MLH—with its organized, self-appointed set of leadership—was what first brought the collegiate hackathon community together back in 2013. But that label has since been taken over by the self-governed Hackathon Hacker community, which is somewhat less exclusive.
Nowadays, I would say that MLH's main value is the role the organization plays in how hackathons are perceived outside of the community. For example:
The recent MLH livestream at PennApps and MHacks that was featured on Twitch.
Being #1 in the MLH ranking helps convince school administrators that hackathons are valuable and worthwhile.
A blog of professionally taken and well-written articles featuring hackers and hackathons.
Their copywriting emphasizes learning and creating, avoiding the negative connotations of "hacking" as much as possible.
Sponsorship by several well-known tech companies that help increase the legitimacy of hackathons.
They are going international.
Snakes and ladders (8–10th January):- My first hackathon was the one organised by MLH. I didn't have team till the last moment, still I happily joined and started to think about the idea. Since it was the first-ever hackathon for me, I didn't know much about the implementation of the things but I ended up making a checkers game with AI with super mario theme. xD
LOCAL HACK DAY (10th-18th January):- Second hackathon was also hosted by MLH in a gap of an hour. AN HOUR! Till now I got the idea of how to implement things,and joined a super active, supportive community Eddie hub! I met really cool, experienced people from various parts across the globe. In three days our guild is on top of the charts and this is all because of hard working people in our guild. I'm really greatful. I'm on 75 th position among thousands of hackers now. We formed a team inside a guild for another Hackathon :hack the northeast and beyond this weekend. That will be my third Hackathon!
Really looking forward to that and big shout-out to the MLH mentors who manage these hackathons in a really professional and fun way and give chance to beginners as well as experienced programmers all around the world. I haven't attended in person Hackathon yet because my first Hackathon happened in the pandemic and it might take an year more for this to happen I guess but I'm loving Hackathons and the community already!
Don't fear to attend hackathons even if you're a beginner, you learn, network and grow your skills here.
Thank you for reading :)
Oldest comments (2)
I am going to share my experience regarding Hacker Community , by attending various workshops of MLH Local Hack Day I came across various new technologies and learnt many new projects.I felt privileged to be part of this community.It is an amazing platform where even if you are a beginner you will develop your skills at another level.I will also thanks my team Sparklers for introducing me to hacker community.
That's great! Thanks for sharing 😊