Why you should participate in Hackathons and Community Building

For the last couple of weeks, we participated in 2 events , a hackathon and a showcasing event. You might have guessed the outcome—we won what one of our friends called a "consolation prize." Reflecting on my life, I realize that, except for a few instances, I have mostly won consolation prizes.

Through the endless participation in these competitions , I had got the following treasures

• Discovered new ways of thinking. Thinking is perhaps the most important skill nowadays

• Discovered communities and all the nice people supporting the community organizing the hackathon. Having a feeling that you belong to a good #community is very surreal. My gratitude to all community builders / community leads for making our learning inclusive.

What is more important is what happens after the competition. I prefer participating in competitions where the winning solutions are shared [ what can be more beneficial , is the code is also shared]

This is what I plan or usually do. There is always a difference between plan and execution. At least having a plan helps in the execution

• Congratulate the winners and everyone. Express gratitude to the organizers and community

• Go through the winning solutions

• Add things from the solutions to your toolkit so that your knowledge grows

• Use the knowledge in your work place as well as in future hackathons / competitions

• If possible, do a better writeup of your own solution and share with the community [ Sharing is caring ]

To add a personal touch to the article, let me share something which might inspire people like me who have spent most of their life getting consolation prizes.

After countless attempts in various competitions without success, I finally achieved a major victory one morning. Just a week later, I received another award. Although my streak of participating without wins continues, I do occasionally win awards.

I have been a Kaggler for more than a decade. Though I am a Kaggler, I am not a GrandMaster or anything. Still the passion for looking into competition continues.

This week , Kaggle has made a very nice gesture for all Kagglers and has given badges and award acknowledgments for their contributions to the community.

It feels surreal that the community remembers the efforts