"How does it feel being an organizer vs. being a hacker?" - asked the JAMHacks 7 alumni (who of course already knew the answer).
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Instead of being a hacker like I was at JAMHacks 6 & 7, this year, I was a co-lead organizer for JAMHacks 8. After many months of hard work and preparation, we finally got to see our event come to life at UWaterloo's E7 from June 7-9th 🤩. The experience as an organizer, unsurprisingly, was a lot different than being a hacker.
June 7, 2pm
Instead of checking in at 4pm to an already set up venue, I skipped my fourth period class arrived to an empty UW E7 at 2pm with the keys to the storage room. Using the trolleys and brute force, we set up the tables and chairs for the check-in desk and first floor. We also had to unpack big boxes of swag (shirts, stickers, plushies), which were previously kept at an organizer's house (aka temporary warehouse).
June 7-9, hacking time
Instead of hacking away on a project, we were busy setting up or supervising the workshops, or joining in on some nice karaoke after struggling to set up the projector and speaker.
Instead of hacking away on a project, organizers were up to different things, including:
- building a boat for a physics project
- hiding in the library to write an English essay
- doing physics or vectors homework
- watching Dora to not fall asleep at their check-in desk shift
- chilling in the organizers room
Instead of hacking away on a project in a comfy corner of E7, I went around talking to hackers, chilling with the organizers, or chatting with cool speakers and sponsor representatives.
June 7-9, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Instead of waiting eagerly for a Discord notification telling me that food was ready, I drove all the way to the restaurants to pick up large boxes of food (the food always smelled so good on the drive back).
Scooping food for the hungry hackers
In some cases, I waited an hour since the employees were still busily making the food, ran into the restaurant since it was raining outside, or hustled back and forth at Tim Horton's by myself to pick up the breakfast foods (and spilled coffee on my jeans) since no one else was awake.
June 9, 1pm
Instead of napping, playing around on spinny chairs, or buying ice cream while the results were compiling, I was involved in the intense judging discussions. I got to witness live demos of the projects contending for top 3 👀
June 9, 4pm
Instead of sitting and eagerly awaiting for the results, I announced the first place winner to a sleep-deprived yet excited crowd. Shoutout to all the hackers for building something cool!
The final words of the closing ceremony
June 9, 5pm
Instead of going home right away after a sleep-deprived weekend, we had to clean up after the hackers' messes and scrub the sticky stains off the tables. There was also a bunch of stuff we needed to figure out how to get rid of (including a lot of leftover coffee).
Overall, it was really rewarding to meet all the people (hackers, organizers, speakers, sponsor representatives), see all the cool projects built in a weekend, and experience the vibrant energy and atmosphere at E7.
As much as I love being a hacker, I'd definitely do all of this again 🫶 (JAMHacks 8 organizing team >>)