develop their elevator pitch, solidify their roles, ensure they’ve lev-eraged reference material, etc.

Role of a Mentor

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

6

Role of a MentorDuring the Event

For the majority of events, a mentor’s role is sort of an “on demand” one. Many people will just come and find a mentor when they need help, but it’s good to be proactive during critical phases.

• Brainstorming phase – Mentors can help focus the team’s project.

• Design phase – Mentors are often asked to help a team assess feedback on whether their design is effective, or general design feedback.

• Coding phase – Mentors should help troubleshoot technical problems without coding for the team.

• Presentation prep – Mentors need to provide critical, yet supportive feedback on their pitches and pre-sentations.

• Presentations – Take excellent notes on presentations, stating what they did well, and what the team might focus on if they continue to work on the project or who could help them.

Role of a Mentor

You can assign a mentor to be a dedicated member of a team if there is a strategic reason to do so, e.g.; Partner en-ablement of new technologies. If you do this, make sure you have a couple floating mentors as well who are experts in technology or design approaches that all teams will use.

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

7

Role of a MentorAfter the Event

• Provide written feedback to the organizers on the presentations at the event

• Potentially help shepherd entries to product. This may just involve participating in follow up calls with teams as they work to productize their entry, depending on the mentor’s product focus or expertise

• Help on patent process, if applicableRole of a Mentor

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

8

How to JudgeThere are concrete criteria that can be applied to some aspects of judging; whether code or designs are checked in on time, whether the demos run, etc. However, in most innovation events, you’re looking for entries that are new and unique, so there is typically a fair amount of subjectivity involved.

• Pick your judges wisely. Judges should be recognized experts in your event topic and/or at least one of your judging criteria. Pick a variety of judges whose expertise complements each other. For exam-ple, for a hackathon, you may choose to have 1-2 technical experts, one design or User Experience expert, and 1-2 business or domain experts.

• Meet with the judges in advance of the event. Review judging criteria, category weighting, if any, and run through a couple of scenarios with them so they can judge efficiently and fairly when the pitches begin.

• Provide judging tools. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet with the participant team names, eleva-tor pitches and room to score and take notes. Or, you can build your own judging app. Simple works best.

• Odd numbers rule. If you’ve picked experts, they will likely come with their own strong opinions and biases. After all, judging a hackathon or design jam is subjective. You’re less likely to have a stalemate when judging if you have an odd number of judges.

How to Judge

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

9

Event CommunicationSince you’re going to the effort and expense to put on an event, you want it to be a success. A commu-nication plan is a huge factor in determining whether news of your event reaches the right audience and whether that audience has the information they need to be successful.

• Know your audience and the best way to reach them – In determining the scope and goals of your event, you undoubtedly considered who you’d want to invite to attend.

• Build excitement – Create dedicated artwork/logos, if possible for the event. Create a website with im-portant details, create posters to hang around the building. Send out regular communication: not too little, not too much. Make sure that every communication has relevant information and actions clearly stated.

• Help participants prepare to be successful – We typically conduct 2-3 Information Sessions with con-tent that includes logistical prep for forming teams and how to prepare, communicating research into the topic of the event, and providing demos, tips, early access to technology and documentation to help participants prepare.

• Communicate results – Communicate with sponsors and a larger audience the results of your event and any next steps. Share some details about the winning entries and give participants public kudos.

Event Communication

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

10

Participant TeamsWhile there are plenty of examples where participants compete as individuals, the vast majority of par-ticipants choose to work on a team to be able to divide and conquer the significant amount of work re-quired to complete a successful entry in a short time.

• Not too big, not too little. You want teams where every team member plays a vital role. A good team typically has between 3-6 participants.

• A great team has a mix of skills. A winning team usually has developers with front and back end skills, a designer, user researcher and/or someone who is customer-focused or facing, a subject matter ex-pert, a pitch person, and a project manager who can keep the team on scope and watch the clock. One person can fulfill multiple roles on a team.

• Now is the time to network. Encourage teams to “reach across the aisle” and find teammates who they don’t typically work with. You’re asking them to be innovative, and that happens best when there are new ideas, skills and personalities from the day-to-day.

• Set event expectations. Every member of the team should plan to be available for the entire event. In order achieve the full benefit of an innovation event and the success of a team; participants must set aside their typical day-to-day tasks so they can focus on building their entry.

If you have the capacity and network, you may choose to offer some skill matchmaking services to round out teams.

Participant Teams

Despite your best efforts, you will get teams that ignore your advice on team mix best practices. Avoid the tendency to over manage. Teams work best when they’re allowed to self-organize.

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

11

Elevator Pitch : Why It’s Important

Participant teams should create an elevator pitch and submit it in advance of the hackathon, at the latest at the hackathon kickoff. Elevator pitches serve multiple purposes.

• Scoping. There is huge value in being able to succinctly articulate what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for, and the value it brings. A decent rule of thumb is that if you can’t say it in 30 seconds or less, the scope is too big or the value is unclear.

• Team organization. As teams get together to define the scope of what they’re going to design or build in advance of your innovation event, the act of defining an elevator pitch is very effective in getting teams to move forward together in creating their vision.

• Mentor assignment and judge communication. Knowing what teams are planning to build helps to assign mentors best skilled at helping the teams, and allows judges to understand in advance what questions they may want to ask teams during their pitches.

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

If teams decide to change their elevator pitch after submitting it, it’s best to allow them to do it. Just communicate up-dates to mentors and judges. The real value is in the process of creating it.

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

12

Planning Checklist The planning calendar is an essential tool to keeping an innovation event on track. We begin planning our events 3-4 months ahead of time for internal events, and longer if the event involves customers, partners or is in a foreign location. Your own checklist may differ, but most key tasks are assumed to be applicable.

External Events have certain legal requirements depending on location, participant type, and technology used. It is best to contact Oracle Legal as soon as possible when planning any event with external par-ticipants. You are responsible to ensure your hackathon complies with all company and regional legal requirements.

Planning Checklist

view planning checklist

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

13

Typical Schedule

Day 1 Day 2Time (PST) Topic Time (PST) Topic

08:30 AM Doors Open 08:30 AM Doors Open

09:00 AM Kick-Off 09:00 AM Mentor Code Review

09:30 AM Hackathon Begins 03:00 PM Code Freeze! Teams must submit their completed project to be eligible for prizes. They have 30 minutes to work on presenta-tions.

01:00 PM Pitch Guidance 03:30 PM Pitch entries in 3 minutes. Answer ques-tions from judges for another 2 min

06:00 PM Doors Close (participants need to find another place to work)

05:00 PM Presentations end and voting begins. Re-ception for participants while the judges confer.

11:00 PM Online Mentor support ends 05:30 PM Winners AnnouncedTypical Schedule

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

14

Lessons LearnedThe magic of innovation happens when people are allowed enough freedom to design and build some-thing they are passionate about, and have the opportunity to learn something new and meet and work with new, creative, brilliant and passionate people like themselves.

We are proud in the Oracle Apps UX Innovation Labs group to have a very successful Innovation Events program. We continue to evolve our process and framework as we discover what works best. After years of running hackathons, design jams and ShipIts, we’ve had our share of lessons learned.

• Not every goal can be met with an innovation event. There are many great programs and processes to rally people around a known issue and solve it quickly.

• Make sure participants get something out of the events, too. If you’re lucky, you’ll create pent up de-mand for your employees, customers or partners to attend your events. People typically site the ability to learn something new and the ability to network and work with new, creative, smart people as the key drivers to keep them coming back.

• Make your events a true event. Make them fun. Create some buzz. Advertise the brilliance you discov-er and share public kudos to a job well done. There are plenty of ways to do this without giving away your intellectual property.

• Be realistic about time commitments required. A successful event requires a lot of planning and up front work, particularly with organizers and mentors. Be sure to plan your event well enough in ad-vance to allow this work to get done, and communicate clearly what you’re asking your volunteer army to sign up for.

• Avoid a tendency to over-engineer. Innovation Events should give a framework to judge the strategic goals you’ve defined for the event. After doing that, it’s best to get out of the way and allow people to self-organize and define their own project scope and team makeup.

Lessons Learned

Introduction

Determining Event Goals

Roles and Descriptions

Role of a Mentor

How to Judge

Event Communication

Participant Teams

Elevator Pitch: Why It’s Important

Planning Checklist

Typical Schedule

Lessons Learned

Contact Us

15

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