Open Caramelle opened 8 years ago
If done absolutely by the book - no they definitely aren't.
But if you're trying to make an event accessible / diverse, beyond reaching out to specific groups - offering a (relatively) small portion to make it happen is useful.
It is not fair, but it has some advantages if done right. It allows organisers to target specific areas that don't really have hackathons and/or bring more universities to the event. Basically provide organisers with ways to make the event more diverse and enjoyable for everyone.
When we did it we had some people complaining about how unfair it is to the ones who didn't get tickets and it wasn't very pleasant to deal with. Not sure access codes should be advertised as a thing, there are plenty other (fair) ways to increase diversity.
Maybe a separate topic on diversity exploring the reasons why underrepresented groups don't attend hackathons and offering some solutions would be a good idea?
Agreed people will find it unfair - how about a point of 'well you can do this but be aware it can cause some controversy' - whilst there are other fairer ways to increase diversity, this is a great way to bring people in that might not otherwise come / even help with attrition
diversity as in the locations people come from not as in social diversity, that topic is really difficult and deserve its own section.
I agree with Josh that a caviar should be added noting that. I guess in the end it should be the organiser call really and they should be aware of the option :)
Are they actually fair if you're doing FCFS?