Ticketing

Please note this guide is Eventbrite First-Come First-Served (FCFS)-centric, there are some theoretical aspects here worth taking note of. See Debatable.

Pre-registration

• To gain quick idea of interest before actually releasing tickets.
• Allows an idea on priority release for certain groups if needed.

Ticket Release

ASSUMPTION: FCFS ticket style only via Eventbrite. See Alternative Methods for some other alternative ticketing methods.

• Release tickets about 6 weeks before the event.
• Multiple small batches, this keeps up the hype.
  • Keep a rotation of ticket releases: E.g.: Monday 1pm, Tuesday 3pm, Wednesday 4pm, Thursday 7pm, Friday 8pm. This ensures the different segments are taken care of and people don't feel like they've been excluded.
  • Ticket releases are announced via the Mailing List - this ensures people sign up to the mailing list and increases the 'hook' for (potential) attendees to keep track of whats going on in the newsletter / Mailing List.

• Ensure that only 1 ticket can be purchased, not multiple at once. Will be a nightmare for Registration if multiple purchases are allowed.

• Below are some Custom Questions you might want to ask amongst others:

  • Any allergies, dietary requirements you need to be aware of?
  • Any special requirements? (Medical, Accessibility)
  • Are you Under-18? (This assumes you're allowing U-18s to participate)
  • Do you have access to EduRoam / {X University Network}
  • First-time hackathon attendee?

Access Codes

• Usually meant to be for:
  • Beginners.
  • Individuals from groups under-represented in technology.
  • Those with special needs or requiring special accommodations.
  • For University-specific groups.
    • Keep an active eye out on universities with only 1 or 2 students attending. Ask them if they have friends who would like to come and provide enough tickets for them to form a team.

Waitlist

• Give people on the waitlist 24 hours to respond.
• 3 days before the event, it would be better to prioritise people local or close to your hackathon (low travel costs).
• Consider giving a ticket to attendees on the waitlist who email / message asking for a ticket as they're more likely to come.

NOTE: Eventbrite has a weird bug where tickets released to waitlisted people are claimed but not taken off the waitlist.

Alternative Methods

• Type of ticket releases

  • First-Come First-Served Ticketing

    Advantages:

    • Lowest barrier to entry of the 3 methods listed down. Applicants simply log-on to Eventbrite at the specified time, purchase (a free) ticket and done.
    • Immediate and people can make plans straightaway.

    • Using batch-based ticketing helps maintain the interest in the event.

      • Also allows word to spread to non-insider groups. However, this should be addressed during the initial batches to allow people traveling from afar to get cheap tickets.

      Disadvantages:

    • Can become a case of who has the fastest internet speed / can click the fastest.
    • Unfriendly to disabled users, especially because of how fast tickets can go in FCFS. Need to release tickets but without being seen to be 'targeting' them.
    • Effort required to cover all potential target audiences, i.e. rotating ticket releases.

  • Randomized Pool

    Advantages:

    • Completely randomized from a pool.

    • Usually for the university's own students.

      Disadvantages:

    • Completely randomized from a pool.
    • Needs to be done early to avoid attendees having to pay a high travel cost.

  • Applications

    Advantages:

    • For (softly) themed hackathons, if they're looking for people with experience in the field this will help narrow down to attendees with experience.

    • Helps successful applicants get jobs with companies.

      • Their CV's / emails are sent out to sponsoring companies.
      • Part of the recruitment clause in the sponsorship package.
      • Applicants should be aware of this fact (Ethical issue: Data Privacy).

      Disadvantages:

    • High barrier to entry.
      • Daunting to first-timers / beginners especially if they feel that they're disadvantaged for not having a CV / LinkedIn / GitHub.
      • Questionable as to why are these questions (GitHub handle / LinkedIn / CV) required? Organizers need to be upfront about what they are using this data for. Sponsorship, recruitment or?
      • Note that having such information is not a substitute for on-day interaction with hackers. But better than blanket recruitment emails where the click-in rate is low.
    • Especially for beginners or people without any programming experience, they will feel "they're not good enough"
    • Selection process is opaque and subject to (sub)conscious bias.

  • Programming Challenge

    Advantages:

    • Useful for themed hackathons or

      Disadvantages:

    • Similarly to Applications method, high barrier to entry.
      • Daunting to first-timers / beginners especially if they don't feel qualified.

Things worth Noting

• Accessibility to various groups
  • Individuals from groups under-represented in technology.
  • Those with special needs or requiring special accommodations.

The On-Day Execution Segment can be found here