IDG Contributor Network: What is a hackathon, and why should you care?

What is a hackathon and why should you care? A hackathon is a gang activity. It's an event where lots of people of the same mindset form teams to solve a problem in technology. Participation may occur in group meetings, websites or through mobile apps. And collaboration is both the means and end of the process.
A hackathon is a marathon of intense work to build solutions from scratch within about 48 hours. Writing for TechTarget.com, Margaret Rouse calls it "a social coding event... a chance fo