Done right, a Hackathon can be a fantastic place to be a programmer - you get time and space to build and learn, in a room full of like-minded people, with swag and prizes to sweeten the deal. It’s a great way to pick up new ideas and run with them. But done wrong it can be a waste of time. What’s the difference between a good hackathon and a bad one? What do the good ones do right, and what can we learn from that?

This week we’re talking about the Joy of Hacks with Major League Hacking Co-Founder Jon Gottfried. He’s got over 10 years of experience building a Hackathon network that provides the right environment for “structured mucking about with computers”, so we’re going to pick his brains.

If you’re ever attending a Hackathon, organising one, or looking for a way to build or contribute to your local programming community, Jon can help guide you to events that work.

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Major League Hacking: https://mlh.io/

Major League Hacking’s 2024 Event Calendar: https://mlh.io/seasons/2024/events

Games Week: https://events.mlh.io/events/10848 

Jon on Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@jonmarkgo

Jon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmarkgo

Jon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonmarkgo

Kris on Mastodon: http://mastodon.social/@krisajenkins

Kris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krisjenkins/

Kris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/krisajenkins

Bonus link - The Great American Baking Show 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlWLSAKEedk

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#software #podcast #programming #hackathon