I'd been going to and organizing hackathons since late high school, and I definitely agree with this sentiment. I was lucky enough to go to the Pennapps that w

I'd been going to and organizing hackathons since late high school, and I definitely agree with this sentiment. I was lucky enough to go to the Pennapps that was hosted in the huge Wells Fargo stadium in Philly, and even though there were tons of sponsors, it felt genuine. I think that was around the time that things seemed to go downhill. Nowadays, I don't recommend friends to go to hackathons. Even though there was a time where I went to (and often placed/won a sponsor prize in) most hackathons I applied to. You can see the attitude shift in everything from the focus (sponsor prizes are insane, "swag" is hyped), to the attitude of the attendees (less about making a project, more about winning). And maybe nothing makes the point hit home more than when Google leaves a bag full of prizes on the table, and lets everyone duke it out over the crumbs. The entry forms and emphasis on prize value make it clear: these are events that focus on recruiting and idea pumping. I literally won a sponsor prize, that had a requirement along the lines of giving up IP to claim a $1k prize. They used to be student-organized hackathons. Now I'm not so sure it's the students doing the organizing, so much as the corporate sponsors that provide the funding.