Run judging for a hackathon

With the Hackathon Pack on, judges you add read the projects teams entered and rank their favorites. You see the points, choose a winner for each category and publish the winners on your event page. This guide is for organizers. For what judges see, send them Judge hackathon projects.

Judging needs projects to be on. If they are not, see Collect and read hackathon projects.

How judging works

• Judging opens by itself when projects close. There is nothing to press
• Each judge reads the same number of projects, worked out for you: enough for every project to be read by 2 judges, and at least 6 each. When that would be more than 12 each, every project is read by 1 judge instead. A judge is never given their own team's project
• Each judge ranks a top 3 from the projects they were given, or all of them if they were given fewer than 3. You can ask for a top 2 or a single winner instead. 1st place is worth 3 points, 2nd is worth 2 and 3rd is worth 1
• Categories are optional. For each one you add before judging starts, such as Best design, every judge picks one project, or no pick. Judges make no picks for a category added after judging starts, and you choose its winner yourself
• You choose the winners. The points and picks guide you, and nothing is decided for you
• Judges do not need to sign in or install anything. Each one gets a private link by email

Set up judging

1. Open the Judging tab: click Manage event, then Judging. In the Teams manager, click the Judging tab
2. Under Judges, search for someone at your event by name, or type an email address and their name, then click Add judge. To judge yourself, click Add me as a judge
3. Under Ranking, choose how many projects each judge puts in order: Winner only, Top 2 or Top 3. This cannot change once judging opens
4. Under Categories, add any category you want to recognize besides the places, then click Add category
5. Under Judging criteria, write what judges should look for, then click Save. This is optional. Judges see it while they read and rank, and you can edit it until you publish the winners. It is guidance: judges still rank, and nothing is scored against it
6. Under When, check when judging closes. To change it, pick a time in your event's timezone and click Save. It must be after projects close

Under your judges, a line says how many projects each one reads. If it asks you to add judges, adding more shares the reading. Judging opens shows when judging starts, which is when projects close. Preview: what each judge sees shows the ranking a judge fills in.

Each judge is emailed their link as soon as you add them, so they have time to get ready. Until judging opens, their page says when it opens and that teams are still working on their projects. A judge added before the event is published is emailed once judging opens.

In the Eventship app for iOS and Android, open the Teams manager and tap Judging. You can set up judging there.

Leave a project out

To keep a project out of judging, open the Projects tab, open the project and click Leave out of judging. Click Put back to undo it.

A project you leave out gets no judges and stays private when you publish winners. After judging starts, leaving a project out is how you disqualify one: its points leave the standings at once.

When judging opens

Judging opens when projects close, as long as your event is published and you have added at least one judge. If you have not added a judge by then, judging opens as soon as you add one. If your event was not published, or no project was in judging, judging opens within 30 minutes of that changing.

Every judge gets an email with their projects and the closing time, including judges you already added. You can still add judges while judging is open. Each one is given projects straight away and emailed.

A judge with no project to judge gets no email. This happens when every project they could be given is their own team's or was left out.

Follow judging

While judging is open, the Judging tab shows:

• Each judge's status: Not opened, Reading or Ranked, with how many of their projects they have read
• Standings so far, and how many judges picked each project in each category
• Who has read what, naming any project fewer than 2 judges have read

Click Send reminder to email a judge who has not ranked. You can remind each judge once every 30 minutes. To share a judge's link another way, open the menu on their row and click Copy link.

To move the closing time, click Change next to Judging closes. To end judging now, click Close judging now.

If you are a judge too, you see the standings once you submit your own ranking.

Following judges and publishing winners is on the web. In the Eventship app, the Judging step shows where judging stands and has Open on the web.

Choose and publish the winners

After judging closes:

1. Read Standings. Projects are sorted by points, and projects with the same points are marked Tied
2. Read Category votes to see which projects judges picked in each category
3. Under each category, click Choose a project. One project can win several categories, but only one place. If you have fewer projects than places, click Remove on the extra place. You cannot add a place back
4. Click Publish winners and confirm

To give judges more time, click Reopen judging and pick a new closing time.

What publishing does

• The winners and every project in judging go on your event page, under new Winners and Projects tabs, with each team's names and pictures. Each project gets its own page
• Teams were told before the deadline that their project and names would be public once winners are announced
• Projects you left out, and drafts, stay private
• You cannot unpublish. You can still change the winner of a category, and the change is live at once
• No email goes to teams when you publish

Remove a judge

Open the menu on the judge's row and click Remove judge. Their link stops working at once, and once judging has started their ranking leaves the standings. You are asked to confirm first, since their invite may already have gone out. You cannot remove judges after winners are published.