Hackathons are a great way for companies to reach developers, designers, and other hackers. As a company, when you commit to being a sponsor at a hackathon, it is important to make the most of your presence. Here are 10 things you should consider before you sponsor a hackathon.

1. Hackathon To-Dos
Part 1: Sponsor Playbook
The Lob Team
www.Lob.com
@Lob

2. Hackathons are a great way for companies to
reach developers, designers, and other hackers.
As a company, when you commit to being a
sponsor at a hackathon, it is important to make
the most of your presence.
Here are 10 things you should consider before
you sponsor a hackathon.
www.Lob.com

3. 1. Engage Engage Engage
I cannot stress the importance of this as it relates to sponsors. Even though
you probably have a nice spot in the venue with a table set up dedicated for
your company, you should be spending a good chunk of your time during the
hackathon walking around, meeting hackers. Ask about what they are
working on, offer your help in any way, and tell them about your company.
The large majority of hackers at these events won’t know you are there if you
stay at your table all weekend.
www.Lob.com

4. 2. Bring Swag
Bring as many stickers, t-shirts, stationery, and other fun things as you can get
your hands on. Hackers love swag (who doesn’t?) and bringing awesome stuff
accomplishes two things: 1) builds your brand and 2) attracts attention.
Things like stickers have a viral effect and helps your brand recognition during
and long after the weekend is over. When you have swag at your table,
people will immediately gravitate towards your table and more often than
not, listen to a quick pitch about your product. If you don’t bring anything,
you’re going to miss these opportunities.
www.Lob.com

5. 3. Send Technical Evangelists
This one is absolutely crucial, especially for companies that are trying to
evangelize technical integrations such as APIs. It is very important to have
someone on the ground for the duration of the weekend that knows your
product inside and out and can help to debug and answer any questions
hackers have at these events.
www.Lob.com

6. 4. Make Sure Your Product is
Easy to Use
Have clear documentation/instructions on your website that is immediately
accessible. MongoDB hands out a small, aesthetically pleasing journal that is
ripe with FAQs and helpful tips on how to integrate with their product. They
hand this out as part of their swag pack and it’s awesome. You have to
remember that hackers have to build out a functional product in as little as
24 hours so if your product is confusing to use, they will more than likely give
up and use something else.
www.Lob.com

7. 5. Bring Signage
Make sure you bring banners, table throws, and whatever signage you can
get your hands on. Hackathons are usually held at big venues, so unless you
have a visual presence that commands attention. We have seen this done
really well by the team at Sendgrid. They have a visually appealing stand-up
retractable banner and sometimes they will put it on top of their sponsor
table so that you can see it from anywhere in the building.
www.Lob.com

8. 6. Provide Real-Time Support
All companies should always make sure to beef up their customer support
efforts, but this is especially true when it comes to hackathons. There has to
be a way to interact with company reps in real-time. So if you can’t send
people to be physically there, make sure to let everyone know that they can
get answers from you in real-time via a support phone line, email, olark,
twitter, and other mediums.
www.Lob.com

9. 7. Offer Creative Prizes
For those companies that have an API, offer up a prize to the team with the
best integration. For companies that are recruiting, offer up a prize to best
overall hack or some other general category. Prizes don’t necessarily have to
be expensive. iPads and gadgets are always a hit, but often times what’s
more valuable may be some sort of unique trophy, or perhaps even a private
dinner with your team.
www.Lob.com

10. 8. Provide Snacks & Fuel
When midnight rolls around, hackers start getting tired and burnt out. Even
though the event organizers generally do a great job of making sure there is
always enough food, you can never have enough frappuccinos, red bulls,
chips, and candy.
www.Lob.com

11. 9. Bring Business Cards
Many people will say that business cards are becoming obsolete, but it is still
the easiest way to hand out your contact info. We have found that hackathon
participants ask for your personal business cards because it is always nice for
them to be able to follow up with you after you met the at the event. You will
meet lots of interesting and talented people at hackathons, so be sure they
have a way to contact you afterwards.
www.Lob.com

12. 10. Meet Other Sponsors
When it comes to sponsorships, there is an innate sense of competition.
Sponsors are competing for talent, hack usage, and attention. Although this is
true, you should be building relationships with other sponsors. If you go to
enough of these, you start running into the same people. The two most
recent hackathons we have been to were MHacks and hackTECH. At both
events, we saw several cool apps that used a combination of sponsor APIs
such as Pinterest + Lob, Sendgrid + Lob, and others.
www.Lob.com

13. Questions or Thoughts?
Tweet @Lob
support@Lob.com
www.Lob.com/blog
www.Lob.com