Welcome to the Outreach Section!

Outreach team mainly focuses on "getting the word out" regarding the event which includes getting schools, organizations, and the press involved. Additionally, this team will be creating the "image" of the entire event which means aesthetics are important.

Overview

• Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat)

• Campus Ambassadors

• Reach to Schools

• Talking to Press

• Managing Press, Growth Hacking

• Managing Hacker Applications

Goal

Exposing your hackathon to its fullest and getting students signing up and attending.

Social Media

As most students have some form of social media, hackathons try to reach out to students through mainly Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Most content revolve around information like links to signing up along with location and dates or Devpost site for the specific hackathon. Other content also includes:

• Features of the team, founders, past attendees/mentors/sponsors, judges, some important person
• Celebration of holidays + important birthdays (of people in tech)
• Pictures of prizes, venue, or food/swag at the event

Pro tip is to make everything an infographic or just an image so it's easier for users to see and catch their eye! Additionally, it is useful to designate people to specific platforms so everyone knows what they are responsible for and don't be afraid to comment and like on other people in tech's things. As several companies are using social media to promote their brands, it's definitely possible to even reach out to sponsors.

Campus Ambassador Program

Let's say you're at X school and you want someone from Y school to come. If your event pops up on their news feed or their school tells them about it, there's no guarantee that they are actually interested or will attend. Instead of using a stranger to appeal to them, it's best to let someone that attends Y school who wants to go your event convince the other person. Friends trust other friends so the Campus Ambassador Program definitely works out. This program essentially recruits students who are already interested in your event and equips them with materials to promote for your event. In return, those ambassadors get perks like automatic acceptance to your event. Their main role is to advertise at their school and community which may include posting on social media, posting flyers around school, talking to students/teachers about the event, remain in consistent contact with the Outreach team. Make sure to send out applications at least 2 months before in order to make the best of the program!

Reaching out to Schools/Press/Organizations

One of the best ways to reach out through all three of these outlets is through email. Most schools rely on emails as their main way of contact; usually, if you go on to the school's website and look at their staff, their emails should be on their. People to reach out to include CS teachers, Counselors, or Math teachers. Once you find an email, be sure to email them regarding your event along with a flyer and basic information about the event. As for press and organizations, it's always best to reach out locally as they will be quicker in response and willing to cover the event. Emphasize the importance of computer science education and how it benefits students in the area! If you, your team, or your Campus Ambassadors have connections, make sure to utilize them. Asking your Campus Ambassador's school to do a cover on them is also very helpful. If you are in the Bay Area, make sure to reach out to me—I have a list that will be helpful.

Attendee Applications

The Outreach Team will be responsible for creating applications and maintaining contact with attendees. This means that the Outreach Team will be answering questions on all platforms and email and send out any updates or information on the event to attendees. Hack+ provides Typeform Pro for all organizers! Also, through Mailchimp (a mailing list platform), they integrate well over from Typeform and provide awesome templates for all of your emails to attendees.

Real Life Example

For Superposition II, we fully tried to develop a community specifically on Instagram (instagram.com/superpositionfc) which is why we have such a strong following. My Outreach Team worked really hard on interacting with and following with other people in tech; they made sure to have a posting schedule and like/comment on other people's posts. I actually DM'ed a company on Instagram and got them to send us 150 free drinks so utilize social media! An example of an email made from Mailchimp looks like: