Is there a better word for 'hackathon'?

In a recent event where a hackathon was organized, the organizer felt the need to emphasize multiple times that the hackathon wasn’t just “for crazy programmers who code all night long” but was more broadly open to all forms of co-creation between the attendees. It reminded me that I have some problems with this word, which I want to summarize here.

To me, the word “hackathon” suggests sitting down to program something during an in-person event. The goal would be to have a prototype of a system, that would be presented at the end of the event, in some sort of final showcase.

I find that odd, because it does not feel like a good use of my time in an in-person event. I need quiet, prolongued time and good ergonomics to work on programming tasks. In-person encounters with colleagues are rare enough that I would rather use the time to chat, brainstorm, do exploratory design work for instance. I find that I already have enough of a tendency to start hacky prototypes on a whim, so I don’t need the incentive of an event for that.

The term can also be associated with competitive vibes (a winning team might be selected at the end of the event). I’ve attended many hackathons and none of them were actually competitive, but I imagine that some people might still be put off from the concept because of an expected competitiveness. At least, a “hacking marathon” smells like extreme performances, energy drinks and sweat, which doesn’t feel like the best approach to include less confident folks.

So what other words could we use? Just a “workshop”? A “design party”? An “ideas factory”? Maybe some other portmanteau word can be made in that direction?

This is squarely my own perspective and I am super grateful to event organizers for putting in their time and energy to organize such events, often on a voluntary basis. The ones I have been to were overwhelmingly well intentioned and very pleasant to attend. Keep them coming! But if you feel like correcting people’s expectations every time you use the H word - maybe we can find a better one?