I, Lady Coder, will probably never go to a Hackathon.

Yeah, you heard me right: I'm a coder who has zero desire to ever step foot in events known as "Hackathons".  Jeffrey To's article has reminded me that some developers find it puzzling that female developers aren't going to these coding marathons, and he even goes so far as to entice their attendance by describing the dimensions of delectable and datable geeks for our enjoyment.  </eyeroll>

Pitchfork-wielding developer dudes, please! I'm not upset with you.  I'm actually pretty flattered that you'd like me to come to these events.  There's just little in it for me, while you guys get some good publicity with me and my fine lady coder friends in attendance while you take the obligatory geek girls are cute picture.  NEXT! 

This is the fundamental question that I have a hard time answering: what is appealing about coding in the same room with competitive (albeit friendly!) folks for hours on end?  

Hear me out here:

1. I like coders.  All of them.  By no means am I putting my lady-coder nose in the air to say we're on different social planes -- I think geek stereotypes are bullshit, and any marketer that references it is out of touch with the industry.
   
   
2. I love coding culture in New York City.  I can't speak for other cities, but I've found people to be extremely friendly and approachable at Meetups, and have regarded me in the same way.  Getting developers together to network and spark creativity is a good thing!
   
   
3. Coding is my day job.  I do this for a living, and I take it seriously.  I am a good problem solver, a clear communicator, and I really and honestly want to help.  (Gut check: This is not the part where I brag about how good my code.  Take my word for it. I'M PRETTY GOOD.)
   
   

It's really the prospect of spending a whole day of my personal time towards disposible code.  I know that some Hackathons' sole purpose is to introduce a new set of API's or an otherwise new framework, and I respect that; I just need to find a tangible motivator to make its investigation worth my time.  And other Hackathons offer rewards, and they're certainly full of fun people, but, seriously, coding isn't something I do on the side/in my free time/in a vacuum.   There's no amount of free t-shirts, pizzas, or temporal bragging rights that outweighs getting paid to solve real-life problems for people that I care about.  And, sheesh, these things go all day and all night!  FYI, you'll never see a late-night commit from me, let alone my eyes open after midnight.  But, the whole morning-person thing is just who I am; sitting in the same room with people for hours on-end feels more than a little like hazing to me (I was in a sorority, though we didn't haze, holla!).  Plus, I've got things to do, like volleyball. And chores and shit.  I live alone!

So, seriously, what I'd like the organizers of these Hackathons to do is to look to the future.  There will be people interested in your API's or your sparkly-unicorn-infested-Platform-X that not only aren't comfortable with coding for hours on end but actually do not want to.  Consider a workshop with a finite scope and timeline!  Title it something nifty and succinct, like "Make Your Own Ultra-Doodad through Platform X in 45 minutes!".  Treat it like a course where you expect people to pay attention and get something out of it.  This, of course, would mean you'd have to treat developers like adults, because, NEWSFLASH, that's my point.

 

Comments

[Matt Jacobs]

You make a strong argument Ms. Po, but I don't think this is a lady issue. Some people, mostly young ones, like staying up day and night and working on something fun together. It's a good way to learn and meet new people. Also, not everyone is lucky enough to have a job they love, so this is a chance to work with friends on something they're passionate about.

My point is that these are not ladycoder issues. Lots of people have other obligations and that is awesome, but none of your obligations are lady specific. I have chores too. :)

[Anil Dash]

Yeah, I'd say the bug in hackathons is their presumption of youthful lack of required sleep and (mostly youthful) lack of outside responsibilities. Not many people who want to stay up all night with strangers to hack on a new API are gonna forgo caring for a child or elderly parent to do so. Basically, I'm saying you're an old person. :D

It does have a bit of a hazing feel to it, but so does much of coding culture in general. RTFM is hazing. Most mailing list flames are a form of hazing. I think the positive part of hackathons (when done right) is they foster real, meaningful, in-person camaraderie within a community, and that's actually hard to create in a structured 45-minute teaching session. This is for much the same reasons that you don't bond as much with strangers on a bus as you do with someone that you've gone on a road trip with.

The solution I often find most useful is to bookend the typical 24-hour grueling hackathon with open sessions of about an hour in length that are well-targeted and focused as you've described. Best of both worlds.

[nataliepo]

Matt, the Fast Company article called out the disparity of women at Hackathons, but overlooking the great swath of quality coders who will never participate. Look at that article if you haven't -- it's cringeworthy, and they expose an obvious blindspot in their depiction of the industry.

You're absolutely right -- my point isn't that that female coders aren't interested -- it's that I am not interested, and a lot of day-job-coders aren't interested. I like to wear post-feminist-tinted shades, man.

[Alice Carback]

I like your points, big.

[Alex]

I'm just a regular dude coder and agree wholeheartedly. Who has time for this stuff? Is there a point or objective beyond hacking for the sake of the hack?

I can hack with the best, but I don't waste time like the rest.

[Travis]

Er, I like your hair. That is all.

[Christie Koehler]

Thanks for writing about this. I am not sure I would have seen the original article from Fast Company otherwise.

You make some good criticisms of hackathon-type events, a few of which I touched upon in my own response here: http://codewithkarma.com/2011/02/how-to-actually-get-more-women-to-attend-your-hackathon/

I also want to mention that not all hackathons are geared towards producing disposable code. Some are really good opportunities for not only skill development, but also for contributing code that makes a difference (the CrisisCommons hackathons come to mind).

[Richard]

I'm a programmer, I love it, I sit up reading C# via the CLR in bed. But I don't want to spend my weekend doing it.

I like other things, I have (gasp) a really great girlfriend and a good group of friends. I don't like the way a rather 'us or them', 'all in or nothing' culture is springing up. It only seeds self doubt and ultimately pushes 'swing voters' away from participating.

[apgwoz]

I added this to hacker news, and it sparked some interesting conversation: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2273492