Hackathons are exploding in popularity and open API publishers are quickly realizing the power they have to attract developers. For API publishers, hackathons represent one of the most powerful means for growing an API’s profile and engaging directly with talented developers. This Webinar, hosted API management vendor Layer 7 Technologies and guest API evangelist Kin Lane, will deliver the advice an organization needs in order to throw hackathons that contribute to the real-world success of an API publishing program.

1. How to Run a Successful Hackathon for Your Open APIs
 Mike Amundsen  Kin Lane
Principal API Architect API Evangelist
Layer 7 Technologies
July 12, 2012

2. Housekeeping
 Questions
- Chat any questions you have and we’ll answer them at the end of this call
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3. How to Run a
Successful Hackathon for
Your
Open APIs
07/12/2012

4. What a hackathon is not!
• Illegal
• Cracking System
• Penetrating Networks
• Virus
• Trojans
• Password Cracking

5. What is a hack?
A quick and dirty, technical
solution to a problem.
It's not fancy!
It's quick!
It's creative!

6. What is a hackathon?
• Hack Day / HackFest /
CodeFest
• Developers, Designers and
Business
• 8-56 Hours Long
• Projects, Startups, Data
Visualization
• Sponsors / Promoters
• Food & Drink
• Winners and Prizes

7. What are the origins of a
hackathon?
• "hack" + "marathon"
• developers of OpenBSD
• the marketing team of Sun
• Cryptographic Dev Event
• Calgary June 4, 1999

8. What is the purpose of a
hackathon?
• Marketing Vehicle
• Talent Acquisition
• Platform Exposure
• Idea generation
• Team building
• Networking
• Innovation
• Abstraction
• R&D

9. What types of hackathons are
there?
• Platform Focused
• Industries / Verticals
• Startup / Business
• Data Visualization
• Consumerization of IT
• International
• Internal

10. Role hackathons play in developer
engagement?
• Problem Solving
• Challenges
• Education
• Networking
• Social
• Collaborative
• Loyalty

11. What is your objective for holding a
hackathon?
• What is your goal?
• What are you promising sponsors?
• What types of sponsors can you attract?
• Why do you want have done by end of weekend?
• What do you want people to leave with?
• How will you measure success?

12. Establish a framework for your hackathon
• Length of event, usually 8, 24, 48 or 56 hours
• Starts with overview of event by organizer
• Time for sponsor presentations
• Workshops from sponsors
• Individuals can pitch ideas
• Individuals can vote on ideas
• Individuals sell Ideas & solicit team member
• Hacking commences
• Staying overnight / operating hours
• Teams present projects
• Judges ask questions
• Judges deliberate
• Announcement of winners
• After party

13. Who do you want to attend your hackathon?
• Sponsors
• Mentors
• Business
• marketing
• UX / UI / Graphics
• Developers
• Press
• Judges
• VC / Angels
• Students
• Gender
• Race
• Age

14. What prizes will you offer?
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd
• Secondary bonus prizes and incentives
• Not too large, not too small
• Swag (t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, etc.)

15. Finding the right facility for your hackathon
• Schools and Universities
• Conference Center
• Technology Company office
• Should have a large central gathering space
• Provide smaller breakout areas and rooms
• Libraries are evolving as potential space
• Sleeping facilities ? Overnight? Place to roll out
sleeping bag?
• Security / Access / After Hours
• Internet
• Projectors
• Tables
• Refrigerators

16. Finding Sponsors for Your Hackathon
• Company Partners
• Sponsor Other Events
• Publish a PDF / Kit
• Presentations
• Workshop
• Judge
• Swag
• Tools
• Cloud Services
• Food
• Drinks

17. Marketing Considerations for Hackathon
• Imaging / Graphics
• Website
• Mainstream press & blogs
• Printed posters, materials,
• T-Shirts and swag
• Photos
• Video
• Information packet

18. How do you attract participants?
• Piggyback on existing conferences and events
• Bring in existing network or organizer
• Take advantage of online social networks
• Take advantage of local groups and meetups and the
strength of established groups
• Get tech blogs to cover your event

19. Setup a communication platform
• Website
#EventHashtag
• Twitter Account
• Twitter Hashtag
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Youtube
• Eventbrite
• Github
• Flickr

20. Opening Day
• Keep Informal
• Have Food & Drinks
• Socialize
• Give Sponsors Spotlight
• Give Developers Spotlight
• Kick Things Off Right
• Set The Right Tone

21. On-Site
• Show Up Early
• Be Available
• Mentor
• Socialize
• Communicate
• Post Pictures
• Lots of Food
• Lots of Drink
• Lots of Snacks
• Leave Late

22. Hackathon Wrap-up
•
• Make as memorable as possible
• Make sure winners know what’s next
• Let participants know what’s next
• Write down thoughts while still fresh
• Identify what went right
• Identify what went wrong
• Tell stories about the event
• Feed homeless with leftover food
• Go have a beer!

23. Where Hackathons are Going
• More Hackathons • Internal
• Verticals • International
• Physical

24. How to Run a
Successful Hackathon for
Your
Open APIs
07/12/2012

25. API Design and Management
 Mike Amundsen
Principal API Architect
Layer 7 Technologies
@mamund
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26. Overview
When it comes to Web APIs:
good design gets them in the door,
good management keeps them
coming back for more.
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27. Overview
When it comes to Web APIs:
Good design gets them in the door
good management keeps them
coming back for more.
3

28. Overview
When it comes to Web APIs:
Good design gets them in the door,
Good management keeps them
coming back for more.
4

29. Overview
When it comes to Web APIs:
Good design gets them in the door,
Good management keeps them
coming back for more.
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30. Good API Design
 Why Good Design Matters
 What is ‘good’ API Design?
 Strategies for Great APIs
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31. Why good design matters
 Bad design stifles adoption
 Bad design reflects poorly on your brand
 Bad design just plain “hurts”
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32. What is ‘good’ API Design?
 Easy to learn
 Easy to use, even w/o documentation
 Hard to misuse
 Easy to read and maintain code that uses it
 Sufficiently powerful to satisfy requirements
 Easy to extend
 Appropriate to audience
Joshua Bloch, Principal Software Engineer, Google.
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33. Strategies for Great APIs
 Be “agile” with your API
 Don’t “over-geek” or “under-design” your API
 Great APIs grow over time and never die out
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34. Remember…
Your API
*is*
your product.
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35. But that’s only half the story…
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36. Good API Management
 Why API Management Matters
 What is ‘good’ API Management?
 Nuts and Bolts of Managing APIs
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37. Why API Management Matters
 If it’s too hard to get started…
 If it’s too hard to keep up…
 If the system is flaky, buggy, or down a lot…
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38. Why API Management Matters
They will probably go somewhere else.
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39. What is ‘good’ API Management?
 Easy for Devs to register and engage
 Easy for API owners to publish/secure
 Easy for Portal admins to track and update
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40. Nuts and Bolts of Managing APIs
 Developer Registration
 Access Control
 API Sandbox
 API Documentation
 Social Engagement
 Tracking and Reporting
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41. In conclusion…
 Good API Design
- Easy to use
- Targeted
- Flexible
 Good API Management
- Easy for developers
- Easy for API owners
- Easy for Portal admins
 Good APIs are Good Products
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42. API Design and Management
 Mike Amundsen
Principal API Architect
Layer 7 Technologies
@mamund
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43. Questions?
Mike Amundsen Kin Lane
Principal API Architect API Evangelist
Layer 7 Technologies apievangelist.com
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