Registrations
Registering your hackers' interest in the event!
Getting in registrations does not only make sure you have a participation pool to pass on updates for your event, rather, it is about the community you're forming around it. Every hacker that attends your hackathon becomes a member of your community and stays as one as long as you're interacting with them in the right way. For growing as a hackathon, you need to grow as a community which mean every individual needs to grow!
We recommend organizer to start some pre-registration process before they launch the main hackathon website. This helps capture the emails of interested hackers much before the main registrations start. Getting in just name and emails should be good enough for this particular process.
As the main registration process starts, it is vital to get in some demographic details of the attendees of your hackathon. Collecting data is useful for your team's ability to understand the demographics of your event. This can be typically beneficial while projecting your sponsors with your demographic charts and letting them know the impact your hackathon has had on the different sectors of the society. It is also extremely useful while going for targeted marketing for your event as you know the interested audience and their involvement with your hackathon.
Statistically about 50% of hackers that register for events show up. They may make plans, decide not to attend last minute, or feel like there is no loss not coming to a free event they previously signed up for. Take this into account and aim for double the amount of registrations. Also make a plan for what to do if you have more sign ups than your event is being planned for. Do not go over double of your aimed attendance. If you exceed your initial goals you might need to make a waitlist. Try to give priority to hackers who are closer to your event since they are more likely to actually show up.
Stats from 323 events we have worked with to show the 50% trendline.
Please note: As with all personal data, use the utmost care to keep participant data safe. We recommend hackathons to use the personal data just for the day of communication and not share it with anyone until you get specific permission from your hackers to do so.
These are required to be in the format detailed below for MLH Member Events
- First Name
- It is important to have these fields split. Some people go by multiple first names/last names. For example Maria Anne De La Cruz. If this was 1 line we would have to manually split the field.
- Last Name
- Age
- We recommend this as a dropdown with specific ages instead of date of births. MLH needs this data for eligibility purposes (some codes are only available to hackers 18+). We do not collect dates of birth as part of event registration to reduce data risk.
- Phone Number
- In case you need to call someone during the event. This may also be needed if you have to send a message to all participants for some reason (for example weather related emergency notification).
- Email
- So you can communicate before and after the event. Location, schedule, feedback, etc.
- Use a set list instead of having students type out their school. This will result in uniform results. If you see a school missing add a pull request!
- For example some universities can have multiple versions of the name. Each will show as a different option, and will skew your demographic data showing how many students came from each school.
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Texas at Dallas
- UTD
- UTDallas
- Level of Study - instead of or in addition to Graduation Year
- Less than Secondary / High School
- Secondary / High School
- Undergraduate University (2 year - community college or similar)
- Undergraduate University (3+ year)
- Graduate University (Masters, Professional, Doctoral, etc)
- Code School / Bootcamp
- Other Vocational / Trade Program or Apprenticeship
- Post Doctorate
- Other
- I’m not currently a student
- Prefer not to answer
- Country of Residence
- We recommend this as a dropdown. It’s okay to put your hackathon’s country at the top for ease of use.
- Again be careful not to have users type input, or you will get a million answers for the same countries.
- US
- USA
- United States
- Unites States of America
MLH Member Events also are required to have 3 checkboxes. 2 of them hackers MUST agree to. The 3rd is optional (they can agree or disagree), but we require it to be in your registration form.
Please add the following disclaimer and 3 checkboxes if you plan to work with us. You can remove the disclaimer once you have moved into our official Membership Stage(Talk with your HCM if you have questions).
"We are currently in the process of partnering with MLH. The following 3 checkboxes are for this partnership. If we do not end up partnering with MLH, your information will not be shared"
"I have read and agree to the MLH Code of Conduct."(https://static.mlh.io/docs/mlh-code-of-conduct.pdf)
“I authorize you to share my application/registration information with Major League Hacking for event administration, ranking, and MLH administration in-line with the MLH Privacy Policy (https://mlh.io/privacy). I further agree to the terms of both the MLH Contest Terms and Conditions (https://github.com/MLH/mlh-policies/blob/main/contest-terms.md)and the MLH Privacy Policy (https://mlh.io/privacy).”
“I authorize MLH to send me occasional emails about relevant events, career opportunities, and community announcements."
- Dietary Restrictions (For in-Person events - see more about planning for dietary restrictions in our Event Logistics section!)
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Celiac Disease
- Allergies
- Kosher
- Halal
- Do you identify as part of an underrepresented group in the technology industry?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
- Gender
- Man
- Woman
- Non-Binary
- Prefer to self-describe
- Prefer Not to Answer
- Pronouns - Adding pronouns should always be optional
- She/Her
- He/Him
- They/Them
- She/They
- He/They
- Prefer Not to Answer
- Other (let them fill in themselves)
- Race/ Ethnicity
- Asian Indian
- Black or African
- Chinese
- Filipino
- Guamanian or Chamorro
- Hispanic / Latino / Spanish Origin
- Japanese
- Korean
- Middle Eastern
- Native American or Alaskan Native
- Native Hawaiian
- Samoan
- Vietnamese
- White
- Other Asian (Thai, Cambodian, etc)
- Other Pacific Islander
- Other (Please Specify)
- Prefer Not to Answer
- Do you consider yourself to be any of the following?
- Heterosexual or straight
- Gay or lesbian
- Bisexual
- Different identity ________
- Prefer Not to Answer
- What is the highest level of formal education that you have completed?
- Less than Secondary / High School
- Secondary / High School
- Undergraduate University (2 year - community college or similar)
- Undergraduate University (3+ year)
- Graduate University (Masters, Professional, Doctoral, etc)
- Code School / Bootcamp
- Other Vocational / Trade Program or Apprenticeship
- Other (please specify)
- I’m not currently a student
- Prefer not to answer
- T-shirt Size (If shipping t-shirts)
- Specify the US/ UK sizes here
- Shipping Address (If shipping prizes or swag)
- Address Line 1
- Address Line 2
- City
- State
- Country
- Pincode
- Major/Field of Study
- Computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering
- Another engineering discipline (such as civil, electrical, mechanical, etc.)
- Information systems, information technology, or system administration
- A natural science (such as biology, chemistry, physics, etc.)
- Mathematics or statistics
- Web development or web design
- Business discipline (such as accounting, finance, marketing, etc.)
- Humanities discipline (such as literature, history, philosophy, etc.)
- Social science (such as anthropology, psychology, political science, etc.)
- Fine arts or performing arts (such as graphic design, music, studio art, etc.)
- Health science (such as nursing, pharmacy, radiology, etc.)
- Other (please specify)
- Undecided / No Declared Major
- My school does not offer majors / primary areas of study
- Prefer not to answer
Last modified 5mo ago