One of the core focuses of building up ETH Ireland has been carving out a space for less technical people to contribute to high-tech projects.

Let’s interpret “less technical” to mean anyone without coding or programming skills.

These types of people may feel like they don’t belong at a hackathon and that couldn’t be further from the truth. Hackathons, at least in the Web3 context, are more akin to tech festivals than you might imagine.

Our team recently competed in two hackathons 👇

🛍 ETHMilan’s AI Creative Hackathon

🏛 ETHRome on Account Abstraction & Privacy-preserving technologies

At ETHMilan, the team did their best but the competition was very high. You can find the winning projects listed here 👇

https://x.com/CaolnBreathnac1/status/1840756575260045754

The team did better at ETHRome, taking home two ZKPass bounty prizes for their project S.A.O.I.R.S.E. You can find all the relevant details on TAIKAI below 👇

https://taikai.network/ethrome/hackathons/ethrome-24/projects/cm1x1ubbn007ou886zdcn8cke/idea

Two hackathons, two teams. Lots of ideas, a couple of prizes, three participants and only one techie. That’s pretty good going! A few additional team members and the ETH Ireland team would be seriously competitive.

Although the two differed completely in theme and direction, ETHMilan being creative focused and ETHRome being developer focused, they produced some pretty impressive results (outside of the ETH Ireland submissions, of course).

Even more so there is an intensely collaborative and communal spirit at an event that you’d expect to be more competitive. Everyone participating converges around the same thing, presenting a real opportunity to question how you normally go about things and adopt the thinking of others.

As Kirby Ferguson has eloquently put, everything is a remix.

Hackathons are a perfect medley of ideas and talent. Don’t be afraid of weighing others down. Stick your oar in and find your rhythm.

We are all there for a good time. And going back to that festival spirit, if you can help make someone’s else experience more enjoyable, that’s a win:win.

Even if you don’t feel confident enough to contribute to a team, there are many other ways to get involved. Volunteer a talent of yours, prepare some lunches, take some photos. There’s room for every type of contribution.

Checkout the Open Source Orchestra if you find that hard to believe.

Anyways, all of this is to say, here’s to more non-techies at hackathons! How is ETH Ireland planning on supporting that?

We are hoping to bring you something special ahead of ETHDublin 2025.

Maybe an art hackathon? A digital art exhibition? A beat-athon?

You’ll have to wait and see.