8th Nation worked with the acclaimed National Public Radio program, This American Life, and leading tech company ThoughtWorks NYC to produce a hackathon that would address the tech needs of the emerging podcast industry. Developers, coders, designers, producers and sound designers were invited and grouped into teams, after introductory talks by audio professionals, the teams participated in a two-day hackathon. Speakers included Ira Glass of This American Life, Alex Blumberg of StartUp and Gimlet Media, and Daniel Alarcón Executive Producer of Radio Ambulante, a Spanish language podcast telling stories from across Latin America and the US.
The Ask
ThoughtWorks regularly hosts tech-related events as a way to interface with potential tech recruits. Working with This American Life on a hackathon seemed like a great opportunity to engage up-and-coming tech talent with ThoughtWorks and demonstrate ThoughtWorks commitment to innovation and socially conscious journalism. However, being a tech company, ThoughtWorks needed an experienced producer to organize, manage and run the day-to-day nuts and bolts of a successful event that would live up to This American Life’s high expectations.
What 8th Nation Did
8th Nation was tasked to make sure the many moving parts of the hackathon moved in harmony as well as securing and managing brand partnerships with Serial, Gimlet Media, Pop Up Archive, Public Media Platform, PRX, Soundcloud, and Slack. 8th Nation reached out to thousands of top tech talent recruits to ensure the event would have an incredible outcome and coordinated with This American Life to manage a press campaign with adequate outreach to media outlets in order to promote the event. In addition, 8th Nation took care of every aspect of the event, soup to nuts, including security, catering and IT. 8th Nation also facilitated several planning meetings with This American Life’s team before the event and oversaw a meet and great discussion with Ira Glass, creator of This American Life, on the last day of the hackathon.
Developed and executed integrated and multi-channel marketing plans to ensure the event was covered by appropriate media channels
Ensured proper security was arranged for high-profile clients
Worked with partners to create panel and technical judging criteria for the winner of the hackathon
Collaborated with leadership and cross-functional team members to brainstorm, plan, and develop new ideas and strategies
Defined comprehensive marketing performance framework, including creative reviews, tracking, and optimization of results
Work with commercial, events, and editorial teams on marketing programs and tactics to increase the visibility of the panel and associated opportunities
Worked with vendors to take care of all catering and cleanup before, during and after the event
Crafted marketing collateral working closely with the art and brand teams on creative vision, strategy, and creation
Coordination of volunteer teams for seamless event execution
Troubleshooting AV needs before and during the event to ensure technical efficiency
Implemented and managed comprehensive social media campaigns to ensure the event was correctly promoted, well attended and captured in the digital world
Supported client by maintaining the integrity of workflow against agreed-upon Scope of Work and budget parameters which includes communication of overages, issues, and alterations
Worked as a liaison between key stakeholder and PR; crafting press releases and managing any media needs such as interviews and invites for members of the press
The Results
ThoughtWorks reached its goal of gaining firsthand exposure with many potential tech recruits. This American Life reached its goal of seeing how up-and-coming tech talent saw the future of the podcast industry. The outcome of the hackathon was a tool called Shortcut. Available on both desktop and mobile, listeners can select moments from any episode of This American Life (all of which have been transcribed and time coded) and turn them in short videos that can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.
