---
layout: post
title: Exploring a New Way of Planning and Executing Hackathons
image: >-
  http://kinlane-productions2.s3.amazonaws.com/api-evangelist-site/blog/oc-hackerz-logo.jpeg
author:
  name: kinlane
tags:
  - Hackathons
  - Planning
---
I started tracking on Hackathons full time in 2011, as part of my API Evangelism toolbox. In 2012 I’ve watched [Hackathons explode and become a popular way for API owners to engage and build a relationship with developers](http://blog.singly.com/2012/10/08/458-hackathons-in-the-united-states-so-far-in-2012/ "Hackathons explode and become a popular way for API owners to engage and build a relationship with developers"). (if done right)

As I do with other trending areas, I launched as its own site, [hackweekends.com](http://hackweekends.com "Hack Weekends"). I’ve gotten a lot of demand from hackathon organizers and sponsors to add events and other news and information. To support this I recently [launched Hack Weekends on Github](/2012/12/08/open-sourcing-hack-weekends-using-github/ "Open Sourced Hack Weekends on Github"), so anyone can edit pages, write blog posts and add events to the calendar. A sort of crowd sourced hackathon hub.

To further support the hackathon community I also wanted to provide an [open source hackathon guide](https://github.com/kinlane/hack-weekends-guide "open source hackathon guide"), helping anyone understand how they can throw their own hackathon. There were already two great hackathon guides out there which are [Open Data Hackathon How to Guide](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fBuisDTIiBAz9u2tr7sgv6GdDLOV_aHbafjqHXSkNB0/edit) and [The Hack Day Manifesto](http://hackdaymanifesto.com/)