The perfect hackathon timeline

1. ✅ Registrations and team formation start

This is the date when the participants can register for your event.

Here are the minimum hackathon planning steps that should be completed before going live:

• Terms and Conditions
• Event description
• Graphic material
• Hackathon platform ready
• Registration form
• Team creation form

2. ⭕ Registrations close

Individual participants are not allowed to register from this moment onwards.

The registration form should be closed before sending registration deadline reminders to all the interested participants.

3. 🕵️‍♀️ Ideation phase starts

This is the time to go live with your planned live sessions.

These are the most common best practices for the ideation phase webinars and events:

• Technical sessions with experts
• Matchmaking and team formation dedicated event
• Inspirational session with high-profile speakers
• Q&A with participants

We wrote an in-depth description of these live sessions in our hackathon guide.

The ideation phase usually ends before the beginning of the hackathon.

4. ❌ Team formation closes

From this point onwards, individuals are not allowed to create or join a team.

5. 🏁 Hackathon kick-off

This short event is usually hosted on the morning of the first day of the hackathon weekend and should last less than 30 minutes.

It’s often structured as follows:

• A high-profile stakeholder will welcome all the participants
• The organisers will share the hack day 1 detailed agenda

6. ✍️Deliverables deadlines

During the hackathon days, the participants are requested to submit several deliverables, each one depending on each hackathon’s specifics.

A perfect example of hackathon deliverables are:

• 📃 Deliverable 1 - Project Summary
• 🗃️️ Deliverable 2 - Presentation
• 🎞️ Deliverable 3 - Recorded Pitch
• 🔗 Deliverable 4 - Link to the Solution

The deliverables are customised and different for each event.

They should be explained in a Hack Guide to be shared with the participants.

We wrote more about this topic here.

7. 👩‍⚖️ Evaluation

This is the moment to wrap up all the deliverables from the teams and send them to the Jury Panel for evaluation.

This phase can be split into different evaluation stages if necessary.

For example:

• Selection of the competing ideas
• Selection of the finalists
• Winners

Check out more about this matter in this article.

8. 🎉 Pitching & award event

Celebrating a successful hackathon is extremely important!

That is why these types of events are usually held physically in a great location and also streamed online to maximise engagement and participation.

All the stakeholders should be invited, including customers, providers, and affiliates.