An opening ceremony is an essential part of the hackathon to communicate all the necessary information one might need on the day-of to make the best out of the hackathon experience.
Opening ceremonies should be celebrated like a massive festival start, creating an energy that will stay with the hackers throughout the whole hackathon. We strongly recommend pre-recording your opening ceremony rather than doing it live. It lets you be in full control of the ceremony, removes a lot of hardware/bandwidth problems, and, in general, is significantly more consistent.
In the Opening Ceremony, make sure you cover:
- The general chat channel etiquette everyone needs to follow during the event
- The event schedule, highlighting the major deadlines
- Prize categories
- How to reach out to the organizers in case of questions
- Any sponsored content, obligations you need to follow
- Your MLH Coach’s 5 minutes presentation!
Check out an example slide deck here