Bridging skills from consulting to hackathons
Written by: Natasha Chen
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a hacker to organize a hackathon. As an Accounting and Financial Management student at the University of Waterloo who has never participated in a hackathon, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to work with one.
I primarily work with a talented group of 7 people on the Sponsorship team — 1 director, and 1 advisor, and 5 coordinators, including myself. While the rest of my team share their perspectives as past hackers, I bring fresh perspectives and skills backed by my experience in pro-bono student-run consulting at ACE Consulting Group, where I work with startups and venture capital firms.
Consulting for startups and securing sponsors for hackathons may seem like two drastically different worlds, but it turns out they share these common processes:
- Doing the research 🔎
- Using your network 💬
- Staying organized 🗄
- Managing client relationships 🤝
- Following up 📝
Prepare yourself by doing the research 🔎
- Having the necessary background information before talking to clients and sponsors
Similar to the feeling you experience walking into a class filled with new people on the first day of school, the beginning of any client relationship can seem daunting when you’re unfamiliar with the industry.
In both worlds, getting the team on the same page by sharing industry research and reliable resources is crucial to embarking on a project. For example, taking the initiative to find and understand a company’s core values will give you a better understanding of what sponsors will get from the event. Referring to past years’ resources helped me gain a comprehensive view of every unique relationship in the past and their involvement with Hack the North. Doing research and having facts on hand help build trust and improve the confidence of the sponsor’s views on the organization throughout our conversation.
Ask your internal network questions and clarify decisions made 💬
- You’re not alone in your work. Collaborate and reach out if you need help!
In consulting, asking for clarification and bouncing ideas off others on the same engagement help streamline our research and strengthen the direction of our analysis. With so many moving parts within a large organization like Hack the North, understanding the implications of decisions made across other departments on sponsorship is crucial to preventing miscommunication between each coordinator and sponsor.
That being said, we leverage Slack and weekly meetings to ensure every Sponsorship Coordinator provides consistent responses to each sponsor’s inquiries. Before emails are sent off to sponsors, members of the team look over the tone and impression of our messages. Although this sounds like a vigorous process for every sponsor email response, it ensures that we are consistent with the information we provide to sponsors.
Using platforms to plan and stay organized 🗄️
- Leveraging tools and keeping track of your notes are important for staying on top of your work
Dealing with extensive client requests can be difficult to manage, which is why it’s important to stay organized. On sponsorship, platforms such as Calendly, Zendesk, and Slack can be a huge help in staying on track when handling engagements.
To streamline communications processes with our sponsors, we send them our Calendly link, which syncs up available time slots in our individual Google Calendars and makes booking meetings simple. Additionally, we use Zendesk, which is a platform that provides an overview of which stage our deals are in and keeps track of our contacts. To top it off, we use Slack on a daily basis and have channels for anything from drafting sponsor emails to coordinating sponsor dashboard development.
Client relationship management 🤝
- Small actions build mutual trust and respect
People typically love to talk about themselves or to people they find similarities with, which is a simple way to create a friendlier atmosphere for any engagement.
Starting off with personal introductions to learn more about a representative has given me the chance to turn what may have been a surface-level chat — simply going down a list of questions — into an insightful conversation. Sometimes sponsors will share their passions for hackathons, leading to them wanting to understand my connection to Hack the North, which lightens the mood and makes the rest of the call more purposeful.
It also never hurts to attach a personalized greeting such as “Good luck moving out at the end of the week,” or “Have a safe trip traveling back to New York this weekend,” at the end of a follow-up email. The note does not sacrifice quality from the core aspect of the business but is a thoughtful way to show that you care. Ultimately, this leads to more motivation, trust, and productivity between you and your client.
Importance of summarizing and following up 📝
- List concise recaps and action items to mitigate the risk of miscommunication
Imagine you’ve spent countless hours over several months doing research, developing your understanding of an industry, and have challenged yourself to become an expert for a project. You’ve certainly worked hard and have all the information you need — but now what? The time spent and knowledge you’ve accumulated doesn’t mean much unless you polish a clean report for your client or pitch a concise presentation to investors.
Similarly, sponsor calls are often packed with an overwhelming amount of questions, answers, and important information. With so much to recall, sending a summary of items discussed and applicable action items make the call more effective as it will be easier for both parties to refer back to when bringing back information to the team.
Joining Hack the North from a non-technical background has shown that the seemingly different worlds of consulting and hackathons can leverage similar transferable skills. No matter which walks of life you’re in, preparing research, leveraging your network, staying organized, building relationships, and following up can create ripple effects on everyday and special tasks. With a toolbox of skills and a passion to make an impact, the possibilities are endless!
The end. Or is it just the beginning?
Hack the North is scheduled for January 15–17, 2021 🎉
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