Hackathon Photo Booth: One Counter Spot, Power Only

People at a hackathon sit in front of laptops all day. A booth gives them a short reason to stand up, take one photo and go back. We set one up twice.

On March 22 we had a booth at the Black & White Developer THE Hackathon at WORKMORE, an event put together by EO, BZCF and WORKMORE. On March 28 we had one at Ddalkkakthon, run by a vibe coding club, where teams build a service with AI in 8 hours.

The setup was the same both times. This post only covers how we placed a 4-cut booth. If you want the story of running a university hackathon, that case is here.

The gallery filling up team by team also means teams came and shot together. At a hackathon it felt natural for people who work together to stand up together. Even with no set break time, a booth in plain sight turns into a place to catch your breath for a minute.

On one counter spot. At WORKMORE it sat on the lobby counter near the hall full of laptops. At Ddalkkakthon it sat on a table next to the banner.

Setup meant plugging in the power. No tripod, no extra light. The iPad is inside the booth, so there was nothing else to stand up.

At a busy event the spot matters. Close to the laptop seats makes it easy to stand up, shoot and go back.

One counter spot is enough, so pick a place people already pass, like next to the info desk, in the lobby or at the hall entrance. Not having to build a new space mattered at an event like a hackathon.

At the Black & White Developer hackathon the booth sat on the lobby counter. People got up from the hall full of laptops and walked over to shoot. The event name went under the frame, and the gallery gathered one strip per team.

Ddalkkakthon is an event where teams build a service with AI in 8 hours, so it was short and dense. The booth sat on a table, and the organizers put our logo on the event banner too. The frame had speech-bubble lines that fit the mood of the event.

One event used the event name at the bottom of the frame, the other used speech bubbles for mood. Either way the frame was made in the app on the day, so it could change to fit each event. That helps where every event needs its own frame.

We made the frame in the app on the day with the custom frame feature. No outside designer, and it did not take long.

For the Black & White Developer hackathon we put the program name at the bottom of the frame, so you can tell which event a photo came from. For Ddalkkakthon we put speech-bubble lines inside the frame, such as an invitation into the vibe coding world.

For Ddalkkakthon we told the organizers that if they gave us their account, the frame could be made in the frame store right away. You upload the event logo, name and bubble text in the app.

By QR code. When the shoot ends, a QR appears on the iPad screen and guests scan it with their phone camera.

Nobody had to install the app. The photo opens in the browser, so with a crowd of strangers we barely had to explain anything.

We did not use a printer. With no paper or ink to manage, the booth was much lighter to bring. If your event wants prints, see the event checklist for what to prepare.

On the booth side you can open the gallery screen and see which photos are piling up. That is where we saw the strips stacking up team by team.

When we opened the gallery, it had one strip per team. Teams in matching green shirts and teams in black shirts had all come by once.

Because the event name was printed on the frame, the whole gallery read as one event at a glance. After a hackathon, code is not the only thing left.

At Ddalkkakthon, once the 8 hours were up, people gathered in front of the banner and took one more together, holding what they had just built.

This is the order we settled on after doing it twice. Nothing in it is complicated.

The list of things to bring is short, but a few things need deciding before the event: the frame text, the booth spot and where the power is. Once those are set, all that is left on the day is putting the booth down and plugging it in.