



Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          C. Eckel
Request for Comments: 9311                                 Cisco Systems
Category: Informational                                   September 2022
ISSN: 2070-1721


                       Running an IETF Hackathon

Abstract

   IETF Hackathons encourage the IETF community to collaborate on
   running code related to existing and evolving Internet standards.
   This document provides a set of practices that have been used for
   running IETF Hackathons.  These practices apply to Hackathons in
   which both in-person and remote participation are possible, with
   adaptations for Hackathons that are online only.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9311.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2022 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the
   Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described
   in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
   2.  Timing
     2.1.  Agenda
     2.2.  Hackdemo Happy Hour
     2.3.  Code Lounge
     2.4.  Code Sprint
     2.5.  Online Only
   3.  Funding
     3.1.  Sponsorship
     3.2.  Expenses
       3.2.1.  In-Person Event Expenses
       3.2.2.  Remote Participation Expenses
   4.  Project Presentations
     4.1.  Project Pitches
     4.2.  Project Results Presentations
       4.2.1.  Templates
     4.3.  Upload to GitHub
     4.4.  Presenting in Person
     4.5.  Presenting Remotely
   5.  Tooling
     5.1.  Datatracker
     5.2.  IETF Website
       5.2.1.  Hackathon Website
       5.2.2.  Meeting Website
     5.3.  Registration
       5.3.1.  Participant List
       5.3.2.  Caps on Registrations
     5.4.  Meeting Wiki
       5.4.1.  Hackathon
       5.4.2.  Lost and Found
       5.4.3.  Results Presentation Schedule
       5.4.4.  In Person Only
       5.4.5.  Online Only
     5.5.  Email List
       5.5.1.  Email Alias for Hackathon Chairs
     5.6.  GitHub
     5.7.  Meetecho
     5.8.  Network
       5.8.1.  Remote Networking
     5.9.  Webex
     5.10. Gather
   6.  Statistics and Metrics
     6.1.  IETF Survey Results
     6.2.  Hackathon Survey Results
   7.  Roles and Responsibilities
     7.1.  Hackathon Chair(s)
     7.2.  Secretariat
     7.3.  Sponsor
     7.4.  Champions of Projects
     7.5.  IETF LLC, Director of Communications and Operations (was
           ISOC)
     7.6.  Judges
   8.  Implementation Status
   9.  Security Considerations
     9.1.  Privacy Considerations
   10. IANA Considerations
   11. Informative References
   Acknowledgments
   Author's Address

1.  Introduction

   IETF Hackathons encourage the IETF community to collaborate on
   running code related to existing and evolving Internet standards.
   IETF Hackathons aim to:

   *  advance the pace and relevance of IETF standards activities by
      bringing the speed and collaborative spirit of open source
      development into the IETF

   *  bring developers and early career professionals into the IETF and
      get them exposed to and interested in the IETF

   IETF Hackathons are free to attend and open to everyone.  Software
   developers are the primary audience, but participation by subject-
   matter experts who are not necessarily developers is encouraged and
   very important as well.  Similarly, while the Hackathon is meant to
   attract newcomers and people who do not typically attend standards
   meetings, long-time IETF contributors, including Internet-Draft
   authors, working group chairs, and subject-matter experts, are key
   participants as well.  Collaboration and blending of skill sets and
   perspectives are extremely valuable aspects of IETF Hackathons.

   In addition to the running code created and improved as a result of
   each Hackathon, the exchange of ideas, extensions of human networks,
   and establishment of trust, respect, and friendships are some of the
   most valuable outputs of each Hackathon.  Code written in a
   programming language is often more illustrative and constructive than
   opinions expressed during a meeting or in an email.  Working together
   to find common understanding of proposals, concerns, and solutions
   that result in improvements to evolving Internet standards is as
   important as the development of running code that implements or
   validates the correctness of these same proposals.

   Consequently, IETF Hackathons are collaborative events, not
   competitions.  Any competitiveness among participants is friendly and
   in the spirit of advancing the pace and relevance of new and evolving
   Internet standards.  IETF Hackathons are inclusive, not only in terms
   of who can participate but also in terms of the projects included in
   each Hackathon.  All projects should be related to existing or
   proposed Internet standards in some way.  Examples include, but are
   not limited to, interoperability of implementations, proof of
   concepts, and tools that help implement, monitor, or deploy network
   protocols.

   IETF Hackathons foster an open environment, with much of the code
   being open source and results of projects typically shared publicly.
   The Hackathon operates under the [NOTE-WELL]; however, the rules and
   terms around code are those of the license associated with the code.
   Although code is often and preferably open source, it may be
   proprietary as well.

   This document provides a set of practices that have been used for
   running IETF Hackathons.

2.  Timing

   The first IETF Hackathon was held the weekend before the start of the
   IETF 92 meeting.  The rationale was to avoid conflicts yet make it
   relatively convenient for those attending the IETF meeting to
   participate in the Hackathon as well.  Holding the Hackathon on the
   weekend was also viewed as making it more accessible to those who are
   not IETF meeting participants, including students and working
   professionals who would have other commitments during the week.  The
   weekend before was viewed as better than the weekend after so that
   things learned during the Hackathon could be shared and discussed
   with the rest of the IETF community during working group sessions and
   the like.  This worked well at IETF 92, was repeated at IETF 93, and
   quickly became an established norm with the IETF meeting being
   officially extended to include the Hackathon at the start.  An
   additional benefit of this timing noted and appreciated by
   participants is that it serves as a more informal and social way to
   physically and mentally acclimate to changes in time zones and
   surroundings.

2.1.  Agenda

   The IETF Hackathon is a strenuous event.  Though not a competition,
   participants want to make the most of their time together, much as
   with the IETF meeting in general.  Competitive Hackathons typically
   run nonstop for on the order of 40 hours.  There is a strict
   deadline, teams are judged, and winners are declared at the end.
   Afterward, participants are wiped out and head off to briefly
   celebrate or commiserate but mainly to recuperate.  As the IETF
   Hackathon serves as the start of the overall IETF meeting, we aim to
   strike a compromise that provides time to get valuable work
   accomplished without exhausting everyone before the main IETF meeting
   even starts.  While some people participate in the Hackathon only,
   the majority of people remain and plan to be actively engaged in the
   rest of the IETF meeting.

   The typical agenda is as follows:

   Saturday before IETF meeting week
       08:30: Room open for setup by project champions
       09:00: Room open for all - pastries and coffee provided
       09:30: Hackathon kickoff
       09:45: Form teams
       12:30: Lunch provided
       15:30: Afternoon break - snacks provided
       19:00: Dinner provided
       22:00: Room closes

   Sunday before IETF meeting week
       08:30: Room opens - pastries and coffee provided
       12:30: Lunch provided
       13:30: Hacking stops; prepare brief presentation of project
              results
       14:00: Present project results to other participants
       15:45: Closing remarks and opportunities for next time
       16:00: Hackathon ends
       17:00: Tear down complete

   The time on Saturday morning provides the opportunity for team
   champions to set up and participants to socialize and learn more
   about projects and teams they might want to join.  The kickoff
   presentation and formalities are kept to a minimum to leave as much
   time as possible for teams to work together on their projects.  The
   proximity of teams fosters communication and collaboration between
   them as well.

   Lunch and dinner are provided as a convenience and an incentive to
   remain at the Hackathon.  Participants are free to come and go as
   they like.  It is well understood and accepted that there are other
   things vying for time and that meeting with friends and colleagues
   outside of the Hackathon is an entirely reasonable thing to do.

   The room closes Saturday evening to give hotel staff unfettered
   access to the room and to encourage people to pace and take care of
   themselves.  There are no rules against continuing work on projects
   outside of the Hackathon room.  Similarly, working on projects long
   before and after the Hackathon is allowed and encouraged.

   The end of the Hackathon on Sunday is driven by other IETF meeting
   events.  Typically, there are Newcomer events that start at 16:00.
   The IETF Hackathon typically includes many newcomers in its list of
   participants, and it is important to provide them time to participate
   in the Newcomer events.  The opening reception for the IETF typically
   starts at 17:00, and we want to make it easy for all Hackathon
   participants to join that as well.

   Hackdemo Happy Hour (Section 2.2) and the Code Lounge (Section 2.3)
   exist to facilitate ongoing discussion and work on projects beyond
   the official end of the Hackathon weekend.

2.2.  Hackdemo Happy Hour

   Hackdemo Happy Hour provides an opportunity for more in-depth sharing
   and discussion than is possible within the time constraints of the
   results presentations that occur at the end of the Hackathon.  This
   opportunity is made available to all teams.  As with the results
   presentations, participation is optional.

   Initially, something similar was done as part of [BITS-N-BITES].
   This worked well for the Hackathon, but the Bits-N-Bites event was
   eventually abandoned for other reasons.  Hackdemo Happy Hour was
   created as a low-cost, informal event to provide a venue for the IETF
   community to engage with the Hackathon teams in more in-depth
   discussions related to their projects.

   Hackdemo Happy Hour is typically Monday evening, roughly from 18:00 -
   19:30, often overlapping a bit with the last working group session of
   the day but continuing long enough to allow everyone an opportunity
   to join.  The goal is to make it convenient to attend by not
   conflicting with other meetings and also by not running too late into
   the night.

   Light snacks and beverages are provided, and a cash bar is available
   to align with the spirit of a happy hour.

2.3.  Code Lounge

   The Code Lounge provides space for groups to gather and continue to
   collaborate on running code after the Hackathon.  It is typically in
   the IETF Lounge and open the same hours as the IETF Lounge.
   Champions are encouraged to look at the final agenda and determine
   which time slots are best suited to ensure attendance of Code Lounge
   sessions, as well as any related working group sessions.  It is okay
   for multiple teams to sign up for the same time slots.  This is in
   fact encouraged for work that spans multiple working groups or
   projects.

2.4.  Code Sprint

   The [CODE-SPRINT] develops tools that support the work of the IETF.
   The Code Sprint existed long before the Hackathon and benefited from
   being a focused event in a quiet space with few interruptions.
   However, there is a great deal of synergy between the Code Sprint and
   the Hackathon, and they attract some of the same participants.  For
   example, some Hackathon projects, such as those related to YANG model
   validation, involve the creation or modification of IETF tools.  It
   is therefore advantageous to co-locate these two events when
   practical and, when separate space is deemed helpful, to allocate
   spaces that are physically close to each other to make it easy for
   participants to switch back and forth between the two events.

2.5.  Online Only

   The IETF 107 Hackathon was originally scheduled to be the weekend at
   the start of the IETF meeting in Vancouver.  When COVID-19 hit and it
   became clear the IETF meeting could not occur in person, the
   Hackathon already had 23 projects and 176 registrations.  With only
   10 days until the anticipated start of the Hackathon, a [SURVEY] went
   out to the Hackathon community, including all project champions and
   registered participants, to see if they wanted to participate in the
   Hackathon exactly as planned except with everyone participating
   remotely rather than in person.  A relatively small number of people
   expressed interest in participating, with even fewer wanting to
   continue to champion their projects.  The fact that the Hackathon was
   planned for the weekend before the IETF meeting and in the local time
   zone, both of which were historically very convenient and attractive
   to Hackathon participants, suddenly became huge obstacles.
   Consequently, the IETF 107 Hackathon was canceled.

   We knew more in advance that IETF 108 would be an online-only
   meeting.  We moved and expanded the schedule to run the entire work
   week before the rest of the IETF meeting.  The Hackathon kickoff was
   set for Monday and the closing set for Friday, with all the time in
   between left for individual project teams to arrange to meet how and
   when was most convenient for them.  The kickoff and closing sessions
   were scheduled to align with the time frame established for the IETF
   108 meeting.  All of this was, of course, not ideal, and it worked
   much better for some people than for others, but at least everyone
   knew the plan and corresponding time commitment well in advance and
   had the ability to plan accordingly.

   We ultimately had 19 projects and almost 300 registrations.  It is
   hard to say how many people actually participated and for how long,
   but many were able to get substantial work done on their projects.
   For the closing, 10 teams produced and shared presentations
   summarizing their findings and achievements.  All results
   presentations, as well as the agenda and a recording of the closing
   session, are available via the [IETF-108-HACKATHON-WIKI].  This level
   of participation was strong enough to be considered a success and
   justifies including the Hackathon in future online-only IETF
   meetings.

   Hackdemo Happy Hour and the Code Lounge are not applicable for
   online-only Hackathons.

3.  Funding

   The Hackathon requires funding, and that funding increases with the
   number of participants.  Participating has always been free;
   therefore, funding from sources other than participant fees is
   required.

3.1.  Sponsorship

   The initial funding model was to have Hackathon sponsors sign up to
   sponsor and fund the Hackathon for one year.  As part of starting the
   Hackathon, Cisco volunteered to sponsor and fund it for the first
   year (i.e., three Hackathons, one at each IETF meeting during a
   calendar year).  This sponsorship was to rotate.  Huawei volunteered
   to sponsor the second year of the Hackathon.  After the second year,
   a sponsor for the third year was not found.  However, the Hackathon
   had become a proven success.  Consequently, the IETF decided to fund
   the Hackathon as part of the IETF meeting, with Hackathon sponsorship
   being on a best-effort basis.

   Online-only Hackathons in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and
   increased remote participating in general result in increased cloud
   infrastructure requirements that make Hackathon sponsorship more
   attractive to cloud infrastructure providers.

   Hackathon sponsorship is available at different levels as part of
   being an IETF [RUNNING-CODE-SPONSOR].

3.2.  Expenses

   The primary expenses associated with the Hackathon are those for
   hosting an in-person event, e.g., meeting space, food and beverage,
   etc.  It is often challenging to quantify what portions of this are
   associated with the Hackathon versus what is incurred for the IETF
   meeting overall.

3.2.1.  In-Person Event Expenses

   The following expenses are associated with in-person participation in
   a Hackathon.  When the IETF meeting is online only, these expenses
   are eliminated.

3.2.1.1.  Meeting Space

   The meeting space for the Hackathon is sometimes included as part of
   the overall contract for the IETF meeting.  Other times, an
   additional expense is incurred to secure a large enough space earlier
   than would otherwise have been required.  Typically, the space is
   needed for setup from Friday afternoon before the start of the IETF
   meeting until Sunday afternoon.  After the Hackathon, the space is
   typically repurposed for the IETF Lounge.  If the size of the
   Hackathon continues to increase, it might be necessary to use the
   same space as is later used for the IETF plenary.

3.2.1.2.  Food and Beverage

   Some portion of the food and beverage expense is often included as
   part of a minimum spend the IETF is obligated to make.  When a
   Hackathon sponsor is identified, funds resulting from this
   sponsorship are typically used to offset food and beverage expenses
   or to increase the food and beverage budget.

   The minimum food and beverage requirements for the Hackathon have
   been:

   *  coffee, tea, and water Saturday and Sunday morning

   *  lunch Saturday and Sunday

   Additional items, in order of importance, include:

   *  beer Saturday evening

   *  dinner Saturday evening

   *  continental breakfast Saturday and Sunday

   *  afternoon snacks Saturday and Sunday

3.2.1.3.  T-Shirts

   Hackathon T-shirts are an important part of the Hackathon.  They have
   been provided for all in-person Hackathons and greatly appreciated by
   many participants.  They also serve as great advertising for the
   IETF, the Hackathon, and sponsors.  Cisco or other event sponsors
   have often covered expenses associated with T-shirts.  The current
   model is that the Secretariat covers the expenses using whatever
   funding is available.

   The number of size distribution of T-shirts for IETF 107 is provided
   here as an example.

   *  380 T-shirts at a cost of roughly $10 USD each, with shipping to
      the Secretariat included:

      -  50 Small

      -  120 Medium

      -  110 Large

      -  75 XL

      -  25 XXL

   The T-shirts are all standard cut.  We previously tried providing
   fitted cut T-shirts as an option for Hackathon participants, but
   these were not well received.

3.2.1.4.  Stickers

   Laptop stickers are popular with developers.  Stickers have been made
   available at the Hackathon for those that want them.  Expenses have
   been covered by the IETF LLC, which oversees the communications and
   operations budget.

3.2.2.  Remote Participation Expenses

   The following expenses are associated things done primarily to
   facilitate remote participation in a Hackathon.  This includes
   participation when the Hackathon is online only, as well as remote
   participation when the Hackathon is in person.

   *  Meetecho: cost associated with the Hackathon kickoff and closing

   *  Gather: costs associated with premium service, required to enable
      more than 25 concurrent users.  This has not been necessary but
      will almost certainly be if Gather becomes a valuable way for
      Hackathon participants to meet within and across teams.

   *  Webex: IETF Webex accounts are made available to champions for the
      duration of the Hackathon and some period beyond that encompasses
      at least the rest of the IETF meeting.  These accounts are
      presently available at no additional cost to the IETF.

   *  Network: setup and support of the IETF network and remote access
      to it

   The change in timing and extended duration of the Hackathon at an
   online-only IETF meeting increases the duration and use of remote
   participation facilities from 7 days to 12 days.  This may result in
   increases to the cost of providing these facilities.

4.  Project Presentations

   Project presentations are an important mechanism for capturing what
   each team intends to accomplish, capturing what they actually
   accomplished, and sharing the results and findings with the IETF
   community.

   For the first few Hackathons, we had two very distinct types of
   presentations:

   1.  presentations that served as project pitches at the start of the
       Hackathon

   2.  presentations that summarized results at the end of the Hackathon

4.1.  Project Pitches

   The project pitches were 5-10 minute presentations by a champion of a
   project describing what they wanted to do and how they proposed to
   accomplish it.  This gave everyone in the room a better understanding
   of all the projects and helped participants match themselves with
   appropriate projects.  This worked well when we had few projects, but
   it became unwieldy as the number of projects increased.  As knowledge
   of the Hackathon grew and advanced planning became more common, many
   participants knew exactly which team they planned to join and wanted
   to get to work as quickly as possible rather than spend time
   listening to presentations.  Project pitches were dropped from the
   Hackathon.  Champions are encouraged to share this type of
   information in advance via the IETF Meeting Wiki (Section 5.4)
   instead.

4.2.  Project Results Presentations

   The project results presentations were brief presentations by each
   team of what problem they tried to solve, what they achieved, and
   highlights that included lessons learned, feedback to associated
   working groups, and collaboration with open source communities and
   other standards organizations.  They also highlight individuals who
   participated in their first IETF Hackathon or first IETF event, which
   helps facilitate the introduction of such individuals to the IETF
   community.  The production and presentation of summaries of results
   is optional.  Fortunately, despite the lack of awards and prizes,
   most teams participate.

   As with the project pitches, project results presentations can become
   unwieldy as the number of projects increases.  With this in mind, the
   total time for all results presentations is limited to 2 hours.  The
   maximum duration of each presentation is calculated based on the
   number of teams that indicate the desire to present.  This maximum is
   strictly enforced to ensure all teams have the opportunity to present
   their results.  Maximum durations of 3-5 minutes are typical.

4.2.1.  Templates

   Project results presentation templates provides guidance on what to
   cover.  The use of these templates is optional.  They are made
   available in various formats in a GitHub repo created specifically
   for the presentations for each IETF Hackathon, e.g.,
   [RESULTS-PRESENTATIONS].

4.2.1.1.  Microsoft PowerPoint Open XML (PPTX)

   For portability, presentations that use the PPTX template should be
   exported into a PDF format as well.

4.2.1.2.  HTML Format

   The HTML format template should render within any browser.  It can be
   rendered as a slideshow using [REMARK].

4.3.  Upload to GitHub

   All project results presentations are uploaded to the GitHub repo
   created for the Hackathon, e.g., [RESULTS-PRESENTATIONS].  The
   contents of this repo are used as the source for all results
   presentations at the end of the Hackathon and remain as a reference
   after the Hackathon.

   One must be a member of the [IETF-HACKATHON-GITHUB] organization to
   upload a new presentation or update/replace an existing presentation.

   To be added as a member, presenters are asked to:

   *  include the name by which they are known in their GitHub profile

   *  enable 2-factor authentication (2FA)

   *  send their GitHub username to the Hackathon Chair(s)

   Presenters are asked to do this at their earliest convenience, as the
   Chair(s) typically gets very busy as the start of presentations
   approaches.

4.4.  Presenting in Person

   Presentations are run from a shared Chromebook at the front of the
   Hackathon room.  This Chromebook is provided by the Secretariat.

4.5.  Presenting Remotely

   Remote presenters are welcome to run their own presentations using
   the screen-sharing functionality in Meetecho.  Alternatively, the
   Hackathon Chair(s) can share the presentation and advance slides for
   the presenter.

5.  Tooling

   The IETF Hackathon uses the same tooling used by the IETF community
   for its work and meetings.

5.1.  Datatracker

   The [DATATRACKER] supports the notion of teams that are not part of
   the standards development process.  The Hackathon exists as one such
   team.  From the Datatracker menu, navigate to "Groups" -> "Other" ->
   "Active Teams" -> "hackathon".  Here exists a Datatracker space for
   the Hackathon similar to what is available for working groups,
   including meeting materials, agendas, etc.  Initially, there was some
   attempt to copy materials hosted in the [IETF-HACKATHON-GITHUB] to
   the Datatracker.  Now, this is done only when required for
   integration with other IETF tooling, including:

   *  requesting sessions for the Hackathon kickoff and closing and for
      Hackdemo Happy Hour, e.g., [REQUEST-SESSIONS]

   *  posting agendas (e.g., see [AGENDAS])

5.2.  IETF Website

5.2.1.  Hackathon Website

   The IETF website includes a [HACKATHON-WEBSITE].  This website
   contains information about the Hackathon in general, as well as links
   to past, present, and future Hackathons.  The relevant links are
   updated after each IETF meeting.  Other content on the website is
   updated on a more ad hoc basis.

5.2.2.  Meeting Website

   Each IETF [MEETING-WEBSITE] contains information about the
   corresponding Hackathon, including the dates of the Hackathon in the
   header and a link to the Hackathon website in the "Additional Events"
   section.

5.3.  Registration

   Registration for the Hackathon is through the IETF meeting
   [REGISTRATION-SYSTEM].  Participant registration for the Hackathon
   is:

   *  independent of participation registration for the meeting

   *  free

   *  required

   As with meeting registration, registrants for the Hackathon
   acknowledge the [NOTE-WELL] during the registration process.

5.3.1.  Participant List

   An active list of all registered participants, e.g., [PARTICIPANTS],
   is maintained by the Secretariat.  Important information displayed
   for each registrant includes the set of projects and technologies in
   which each participant is interested and an email address.  This
   information is optional at the time of registration and may be
   updated or removed by editing one's registration.

5.3.2.  Caps on Registrations

   Registrations were capped for the first several Hackathons.  This was
   done for both space and costs considerations.  The cap was hit
   multiple times, each time resulting in temporary confusion and
   frustration among would-be registrants, which led to the cap being
   increased.  Currently, there are no caps enforced by the registration
   system.  In the event the number of participants exceeds the capacity
   of the main Hackathon room, designated overflow areas within the
   meeting venue are made available.

5.4.  Meeting Wiki

   The [MEETING-WIKI] serves as the primary source of information for
   each Hackathon.

5.4.1.  Hackathon

   A page within the meeting wiki, e.g., [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WIKI], is
   created by the Secretariat for each Hackathon and initialized with
   information that is based largely on the information from the
   previous Hackathon.  Once created, the Hackathon Chair(s) updates and
   moderates this page.  Champions are requested and are responsible for
   adding information about projects for which they are a champion.

   Anyone can edit the wiki by logging in using their Datatracker login
   credentials.  Credentials can be obtained by creating a
   [DATATRACKER-ACCOUNT].

5.4.2.  Lost and Found

   A Lost and Found wiki page, e.g., [LOST-AND-FOUND], is created by the
   Chair(s) for each Hackathon.  Participants looking for a team are
   encouraged to add themselves to the "Skills to Offer" table,
   providing some information about their skills and interests.  This
   will help others with matching needs and/or interests find them.
   Champions wanting help on their projects are encouraged to add their
   teams to the "Skills Needed" table, providing some information about
   the skills they seek.

5.4.3.  Results Presentation Schedule

   A Results Presentation Schedule wiki page, e.g.,
   [RESULTS-PRESENTATION-SCHEDULE], is created by the Chair(s) for each
   Hackathon.  Hackathon teams are welcome and encouraged to present
   their results during the Hackathon closing.  Hackathon teams add the
   name of their project and the name of the presenter to the table at
   the bottom of this page.

5.4.4.  In Person Only

   The following wiki pages are applicable for in-person Hackathons
   only.

5.4.4.1.  Hackdemo Happy Hour

   A Hackdemo Happy Hour wiki page, e.g., [HACKDEMO], is created by the
   Chair(s) for each Hackathon.  Champions are welcome and encouraged to
   add their project by entering the project name/acronym and a contact
   name and email address in the table displayed on the page.

5.4.4.2.  Code Lounge

   A Code Lounge wiki page, e.g., [CODE-LOUNGE], is created by the
   Chair(s) for each Hackathon.  Champions are welcome and encouraged to
   add their project by entering the project name/acronym and a contact
   name and email address in the table displayed on the page.

5.4.5.  Online Only

   The following wiki pages are applicable for online-only Hackathons.

5.4.5.1.  Team Schedule

   A Team Schedule wiki page, e.g., [TEAM-SCHEDULE], is created by the
   Chair(s) for each online-only Hackathon.  Online-only Hackathons take
   place globally for an entire week.  It is up to individual project
   teams to determine the preferred dates, times, and ways to meet to
   work on their project within the context of that week (e.g., Zoom,
   Webex, or Slack).  This page is meant to help facilitate coordination
   of schedules within and across teams.

5.5.  Email List

   The Hackathon [EMAIL-LIST] is used for all email communication and
   announcements related to the Hackathon.  All registrants are given
   the option to subscribe to the list.  Anyone interested in staying up
   to date on the Hackathon is able to subscribe at any time.  Once
   subscribed, anyone can send and respond to emails via the list.  The
   same list is used for each Hackathon.  Anyone wishing to receive
   emails for a specific Hackathon only can unsubscribe after that
   Hackathon has concluded.

5.5.1.  Email Alias for Hackathon Chairs

   The email alias <hackathon-chairs@ietf.org> was created and is
   maintained by the Secretariat.  It is used on Hackathon web pages and
   wiki pages to provide a single point of contact for the Hackathon.

5.6.  GitHub

   The [IETF-HACKATHON-GITHUB] is used to share code, presentations, and
   other artifacts at IETF Hackathons.  The Hackathon Chair(s) is
   responsible for administering the GitHub organization.

   Code for Hackathon projects often exist elsewhere, which is perfectly
   fine.  Anyone needing a place to host code for the Hackathon can
   request the creation of a repository for their project.

   A repository is created and maintained by the Chair(s) for each
   Hackathon, e.g., [RESULTS-PRESENTATIONS].  This repo is for
   participants to upload project results presentations.  The contents
   of this repo are used as the source for all presentations at the end
   of the Hackathon and remain as a reference after the Hackathon.

5.7.  Meetecho

   [MEETECHO] is used for the kickoff and closing sessions of the
   Hackathon.  This provides many capabilities, including the following:

   *  allows participants to join Hackathon sessions in person or
      remotely

   *  validates the registration of participants at the time of joining
      Hackathon sessions

   *  enables remote presenters of project results presentations

   *  captures recordings of the Hackathon kickoff and closing

5.8.  Network

   Access to the IETF network is an important aspect of the Hackathon.
   The IETF network provides unfettered Internet access that is not
   typical within many residential, corporate, and university
   environments.  For many IETF participants and projects, access to the
   Internet and each other via wireless access to the IETF network is
   sufficient.  However, due to the nature of the work done in the IETF,
   wired access and special networking capabilities are often required.

   The Network Operations Center (NOC) has graciously met the needs of
   the Hackathon since its inception and continues to add more
   capabilities over time.  In advance, champions are able to request
   wired access and special networking functionality, including static
   IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, IPv6-only networking, a closed user group,
   Network Address and Protocol Translation from IPv6 Clients to IPv4
   Servers (NAT64), and IPv6 Prefix Delegation.  All of this, and the
   IETF network in general, is made available by the start of the
   Hackathon and in advance for setup to the extent possible.

5.8.1.  Remote Networking

   Online-only meetings present both a personal-networking challenge and
   a computer-networking challenge.  The NOC came to the rescue for the
   latter with an experimental mechanism that was used to join the IETF
   network while attending a meeting remotely.  This evolved into what
   is now known as "HackNet" [HACKNET], a global Layer 2 VPN designed to
   support IETF protocol development across teams within the IETF
   Hackathon.  A limited set of devices for connecting to HackNet are
   supported.  In addition to Layer 2 connectivity, a subset of the
   networking capabilities available at in-person meetings are
   available.  Both the set of devices and the set of networking
   capabilities are expected to expand and evolve over time.  However,
   it is important to note that HackNet is still an experiment and not a
   production service.  Best-effort support is available via email to
   <support@ietf.org>.

5.9.  Webex

   Champions can request a [WEBEX-ACCOUNT] they can use to schedule
   meetings for their team.  These are similar to the Webex accounts
   that are allocated to and used by the working group chairs for
   virtual interim meetings.  An account can be requested by a team
   champion at any time.  Accounts remain active and available
   throughout the duration of the Hackathon and the associated IETF
   meeting.  A project name may be used in place of "Working Group Name"
   in the request form.

5.10.  Gather

   [GATHER] facilitates virtual hallway interaction during IETF
   meetings.  A dedicated area within the overall space is created by
   the Secretariat for the Hackathon.  The area includes tables,
   identified by letters of the alphabet, that teams are free to self-
   assign and use as and when they like.  Eight to ten seats around each
   table facilitate group discussions within the team.  A dry erase
   board or shared notes tablet, e.g., [HEDGEDOC], at tables facilitates
   sharing of information within the team.  The tables also facilitate
   collaboration across teams.  One cautionary note: Gather has relative
   high-network bandwidth and CPU requirements and, as such, may not be
   well suited for some Hackathon participants.

   The Gather space remains available between IETF meetings, with
   incremental improvements and additions made during this time.  The
   space is cleaned about a month prior to the start of the next
   meeting, removing anything left over from the previous meeting.
   Hackathon teams are encouraged to make a copy of anything they want
   to retain within a week of the end of the IETF meeting.

6.  Statistics and Metrics

   Statistics for the Hackathon have been gathered informally from the
   first Hackathon, at IETF 92, and more formally since IETF 101.
   Registration is required, but it is also free, which can lead to
   misleading statistics.  Starting with IETF 101, an effort has been
   made by the Secretariat to validate registrations for all in-person
   participants by checking registrations at the main entrance to the
   Hackathon room.  Badges similar to those issued for the rest of the
   IETF meeting are now issued for the Hackathon as well.  There is
   still no good mechanism for determining the number of remote
   participants.

   Hackathon participation has grown from 45 participants at IETF 92 to
   a maximum of 406 participants at IETF 104.  Participation tends to be
   slightly higher when the IETF meeting is located in Europe.  Recent
   in-person Hackathons have had roughly 30-40% as many participants as
   the corresponding IETF meeting.  For roughly 20-30% of Hackathon
   participants, the Hackathon is their first experience at any IETF
   event.

6.1.  IETF Survey Results

   For each IETF meeting, there is a post-event survey that often
   includes a question or two about the Hackathon, e.g.,
   [IETF-106-SURVEY].

6.2.  Hackathon Survey Results

   Hackathon-specific surveys have been used on some occasions to obtain
   more detailed feedback about the Hackathon from the IETF community.
   This has been especially useful for feedback on online-only
   Hackathons.  Surveys have been short with most questions being
   optional, e.g., [IETF-110-SURVEY].

7.  Roles and Responsibilities

   This section provides a summary of the roles and responsibilities of
   individuals and groups involved in a successful IETF Hackathon.  The
   summary provided here is not meant to be exhaustive.  Some
   responsibilities are described entirely or in more detail throughout
   the rest of the document.

7.1.  Hackathon Chair(s)

   The role of a Hackathon Chair is similar to that of a working group
   chair.  As with working groups, it is typically best to have co-
   chairs share responsibilities and the workload.  The Hackathon
   Chair(s) works very closely with the Secretariat on all
   responsibilities.  Key responsibilities include the following:

   *  Organize and deliver a Hackathon at each IETF meeting, which
      involves soliciting help from all other roles to do much of the
      heavy lifting

   *  Encourage and provide guidance to champions who volunteer to lead
      projects

   *  Maintain the Hackathon wiki, e.g., [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WIKI], and
      all of its child pages.

   *  Moderate the Hackathon email list (Section 5.5)

   *  request sessions for the Hackathon opening and closing in the IETF
      meeting, e.g., [REQUEST-SESSIONS]

   *  Emcee the Hackathon, including the opening and closing sessions
      and announcements in between

   *  Create and manage the GitHub repository used for each Hackathon,
      e.g.,[RESULTS-PRESENTATIONS]

   *  Serve as the main point of contact for all Hackathon questions and
      concerns

7.2.  Secretariat

   Key responsibilities include the following:

   *  Configure and manage the Hackathon registration system
      (Section 5.3)

   *  Maintain the Hackathon website (Section 5.2.1)

   *  Create and maintain the web page for each Hackathon, e.g.,
      [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WEBSITE]

   *  Create a wiki page for each Hackathon, e.g.,
      [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WIKI].  This is initialized and updated at
      times by the Secretariat, but the Chair(s) is ultimately
      responsible for maintaining it.

   *  Handle venue logistics for the Hackathon, Hackdemo Happy Hour, and
      the Code Lounge (e.g., reserve room, food and beverages, AV, etc.)

   *  Handle internal IETF promotion (e.g., via email messages to the
      IETF community)

   *  Assist with external outreach, as needed, including finding
      sponsors

   *  Validate Hackathon registrations for in-person participants,
      including issuing badges and Hackathon T-shirts (Section 3.2.1.3)
      when available

7.3.  Sponsor

   Key responsibilities include the following:

   *  Provide some funding to help offset costs of the Hackathon (either
      per meeting or per year, depending on the model)

   *  Optionally provide T-shirts or other giveaways

   *  Optionally provide support staff to assist with the Hackathon

   Key benefits include the following:

   *  Sponsor logo on Hackathon T-shirts

   *  Sponsor logo on Hackathon signage

   *  Sponsor logo on the Hackathon web page and wiki

   *  Sponsor logo and call out in the Hackathon kickoff and closing
      presentations

   *  Sponsor logo and call out in the IETF plenary presentation

   *  Sponsor logo and call out in the Hackathon recap on [IETF-BLOG]

   *  Recognition in the IETF community for helping the IETF Hackathon
      remain free and open to everyone

7.4.  Champions of Projects

   Champions of projects are the key to a successful Hackathon.  Key
   responsibilities for champions include the following:

   *  Volunteer to lead a project at the Hackathon

   *  Serve as the primary contact for the project

   *  Add and manage information on the Hackathon wiki for the project,
      including the Hackdemo Happy Hour (Section 2.2), Code Lounge
      (Section 2.3), and Team Schedule (Section 5.4.5.1) pages

   *  Promote the project to appropriate groups inside the IETF and
      outside as well

   *  Welcome and organize members of the team

   *  Provide focus, guidance, and leadership for the project

7.5.  IETF LLC, Director of Communications and Operations (was ISOC)

   Key responsibilities include the following:

   *  Promote the Hackathon outside of the IETF, including web search
      engine ad words, social media posts, and listing on external event
      calendars, such as [RIPE-CALENDAR] and [NSRC-CALENDAR]

   *  Handle outreach to local universities

   *  Provide a photographer, including optional team photos and candid
      photos of collaborating during in-person events

   *  Provide laptop stickers (Section 3.2.1.4) at in-person events

7.6.  Judges

   The first several Hackathons involved judges who listened to project
   results presentations by teams at the closing of each Hackathon and
   identified winning teams for an arbitrary number of project
   categories.  Prizes were made available to members of winning teams.
   This was done as an incentive to participate in the Hackathon and
   present results and to provide a fun yet informative end to the
   Hackathon that could be appreciated by the entire IETF community.
   Judging and the awarding of prizes led to confusion regarding the
   nature of the Hackathon, making it appear overly competitive to some.
   Procurement of appropriate prizes was financially and logistically
   challenging.  The arrangement of judges, determination of winners,
   and awarding of prizes all became more time consuming, especially as
   the number of projects and participants grew.  Ultimately, it was
   deemed best to eliminate judging, awards, and prizes entirely.
   Apparently, the IETF community has an innate incentive to participate
   and present results in the Hackathon.

8.  Implementation Status

   The practices described in this document have been established, used,
   and refined over the course of running numerous IETF Hackathons,
   including several at online-only IETF meetings.  The GitHub
   repository [GITHUB-REPO] has been used to collaborate on this
   document.  The IETF-Hackathon GitHub (Section 5.6) contains code
   associated with IETF Hackathons.

9.  Security Considerations

   HackNet (Section 5.8.1) enables Hackathon participants to join the
   IETF network while attending a meeting remotely.  The intent is for
   those connecting remotely to have as open a network as possible, just
   like those connecting to the IETF network at an in-person meeting.  A
   user must have a Datatracker account to access HackNet and is
   expected to respect it, just as they are expected to respect the IETF
   network at an in-person meeting.  If HackNet is exploited, it is
   addressed in the same manner as an exploitation of the IETF network
   would be at an in-person meeting.

9.1.  Privacy Considerations

   The Hackathon complies with the IETF/IRTF/IAB [PRIVACY-STATEMENT].

   Participant names are displayed publicly in the Participant List
   (Section 5.3.1).  As part of their registration, participants may opt
   in to display their email address as well.

   The email addresses of individual champions are often shared publicly
   by the champions on the wiki.  This is done voluntarily by individual
   champions to make it easier for others to contact them.

   Photos taken during the Hackathon, and during the IETF meeting in
   general, are sometimes included in blog posts or on social media.
   Red lanyards are made available to Hackathon participants to wear to
   indicate that they do not wish to be photographed individually or in
   small groups.

10.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no IANA actions.

11.  Informative References

   [AGENDAS]  IETF, "IETF Meeting Agenda",
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/meeting/agenda/>.

   [BITS-N-BITES]
              IETF, "About Bits-N-Bites",
              <https://www.ietf.org/how/meetings/98/bits-n-bites/>.

   [CODE-LOUNGE]
              IETF, "IETF 113 Code Lounge",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/113hackathon/codelounge>.

   [CODE-SPRINT]
              IETF, "Code Sprint",
              <https://www.ietf.org/how/runningcode/code-sprint/>.

   [DATATRACKER]
              IETF, "IETF Datatracker", <https://datatracker.ietf.org/>.

   [DATATRACKER-ACCOUNT]
              IETF, "IETF Datatracker Account Creation",
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/accounts/create/>.

   [EMAIL-LIST]
              IETF, "IETF Hackathon Mailing List",
              <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/Hackathon/>.

   [GATHER]   "Gather", <https://gather.town/>.

   [GITHUB-REPO]
              "draft-ietf-shmoo-hackathon: IETF SHMOO working group
              draft on running an IETF Hackathon", commit 6a8aad6, July
              2022,
              <https://github.com/eckelcu/draft-ietf-shmoo-hackathon/>.

   [HACKATHON-WEBSITE]
              IETF, "IETF Hackathons",
              <https://www.ietf.org/how/runningcode/hackathons/>.

   [HACKDEMO] IETF, "IETF 113 Hackdemo Happy Hour",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/113hackathon/hackdemo>.

   [HACKNET]  IETF, "HackNet", <https://hacknet.meeting.ietf.org/>.

   [HEDGEDOC] IETF, "HedgeDoc", <https://notes.ietf.org/>.

   [IETF-106-SURVEY]
              IETF, "IETF 106 Meeting Survey",
              <https://www.ietf.org/media/documents/
              IETF_106_Meeting_Survey.pdf>.

   [IETF-108-HACKATHON-WIKI]
              IETF, "IETF 108 Hackathon Wiki",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/108hackathon/>.

   [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WEBSITE]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Online",
              <https://www.ietf.org/how/runningcode/
              hackathons/110-hackathon/>.

   [IETF-110-HACKATHON-WIKI]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Wiki",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/110hackathon/>.

   [IETF-110-SURVEY]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Meeting Survey", <https://ql.tc/8K1JeZ/>.

   [IETF-BLOG]
              IETF, "IETF Blog", <https://www.ietf.org/blog/>.

   [IETF-HACKATHON-GITHUB]
              IETF, "IETF-Hackathon Repositories",
              <https://github.com/ietf-hackathon/>.

   [LOST-AND-FOUND]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Lost and Found",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/110hackathon/lost&found>.

   [MEETECHO] "Meetecho", <https://www.meetecho.com/>.

   [MEETING-WEBSITE]
              IETF, "Meetings and events",
              <https://www.ietf.org/how/meetings/>.

   [MEETING-WIKI]
              IETF, "IETF Meeting Wiki",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/wiki>.

   [NOTE-WELL]
              IETF, "Note Well", <https://ietf.org/about/note-well/>.

   [NSRC-CALENDAR]
              Network Startup Resource Center, "Education Outreach and
              Training (EOT) Calendar for Internet Development",
              <https://nsrc.org/calendar/>.

   [PARTICIPANTS]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Participant List",
              <https://registration.ietf.org/110/participants/
              hackathon/>.

   [PRIVACY-STATEMENT]
              IETF, "IETF/IRTF/IAB Privacy Statement",
              <https://www.ietf.org/privacy-statement/>.

   [REGISTRATION-SYSTEM]
              IETF, "IETF Meeting Registration System",
              <https://registration.ietf.org/>.

   [REMARK]   "remark: A simple, in-browser, markdown-driven slideshow
              tool", commit 1bbce13, May 2022,
              <https://github.com/gnab/remark/>.

   [REQUEST-SESSIONS]
              IETF, "IETF Session Request",
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/secr/sreq/>.

   [RESULTS-PRESENTATION-SCHEDULE]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Results Presentation Schedule",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/110hackathon/resultspresentationschedule>.

   [RESULTS-PRESENTATIONS]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Project Results Presentations",
              commit a6a12bd, March 2021, <https://github.com/ietf-
              hackathon/ietf110-project-presentations>.

   [RIPE-CALENDAR]
              RIPE NCC, "Upcoming Events",
              <https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/calendar/>.

   [RUNNING-CODE-SPONSOR]
              IETF, "IETF Meeting Sponsorship: Running Code Sponsors",
              <https://www.ietf.org/support-us/sponsorship/#running-
              code>.

   [SURVEY]   IETF, "IETF 107 Hackathon Results: Participant Survey",
              <https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-9HLRXN8M7/>.

   [TEAM-SCHEDULE]
              IETF, "IETF 110 Hackathon Team Schedule",
              <https://trac.ietf.org/trac/ietf/meeting/
              wiki/110hackathon/teamschedule>.

   [WEBEX-ACCOUNT]
              IETF, "IETF Webex Account",
              <https://ietf.webex.com/webappng/sites/ietf/
              dashboard?siteurl=ietf/>.

Acknowledgments

   The IETF Secretariat, notably Alexa Morris and Stephanie McCammon,
   contributed significantly to the creation of the IETF Hackathon and
   the practices in this document.  Among other things, Alexa drafted
   the initial breakdown of "Roles and Responsibilities" (Section 7),
   and Stephanie created the initial Hackathon website and wiki.  These
   have evolved over time and are used to run each Hackathon.

   Greg Wood, Barry Leiba, Michael Richardson, Benson Muite, Dhruv
   Dhody, Karl Auerbach, Mallory Knodel, Lars Eggert, Robert Sparks,
   Thomas Fossati, Alvaro Retana, Erik Kline, John Scudder, Roman
   Danyliw, and Éric Vyncke also provided significant contributions to
   the Hackathon and to this document.

Author's Address

   Charles Eckel
   Cisco Systems
   United States of America
   Email: eckelcu@cisco.com
