We’ve gotten a lot of inquiries and ideas about how people can have/host a hackathon in their area. We’d love to have your help in hosting them, getting your friends together and writing some code to change America. So we’ve set up a wiki page that provides a loose shell with some tips and advice for how to host a successful hackathon. Expect the resource to grow as we learn from our own hackathons and others around the country do the same.

We’re happy to help provide guidance, too, about specific needs and projects that Sunlight needs help on. So if you’re interested in having a hackathon in your area, what are you waiting for? Start planning one now!

A great way for non-developers or designers to help out is to be organizers and conveners instead, organizing events, providing direction and getting people lined up to help face the great technical challenges of liberating government data. If you’d like to host a hackathon, you don’t need to necessarily be technical, you just need to be organized. So take a look, read the documentation, and let us know when and where you’re planning on hosting one so we can provide you with support and direction if needed.