Hackathons/Before you start planning

Organizing an event like the yearly large Wikimedia Hackathon, is a lot of work and requires substantial commitment but it is a great experience. You will be supported by the WMF team and enthusiastic collaborators from all over the world. A Wikimedia Hackathon is a team effort that will keep you, your team, and your community busy for more than a year.

If you are thinking about hosting a Wikimedia Hackathon in the future, here's how to get started:

Phase #1: Draft a vision

Attend a Wikimedia Hackathon

... If you haven't already! Get inspired and pay special attention to the organizers' work.

Talk about your thoughts with other organizers and hackathon-experienced Wikimedians

All of this will give you a good idea of whether you are ready to host a hackathon.

Ask yourself "Why do we even want to do all this work?"

By asking yourself a couple of tough questions, you can get a clear vision of if – and if yes, why – you would want to plan an event: outreach:Event planning process (Related Learning Pattern: m:Learning patterns/Event planning process)

Learn the definition of a Wikimedia Hackathon

Understand what is required of every hackathon (and think about which special things you would want to do.)

Phase #2: Discuss with your team and community

Get familiar with the timeline

Make a rough plan: Would this work in the following year, or the one after? Check with your team and community if it would be possible.

Flip through the handbook for organizers

Skim the articles to get an idea of the individual tasks you have to organize.

Check out how the organizers of previous hackathons did it

Learn from previous events and build on previous organizer's lessons learned.

Phase #3: Propose!

If you still want to do this, you are ready to propose a hackathon!