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Organize an Eclipse DemoCamp or Hackathons

Twice each year, the Eclipse Foundation invites individuals to organize and attend Eclipse DemoCamps and Hackathons anywhere in the world. We are looking for committers, employees of Eclipse member companies and and volunteers from the vast Eclipse community to help organize the events in different locations. A link to the current list of DemoCamps and Hackathons already scheduled can be found here.

What is a hackathon? A hackathon can best be described as a gathering of developers that hack away on bugs and feature requests to come up with a reasonable patch by the end of the evening. Attendees usually break out into groups of two or three and get hands on support from a veteran of the project to help ensure that a patch can be completed.

If you would like to organize a camp or a hackathon, you choose the place, set the time, organize the venue (maybe a local pub or company office), provide a screen and projector, and arrange for refreshments. The Eclipse Foundation will contribute toward the cost of food, beverages, and room rental up to $300 USD (to a maximum of $20 per person attending) for Eclipse member companies and up to $200 for non- member companies. We also encourage organizers to find outside corporate sponsorship in addition to Foundation funding. Sponsors will be acknowledged on the DemoCamp & Hackathon wiki and at the party itself.

To be reimbursed for the hosting costs, the Eclipse Foundation requires that you post photos of your event, and then submit your attendee list, reimbursement form, and receipts withing sixty days of your event. Please be sure to respect this deadline and send your paperwork in promptly.

The number of DemoCamps and Hackathon that Eclipse can fund is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, though we may need to limit the number of parties in any one country so that more countries can participate.

Please contact democamps@eclipse.org to register your DemoCamp or Hackathon, apply for funding or for more information.

Organizing Guidelines
  • You can hold the event any time during the two DemoCamp seasons (mid-May until mid-July or November until mid December)
  • You are responsible for providing a screen and projector for the demos.
  • Attendees should bring their own laptops for hackathons.
  • The event must be hosted in a location open to anyone. You can host it a company location, but everyone needs to be able to have access to the location.
  • Attendees and presenters should be encouraged to register their participation on the the individual wiki page for each event, reachable from the main DemoCamp wiki page. We can help you get started with a wiki page.
  • We encourage you to help promote the party to the local Eclipse community and recruit presenters. Having presenters from more than one organization is encouraged and expected.
  • We ask that as the organizer, you also act as the host of the party and introduce each presenter. We recommend keeping each demo to no more than 15 minutes.
  • Please have attendees sign in with their names and email addresses, and send us this list with your expense form (see below).
  • You must post pictures online after the event. This can be done on the wiki, a web page, or any photo sharing site such as Flickr, Picasa, or Shutterfly.
How to organize a Hackathon
  1. Identify which projects you'd like to hack on.
  2. Make sure you have a project veteran or an expert in attendace.
  3. Contact the project lead to ask for a list of bugs or feature requests they'd like you to work on.
  4. Add the project, bugs, and features you will be hacking on to your event page.
  5. Promote your hackathon!
Here are some additional suggestions for having a successful event. Thanks to Mickael Istria for these.
  • On your individual event wiki page, use the language that will be used in the presentations. This will help bring in people who do not feel comfortable using English.
  • Allow users to use email to sign up for your event rather than requiring them to edit the wiki page. You can also use a free online registration system like EventBrite.
  • Promote your event on Planet Eclipse.
  • Promote your event to local user groups, such as JUGs, Google user groups, Oracle user groups, etc. Make a trade with a group – they provide publicity for the event, and you mention the user group during the event.
  • Promote the event on technical forums, such as Developpez.net in France.
  • During the event, tell people how to get involved in the Eclipse community (forums, Bugzilla account, etc.).
Funding Information
  • Funding will be available for five camps/hackathons per country. Any requests beyond this maximum will be placed on a waiting list.
  • The Eclipse Foundation will sponsor each event up to $300 USD for Eclipse member comapnies and up to $200 for non- member companies. The sponsorship funds are to help cover the cost of refreshments, snacks, and room rental only. We limit the sponsorship to $20/attendee, so if (for example) you have ten attendees the limit is $200 USD. Items such as give-aways, prizes, and travel expenses are not covered.
  • An expense form will be emailed to you. You will need to return this form along with your receipts in order to be reimbursed.
  • You may recruit sponsorship for the DemoCamp and Hackathon from other organizations. Other companies that sponsor can be acknowledged on the event wiki site.


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