“No struggle, no success! The strongest thunder strikes often bring the heaviest rainfall! The weight of your fulfillment depends on how wide you cast your nets! If you are trying to look clean, neat and avoid casting your nets in troubled waters, you will catch no fish.” ― Israelmore Ayivor, Daily Drive 365

In Part 2 of How to win at a hackathon, we looked at why it’s important to connect the dots through networking. In this article, we’ll look at what steps you can take after the weeknd is over.

Part 3: Casting the “Dots” wide and far

So what am I doing now that the hackathon is over?

Well first I slept, but then it was time to get to work. Preparing an article, creating videos I could use socially and with investors and users, getting on the phone to get additional feedback, applying to incubators for startups and pitch competitions. Why? It’s easier than winning the lottery.

Armanga says he wants to “Take it to the next level. After we published our work on social media, a lot of my friends wanted access to a beta to try it out with their kids. I conferred with a couple of investor friends, they were very interested in the idea. So I think there’s a lot of potential here, for me, for the team, for the children of the world. We are now conferring within our team about how we would continue.”

Henry agrees saying, “I’ve met many talented individuals through the hackathon and I plan to continue working with these individuals in the future.”

One thing I‘ve done was write an article about the hackathon. I wrote the article because:

• I had a great time and want more people to try hackathons,
• It had been awhile since I’d written or posted socially,
• And, remember that course I was writing, it just so happened that I needed an article for it and this was perfect

An article is a great way to connect and cast dots.

Conclusion

Sharing my work from a hackathon on social media allows me to extend the impact of my project beyond the event itself. By defining my story, capturing engaging visuals, crafting compelling captions, utilizing hashtags, engaging with the community, and seeking collaborative opportunities, I can effectively promote my hackathon work to a wider audience. So can you.

Embrace the power of social media as a tool to inspire, connect, and showcase your achievements, and watch as your hackathon endeavors become dots.

Your Next Steps

• Create a shareable article about your experience and publish it in as many places as you can.
• Ask your connections to share your article
• Reach out to businesses and influencers about your work
• Apply to incubators and additional pitch competitions
• Spend some time polishing it up and write an article, using the BARN framework. Learn more about that here BARN