I don't know if it's worth dropping the Hackseq name. We've kinda already went all in with that name. It also might still preferentially attract more technical people.Īnother awkward issue is the name Hackseq.

A synonym for hackathon which might not have as much negative connotation is a Code Festival, which drops the marathon reference and makes it sound more fun, but that's open to debate. My only fear with this term is that people are unfamiliar with what it means, which might be a good thing and incite curiosity. Now, if we were to move away from calling ourselves a Genomics Hackathon, then what do we call ourselves? suggested Unconference. So, I'm afraid we might be shooting ourselves in the foot by describing ourselves as a Genomics Hackathon and giving off an image that doesn't represent what we aim to be. We want to encourage creativity, not stifle it. We want people to explore new ideas without the pressure of having to deliver on it. We want to be inclusive and fun, not exclusionary and stressful. Obviously, this doesn't describe what we're trying to organize. brought up this potential issue on Twitter and some people corroborated the negative connotation associated with the word 'hackathon' (see 1 and 2). Briefly, it usually evokes a very competitive environment meant for computer nerds that often involves all-nighters, pizza and beer. I speculate that this has to do with the connotation that 'hackathon' carries. In their admittedly small experience, the term 'hackathon' mostly attracted male computer scientists. The gist of it is that the name we give the event might have a strong influence on who it attracts. When I was reading the private thread on encouraging women to participate, this one tweet came to mind. I think we can all agree that we should aim for diversity among our team leaders and participants.

October 2016 prodigy hacks