I have been considering blogging about this subject from a different angle for a while. The humble HackDay was about creating something quickly by, well, hacking code together and then showing it off. Sometimes the product went live, sometimes it went further, mostly it died, but we got to create something, test something, try new things, share knowledge, and learn. I am not against having some judging and prizes are nice, and even if the prize is a bar of chocolate as recognition from my equals that I have done something good or clever. Such appreciation feels so good to me. What saddens me is that some, mostly management or marketing types, try to big up an event by turning it is to a big competition. This is not what HackDays are about. When at university I did enjoy programming competitions as well but they do not mix well with HackDays in my opinion. It destroys the sharing at the event and turns friends in to enemies. Not to mention that if people are concentrating on winning they will not be focusing on making the best thing they can, but instead what will make them more likely to win. Personally I don't have a problem with people preparing for a hack day or re-using code. I have used past hacks as a base for new hacks myself, but I always make it clear what I started from and what is new. I think the solution is to wind back the prizes a little. Have more prizes so you can award them to all who deserve them, but don't think you need a big headline prize. There is still scope for a programming competition, but let's not call them a hack day as this is bending the definition.