Pick a communication platform and ensure your hackers join it. Slack and Discord are two of the most popular. We recommend Discord for your digital events because of their free voice chat capabilities.
Before joining and once on the platform, make hackers know that their behavior and actions are still subject to MLH Code of Conduct, and to be respectful. Digital spaces can increase harassment as people are hidden behind a computer, so it is key to make sure your attendees know you still take this seriously.
Include the following channels on your platform:
- Team-Formation
- Channel for hackers to form teams
- Ask-Organizers
- Channel for hackers to ask organizers any questions that come up throughout the event.
- Introductions
- Channel for hackers to introduce themselves. Have your team set the norm for this by introducing yourselves.
- Random
- Channel for anything that isn't hackathon related.
- Ask-Mentors
- Channel for hackers to connect with mentors when they need help on their projects.
- Mentors-Internal
- Channel for mentors to talk with eachother and with organizers.
- Admin
- Channel for your organizing team. We recommend creating an admin voice channel as well!
Your team may choose to stream different aspects of the event including opening ceremony, workshops, mini-events, and closing ceremony.
You may consider streaming to:
- Twitch
- Youtube
Tools like Streamyard make it super simple to stream to multiple places at once.
If you are running events that require attendees to join a video call, make sure you choose a platform that will allow for the correct number of attendees.
Some popular options are:
- Zoom
- Google Meets (allows for up to 100 participants)
- Google Hangouts (allows for up to 25 participants using video)
- Discord Video Calls