I've had great experiences at events only to have them ruined by being asked how does my project make money. I dislike that question, especially when I spent a weekend doing something for the sake of making it instead working on a pretend pitch.
For that reason, I’m a fan of the science fair-style expo. It has less incentive for self-aggrandizement compared to onstage presentations. Hackers can be more genuine/playful without that single, high-tension Demo-athon pitch.
But then again, I have no idea how difficult science fair-style events are to coordinate. I’ve never organized a hackathon.
And from a judging perspective it's important that judges give equal consideration to all the ranges of numbers... statistics can be a cruel mistress as youtubers like CPG Grey frequently point out.
The most exciting part of a hackathon is seeing what other hackers have made and that's almost impossible when you're stuck at your table demoing. Especially if you're a solo hacker or a key member of the team.
The expo-style format may be the most scalable, but there's also a ton of room for improvement. I distinctly remember a hackathon (MHacks maybe?) where none of the sponsor judges came to see my app. Another time I overheard judges prioritized tables that had the most twitter mentions, turning the expo into a social network popularity contest of sorts.
Its exciting to see hackathons trying to solve the demo problem, and I'm really glad someone put together a guide, but I think the ideal judging format has yet to be found.
