Sample Elevator Pitch Process

In the days leading up to the hackathon, you might choose to have people registering for the event and adding them to a shared space like a Slack team. This can be helpful in allowing people to:

• Add Ideas to a shared Google Doc

• Create a Slack channel for their idea, and add the Slack channel name to the shared ideas Google doc

While this can help groups get a head start, there's still plenty of room for new groups to pitch and form. One format that we've seen work well goes like this:

1. Everyone gets 30 seconds to present an idea; timer required

   1. The person making the pitch also gives the Slack channel name where folks will initially coordinate (e.g. #seethespectrum)

   2. The person making the pitch states where in the room they'd like interested attendees to gather

   3. Event coordinators help ensure the Slack channel can be made immediately

   4. Set the Purpose of the Channel as a summary of the pitch

   5. Add the person pitching to the Channel

   6. Set the topic of the channel to "Project lead: [name of person who gave the pitch]

2. Event coordinators should also summarize pitches on a whiteboard, so that folks don't forget which is which after they leave to find their groups.