Bringing Campus Events Online: What We Learned From Running Large-Scale Remote Communities

This school year looks different. Whether you're moving a hackathon online or trying to build a technical community on campus without a physical space, the pivot to remote brings real challenges—laggy streams, low engagement, and the loss of casual hallway conversations. But there are concrete ways to create shared experiences in the cloud. Over the past few months, we've observed more than 2,600 students walk the virtual stage at GitHub Graduation, discussed the mechanics of running a global online hackathon with organizers from Hack Quarantine, and built the GitHub Lounge at HackCon VIII. Here's what we learned.

Start With a Clear Purpose

Every community and event needs a mission, online or not. What problem are you solving? What do you want attendees to take away? The strongest communities we've seen all articulate this clearly:

  • Hack Club: to make building things accessible to everyone
  • Design Buddies: to create an inclusive community for designers from all backgrounds
  • Major League Hacking: to empower hackers
  • GitHub: to be the home for all developers

Define your "why" first, then figure out the best format to achieve it.

Engineer Engagement Into the Content

In-person events get a boost from serendipity—the spontaneous conversation after a talk, the shared frustration of debugging at 3 a.m. at a hackathon. Online, that magic doesn't happen on its own. You can't rely on attendees to entertain each other.

Instead, plan interactive moments that pull people away from the distractions of home. Small breakout discussions, competitive games on platforms like Kahoot, or a scavenger hunt run alongside the main track are formats that have worked well for us. Ask yourself: what in your content is compelling enough to hold attention when the browser has 17 other tabs open?

Plan for Accessibility From the Start

Remote events are often cheaper and reach a wider audience than in-person gatherings, but they still exclude people if you don't think carefully. Three areas deserve particular attention:

  • Moderation. Adopt—and enforce—a code of conduct. If you're live streaming, consider adding a chat delay and ensure you have moderators ready to act.
  • Connectivity. Provide a call-in option for attendees with poor internet, and record everything for those who miss part of the event.
  • Live captioning. Captions make content accessible to people who are hard of hearing and to those watching in a non-native language. If your budget allows, hire a service specializing in technical presentations like White Coat Captioning. For free options, Microsoft Teams has built-in captioning, and Twitch streams can be captioned using tools like REV or the Stream Closed Captioner.

Recruit a Team That Can Handle the Load

Planning a remote event often takes more upfront work than a physical one. Streaming and audio require more technical savvy, and you'll likely need more video content than you think. For larger events, consider onboarding teammates in different time zones so there's always someone awake, and staff extra people specifically for chat moderation.

A lesson we hope to implement in future events: include content moderators who speak the languages likely to appear in your event's conversations, so all dialogue stays aligned with your community's expectations.

Use Data to Measure What Worked

One advantage of online events is the wealth of data available. When choosing a platform, look for built-in analytics that track:

  • Attendance and session drop-off rates
  • Number of unique chatters
  • Geographic location of attendees
  • Polling capabilities for real-time feedback

Use that information to improve your next event, not just to report on the last one.

For deeper insight into running a large-scale online hackathon, watch our full panel recording with the Hack Quarantine team. Next week, we'll hear from Hack Club on how they went from after-school clubs to a global community of high school hackers.