Think a hackathon consists of a bunch of nerdy types gathering to hack the minutes away? Think again.

Contrary to popular belief, a hackathon event sees software professionals, graphic designers and marketers gathering to collaborate and create useful software. We get it - it might not sound exciting to most people but the Pronto Woven team loves coming together to chat about all things innovation (which of course, is always front and centre with the work we do).

Yep, these events can be pretty full-on

In a good way of course! Our most recent hackathon saw every team member of Pronto being invited to submit their ideas. It’s always a pretty exciting period of time in which we all work together to develop new products, services and features. It can include developing proposals, forming teams, building prototypes and even pitching ideas to senior business and technology leaders.

As always, our hackathon produced many exciting and innovative ideas

How else can you create something new or solve a tricky problem in a unique and inventive manner without thinking outside the box? We could be talking about apps, a particular process or even a new business model. The sky’s the limit!

We always encourage the team to work on ideas that solve real world problems… this isn’t about donning our science fiction hats and blasting ourselves twenty years into the future. Our mission remains the same: to help our Pronto community to grow and evolve their business in order to maximise their profits.

If you’ve landed on our blog before, you’ll know we use design thinking with an end user driven approach to create solutions with practical business applications. This is at the centre of every hackathon we host.

So what’s the point of these hackathons?

We’re tech people - that means we spend a lot of time sitting in front of screens. It’s incredibly valuable for us to break away from our desks to work collaboratively so that together, we can innovate products and discuss ideas collectively. All staff are given creative freedom and encouraged to highlight areas where they believe the company can improve, while also having the opportunity to showcase their unique skill set (we have had the odd team member dressing up as Hulk Hogan… see for yourself!). Going beyond our regular work routines and habits breeds innovation and helps us to do what we do best: solve problems.

We’re passionate problem solvers and the proof is in the pudding

Over 50 hack ideas were submitted at our latest hackathon, with 5 of those ideas going on to be actively prototyped for industry application. How cool is that!? It’s really exciting to think about how we can help Pronto customers both now and in the long-term.

In case you haven’t caught on, we’re big fans of hackathons. We love bringing our ideas to the forefront and having the ability to test them. Most of all, we enjoy celebrating our work and the wins we achieve for our customers.

Looking to solve a complex digital problem? Get in touch with our team and let’s discuss your unique business requirements today.