How to Run a Hackathon People Actually Remember

Don't Forget the Pizza is the podcast for Developer Advocates, DevRel Managers, and community professionals who run events as the unwritten part of their job. Hosted by Isabel Ruiz, each episode dives into the logistics nobody talks about — venue Wi-Fi, lanyards and why the pizza order matters more than you think.Nicolas Grenié joins the show. Nicolas is a Developer Relations veteran with over a decade of experience: he grew Typeform's app ecosystem to 10,000+ integrations, founded HackBarna (Barcelona's AI hackathon), delivered 50+ talks at conferences like MWC and Red Hat Summit, and co-created apis.json, an open API discovery standard. He's currently a Lovable Ambassador and Angel Investor, building at the intersection of AI and Developer Experience.In this episode, Nicolas shares what separates a forgettable hackathon from one people talk about for years — why he stops his events at 11 PM, how to balance three completely different attendee personas in one room, why most hackathon projects are over-scoped, and what the Barcelona developer scene gets right that Silicon Valley doesn't.If you've ever been handed a box of lanyards and told to "build community," without a playbook, this one's for you. 🍕