/hackathon-sponsorship

Hackathon Sponsorship

Getting ROI from hackathon sponsorships for developer tools.

What This Covers

• Evaluating which hackathons to sponsor
• Booth presence and staffing strategy
• Prizes that actually work
• Judge involvement best practices
• Post-event follow-up
• Measuring sponsorship ROI

Key Concepts

Be helpful, not salesy - staff your booth with developers who can actually help participants debug code and solve problems.

Choose events that match your audience - participant demographics matter more than attendee count.

Follow-up is where ROI happens - the event is the start of the relationship, not the end.

When to Use

• Evaluating hackathon sponsorship opportunities
• Planning booth presence and staffing
• Designing prize categories
• Building post-hackathon follow-up strategy

Quick Start

1. Identify hackathons where participants match your users
2. Staff booth with technical people who enjoy helping
3. Create a prize category tied to your product's problem space
4. Prepare non-salesy follow-up sequence
5. Track signups and usage from event

See SKILL.md for evaluation criteria, booth tactics, and ROI measurement.