The Contentsquare Hackathon 2019: An Inside Look

Our 2019 Hackathon came to a close last Friday, and has left us abuzz with new ideas and energy, having filled our to-do lists with projects to grow over the coming year.

This year’s event had 4 themes, and saw employees from all offices travel across the globe and congregate in teams, in an effort to build the next big thing for our UX analytics platform. While we’re keeping our new inventions under wraps, we can give you a glimpse into how the event transpired.

Contentsquare employees congregate at our New York City office.

The 2019 Hackathon in the Words of Our Judges

Judging a Hackathon is no easy undertaking. Ours was judged by a group of those internal to Contentsquare and a few representatives from our client companies and investors. I sat down with one of our top users, Olivier Banizette, the Digital Data Manager of the fashion giant Chanel to glean a few insights.

The judges are in action in our Paris office.


What surprised you about the Contentsquare Hackathon?

“I was surprised by the capacity to deliver visible results in only two days, either through real demos, or videos and animations that were very professional.”

What’s the most difficult aspect of judging?

“The hardest thing as a judge is to rank projects with so many criteria of scoring — whether that’s added value for clients, competitive advantage for the platform, innovative idea, or Contentsquare’s internal processes changes. — Some of the projects were about platform foundation enhancement with no short term added value for clients… but still very important for the product itself.”

The 2019 Hackathon in Our Own Words

“Incredible fun and so moving to be working in a team of such committed, skilled, and talented colleagues. It must be how NBA players feel when they are in the playoffs. You are purely in the zone. You are creating both practical things but you are also planning ahead for going to market and dreaming ahead for infinite possibilities thanks to the project. Time flies. Hours don’t matter. You create and code until you drop. You compete. How awesome is that?”

 

“Fantastic. Everyone is so welcoming and the energy in the US office is second to none.”

 

“I really like brainstorming and working on new developments. I think it is so valuable for companies to support innovation. Next to that, the experience of traveling to another location, the breakfast, dinners and drinks that we have together, is really great and unique.”

 

“It was really nice and chill compared to other years and projects I worked on.”

 

“Amazing. Great people, great project, great environment.”

 

“It was really meaningful, smooth and easy working together with all the teammates. We had great team spirit!”

After some intense 3-day Hackathon-ing, our global team got some downtime at an NYC bar.

The Most Challenging Aspects of the Hackathon

“It’s also like Shark Tank where you have to package everything into a bulletproof pitch that is not just exciting but also realistic and executable. The why, the what, the how.”  

 

“Pitching the projects in only 5 minutes, we would all love to talk about it for much longer to give way more detail. However as it takes 46 seconds with the elevator to go up to the NYC office on the 54th floor, I should not complain too much about the 5 minutes ‘elevator pitch’!!”

 

“Working long hours with jetlag.”

 

“Managing to split the work and make sure everyone is contributing to their full potential to the project.”

 

“The most complicated part is always brainstorming and having a clear vision from the start of what we have to do.”

Hackathoners in the UK office pose with a furry friend.

Highlights of the Hackathon

“The part where we and all the other teams are in that creative phase.  Also seeing the other teams beautiful ideas, creative pitches and results.”

 

“Hearing about all the incredible other projects. Its gives me real goosebumps knowing I work for a company with such talented, driven and enthusiastic colleagues that all try to make CS bigger & better with their amazing ideas.”

 

“Hearing about all the projects that everyone has been working on during the final.”

 

“Working with the US teams and getting to know the teams on a more intimate, friendly environment (and free food!!)”

 

“Tighten the links with other people I do not regularly interact with.”

“To meet people there, work on my English skills, and because the project I was interested in was managed by an amazing US person 😉 ”

 

“Getting to see the atmosphere at the other office and meeting other people!”

 

The 2020 Hackathon will be out of this world; see you next year!

An eclectic mix of Contentsquare employees from around the world gather in our New York office and watch the results of the Hackathon.