A company that I worked for in the past, decided to sponsor a local hackathon for open-source enthusiasts. We provided a prize for the best use of our API and offered mentorship during the event. That weekend was eye-opening – watching teams actually build things with our tool (and sometimes struggle) gave us more insight than any amount of internal testing. Plus, the winning team wrote a blog about their project, which put our name in front of their readers. The experience cemented my belief that there’s nothing quite like getting developers hands-on with your product. Hackathons, meetups, and dev events create an environment where devs are eager to try new tech, and if you can be part of that excitement, you can earn users for life.
Here’s how to leverage events and hackathons tactically:
Run or Sponsor Hackathons: Hackathons are still very popular in 2025, from college campuses to global online hackathons. By sponsoring a hackathon (even with a modest amount of money or just free access to your tool), you encourage developers to play around with your API/SDK in a fun, low-stakes setting. The key is to provide support and inspiration: offer sample project ideas that use your tool, have engineers from your team be available as mentors to help participants, and maybe give some swag or small prizes for teams that incorporate your tool. The goal isn’t to get a polished product out of it, but to seed awareness and positive experiences. Hackathons spark creativity and learning – developers often upskill during these events, and they’ll appreciate a tool that helps them build something quickly under time pressure. For instance, Twilio famously grew by sponsoring hackathons and making it easy for developer to use their APIs for SMS.
Metrics to know it works: One hackathon platform CEO noted that they see a 5-35% conversion rate from hackathon registration to project submission, which is actually a strong result in terms of engaged users. This means if 100 devs sign up and you give them access to your tool, maybe 30 will actually build something with it – that’s 30 real user experiences and possibly 30 advocates if they really like it.
Host Themed Workshops or Challenges: If a full hackathon is too resource-intensive, consider running a smaller online challenge or workshop. For example, do a “Build something in a Day with [YourTool]” event. This could be a guided online workshop where devs follow along to create a mini project. Or a week-long challenge where devs submit their creations for judging. The point is to give a structured reason for devs to try your product hands-on. Provide clear instructions, office hours for help, and showcase the results. These events can be done virtually and can attract a global audience if promoted in the right communities.
Be Present at Developer Conferences/Meetups: Whether it’s big conferences like AWS re:Invent or small local meetups, show up where developers gather. This doesn’t always mean paying for a big booth (which can be expensive for startups). You can often do lightning talks or volunteer to give an educational session at meetups. I did talks at a few meetups about “Building a Developer Community” which indirectly was related to our product – it wasn’t a sales pitch, but afterwards folks would come ask me about crowd.dev out of interest. Conferences often have “Birds of a Feather” sessions or workshops; see if you can host one that aligns with your tool’s domain (e.g. a live demo workshop).
Hands-On Demos and Booth Hacks: If you do sponsor a booth at an event, make it interactive. Instead of just flyers, maybe have a laptop setup where devs can try the tool on the spot or play a quick game/quiz related to your tool’s use case. Some companies run mini-challenges at their booths (like “complete this coding puzzle using our API and win a prize”). This gives devs a reason to engage beyond polite conversation and makes your tool more memorable.
Host Your Own Community Events: As your user base grows, consider hosting user group meetups or an annual community event (even virtually).
Utilize Hackathon Platforms: There are online platforms (like Devpost, Hackathon, etc.) where you can host virtual hackathons or challenges. They often have their own community of developers who look for interesting challenges. Listing your event there or sponsoring a category (e.g. “Best Use of [YourTool] API”) in a larger hackathon can draw in participants. Make sure to offer good documentation and maybe temporary elevated quotas on your API so participants aren’t limited during the hack.
Follow Up for Retention: After any event, follow up with the devs who interacted with you. If someone built a hackathon project, email them afterwards: “That was awesome what you built – if you’d like to continue using [YourTool], here’s an extended free tier for you / let’s chat about how we can support it.” If you gave a workshop, send the attendees extra resources. The point is to turn that one-time experience into ongoing usage. The dev might not immediately productize their hackathon app, but when a need arises at work, guess which tool they’ll remember?
The power of events is partly in humanizing your team and tool. When developers meet you (even virtually), ask questions, and see your enthusiasm, it builds a relationship. They’re no longer just “users” and you’re not just a faceless product – you’re partners in their project success. Hackathons in particular breed a bit of camaraderie; by the end, you and the participants you helped are almost teammates.
Also, events can generate content: encourage participants to blog about their projects (and then amplify those blogs), or do recap posts from your side (“10 cool things built with X at the hackathon”). This further spreads awareness.
Action plan
- Identify 1-2 hackathons in the next quarter that align with your target audience (could be a local one, a student one, or a themed online one) and become a sponsor or partner.
- Allocate a small budget for prizes or swag.
- Prepare a “hackathon starter kit” for your tool (docs, sample apps, maybe a dedicated Slack channel for support during the event).
- During the event, be super responsive and helpful – this goodwill pays off.
- In parallel, reach out to meetup organizers in your field and propose a talk or workshop for the coming months. Even if only 20 people attend that meetup, that’s 20 interactions in person.
- Track any uptick in signups or active usage after these events.
- Over time, scale up to hosting your own virtual hackathons or user conferences as your community grows.
Remember, seeing is believing – when devs see your tool in action (or better yet, use it themselves in a fun setting), they’re far more likely to adopt it seriously.
Learn more about developer events
- The Power of Hackathons - About the benefits of hosting hackathons.
- AWS Global Hackathon Case Study - Describes how AWS sponsored 25-city hackathons, reaching 2,500+ developers and yielding 350+ projects built on AWS.
- Dev.events - Global directory of developer events
My tool recommendations
- Luma: Hosting virtual event pages