Hey everyone! I'm organizing a remote mini hackathon for my open source project and could really use your advice. I received some donation money and thought hosting this event would be a great way to attract new contributors. However, I've noticed that each time I post about it, the posts get downvoted immediately. I get that people generally don't like ads, and I'm not trying to come across that way, but I feel that talking about the hackathon is necessary to reach potential participants. I genuinely believe this is a good cause, as it could make contributing to open source more fun and engaging. I'd appreciate your suggestions on how I can promote this without annoying people. How would you approach this situation?
1 Answer
Honestly, this doesn't seem like a traditional hackathon. It feels more like you're just asking for specific features to be built, which might come off as work rather than fun. Hackathons are supposed to be about creativity and allowing participants to explore their own ideas. It’s important to make it a collaborative and enjoyable experience. Maybe try shifting the focus to encourage attendees to contribute their own concepts rather than just your list of features. That might help with the downvotes!
Thanks for your input! I see now that the way I framed it might not have been engaging enough. I’ll definitely consider how to reorient the hackathon to let participants bring their ideas forward.