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Dohop 22Q4 Hackathon

23 November 2022

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Our second Dohop Hackathon of the year was held last week. Let me paint the picture:

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I’m an early riser, so when I don’t work remotely, I usually arrive at the office among the first. Usually, it is quiet (some days even too quiet in the winter time), and people trickle in between nine and ten o’clock. We do love our flexible working hours. On Hackathon days, the Dohop Hackathon committee is in early, making preparations for the three days ahead. Our everyday hero Hulda brings in brunch, and everyone comes in a little earlier than usual, chatting excitedly about their ideas and making sure everyone knows that their team is going to win this time around. 

The good mood, which is undoubtedly enhanced by the second breakfast, continues all throughout the day, from the kick-off meeting where rules are explained, through the early hours of hacking, all the way to the end of the day, when teams have already made progress on their projects. There is a competitive spirit going around, and everyone wants to present a project that will blow everyone’s mind, which has been previously achieved by a couple of projects, some of which have been taken further by Dohop. In a nutshell, that’s the goal: blow everyone’s mind.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with hackathons in general, allow me to introduce you to a slightly modified format that we have at Dohop every second and fourth quarter. Three days are dedicated to coming up with the above mentioned mind-blowing ideas and developing them to the point where they are functional or fit for use. Teams consist of three people, and they can be anyone from the company, which is great. 

Last time, I was working with a developer and an analyst, people I usually do not get in that much contact with while at work. At the time, we were working on something marketing related, which was completely new for them, but with their fresh eyes, we came up with something that would have been impossible for a group consisting purely of marketers. That’s the beauty of Hackathons: you get together, regardless of who you are and what you usually do, and you come up with new and exciting ideas to make life easier in one way or another. 

Yes, there is a competitive spirit, but at the end of the day, it’s about having a great time. After the project pitches and the voting, we went offsite to a location called Kex for some team-building, the award ceremony, and of course some drinks. At the award ceremony, we ran into a major problem: the trophies were safe and sound, at Dohop HQ. But fret not, the trophies were quickly replaced by half-empty Pepsi bottles, and our winners Arni, Teddi, Daniel, Elisabet, Kari, and Triggvi were just as happy to accept said half-filled bottles as they would have been with any trophy, at least for the picture. That’s dohopping, by the way: being meticulously prepared but able to adapt quickly should something go wrong. 

After the award ceremony, and with the help of pizza and beer, as usual, it fizzes out a bit: people are taking turns on karaoke, there’s a highly emotional foosball match happening, and for some reason Egill, the team captain of team blue, is ridiculously good at riding a mechanical bull that was randomly found in the next room. 

What can I say, that’s Dohop!