我曾建議大家參加黑客松，今年則主持 Hacktoberfest

Watching people demo their projects was the moment hosting Hacktoberfest really hit me.

They had arrived with ideas. Now they were showing what they had built, explaining their thinking, and getting excited about their own work. I was excited right along with them.

I remember thinking: I helped create the space for this to happen.

That feeling brought me back to an article I published in 2017 about attending my first hackathon. Back then, I was writing about how much the experience had given me. This time, I was getting to see it from the other side.

But the decision to host started much more simply: I was scrolling through Dev.to.

I came across a call for Hacktoberfest hosts. I already knew Hacktoberfest and tried to participate each year. Traditionally, it centered on contributing to open source through pull requests. This year’s format included in-person events focused on learning and building with open-source AI.

I looked around for an event in my area and couldn’t find one.

As co-lead of AI Collective’s Maryland chapter, I thought this would be a good opportunity for our community. We could get people together, give them time to work on ideas, and see what they could build.

So I raised my hand.

Saying yes was the easy part

Hosting meant finding a venue, coordinating with people, arranging the space, and getting the word out.

I knew there would be work involved. Doing it gave me a much better understanding of how many things have to come together before an attendee can simply walk in, open a laptop, and get started.

Promotion took effort, too. Around half the people who registered actually attended a useful lesson in the difference between sign-ups and turnout.

My expectation going in was pretty simple: if one person came and had a good experience, I would consider that a win.

Then the demos happened.

People were happy to show what they had made. They had used the day to explore their ideas, collaborate, and build something they could share. Watching that unfold was more rewarding than I had expected.

Until then, I had been doing the work of organizing an event. During the demos, I got to enjoy what that work had made possible.

The tools have changed since my first hackathon

At my first hackathon, organized by Women Who Code in DC, I joined a team working on an emergency management idea.

We had plenty of ideas and limited time. By the end, we had created a website mockup.

I still left inspired. I had met people with different experiences, learned how they approached problems, and had the chance to contribute what I knew.

At our Hacktoberfest event, Gemini and other AI tools helped people take their ideas further within a single day. Seeing what they could build and demo in that time was exciting. We didn’t have those tools at my first hackathon.

It also made me appreciate having a dedicated place and time to use them together. People could bring an idea, work alongside others, and have something to show by the end of the day.

I recognized their excitement, even though the tools and projects were different from my first experience.

Then I went back and read my old article

In that 2017 post, I wrote:

“When I started sharing what I know with other people, I realized that what I have been doing has a value”

At that first hackathon, sharing what I knew helped me recognize what I could contribute. Hosting expanded my understanding of what contributing can look like. Finding a space, bringing people together, and giving them time to work on their ideas made room for everyone else’s contributions, too.

If you’ve enjoyed attending events like these, consider helping make one happen. You could help organize through a local chapter, find a venue, or bring a few people together for a day of building. There’s work involved, but you don’t have to start with a big event.

My first hackathon left me excited about what I could do. Hosting Hacktoberfest left me excited about what I could help other people do.

What’s something an organizer did that made a developer event memorable for you? I’d love to hear what made it worth showing up.