Author here. This was written for Hackathon Hackers, a group of people who go to collegiate hackathons, to (1) critique what I perceive to be our community's fo

Author here. This was written for Hackathon Hackers, a group of people who go to collegiate hackathons, to (1) critique what I perceive to be our community's focus on measuring success by $$$ and size instead of individual impact, and (2) express my displeasure with the way we've let corporations take over community events. Especially re: @candu's and @detaro's comments, I agree that there are lots of community-supported meetups and spaces. However, I don't find that the collegiate community gives much, if any, weight to these sorts of events - there's a glorification of giant hackathon events that far outweighs anything else. I know where to look, but someone newer to the scene will only see the sort of event that I criticize. My hyperbolic title is a rhetorical device to counteract the marketing machine that MLH and hackathons have going :)