---
title: "What went down at the Q3'2019 GitLab Hackathon"
author: Ray Paik
author_gitlab: rpaik
author_twitter: rspaik
categories: unfiltered
image_title: '/images/blogimages/2018-09-13-gitlab-hackathon-cover.jpg'
description: "A recap of GitLab community accomplishments during the record-setting Hackathon on August 28-29."
tags: community, collaboration, open source
ee_cta: false
postType: corporate
twitter_text: "What went down at the Q3'2019 @gitlab Hackathon"
---
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This blog post is [Unfiltered](/handbook/marketing/blog/unfiltered/#legal-disclaimer)
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The GitLab community gathered on August 28-29 for the Q3 Hackathon, and it looks like many came back refreshed after their summer holidays (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) as we set a new record for the number of MRs submitted. This was also our first anniversary of the GitLab Hackathon, so it was definitely exciting to see the continued growth of this community event. We again had many people following the tutorial sessions, which can be found on [the Hackathon playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFGfElNsQthapq-CyXBTVnT2yKqg1JrNh). If you have any suggestions for tutorial topics at future Hackathons you should definitely let me know on the comments!
[{: .shadow.medium.center}](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFGfElNsQthapq-CyXBTVnT2yKqg1JrNh)
## What did we accomplish?
It's probably not an overstatement to say we actually smashed the previous contribution records with [97 merge requests (MRs)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/community-relations/contributor-program/hackathon/issues/24) submitted. By September 10th, 66 of these MRs were already merged. The previous record was 67 MRs submitted during the Q1'2019 Hackathon, so I really want to thank the GitLab community for the enthusiasm you brought to this edition of the Hackathon.
I was happy to see a number of UX-related MRs following [the GitLab Design System tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp-jJNQJhZk&list=PLFGfElNsQthapq-CyXBTVnT2yKqg1JrNh&index=4&t=0s). I also want to highlight contributions from [Lee Tickett](https://gitlab.com/leetickett) and [Michel Engelen](https://gitlab.com/michel.engelen) during the Hackathon, as their MRs required both research and in-depth knowledge of the code base. I encourage you to check out both [Lee's](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=all&author_username=leetickett&label_name[]=Hackathon) and [Michel's](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ui/merge_requests?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=all&author_username=michel.engelen&label_name[]=Hackathon) Hackathon MRs that helped improve the GitLab frontend and UI.
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## Hackathon prizes
For this Hackathon, we created a special edition 1-year anniversary prize for everyone who had their MRs merged by September 10th and [23 people](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/marketing/community-relations/contributor-program/hackathon/issues/27) will be receiving the GitLab Hackathon branded power bank. As we did in Q2, we have a prize for second place and we have a three way tie between [Michel Engelen](https://gitlab.com/michel.engelen), [George Tsiolis](https://gitlab.com/gtsiolis), and [Maneschi Romain](https://gitlab.com/RmManeschi). As for the grand prize, I'm going to also call this a three way tie among [Shan](https://gitlab.com/sgohar), [Arun Kumar Mohan](https://gitlab.com/auua), and [Lee Tickett](https://gitlab.com/leetickett). Although Arun and Lee had one less MR merged, their MRs in general required more work so they are very deserving of the grand prize. Congratulatations to everyone!
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## When is the next Hackathon?
I'm happy to announce that the Q4 Hackathon will take place on November 13-14. It is already advertised on [the Hackathon page](/community/hackathon/) with a new countdown clock. Please look out for more announcements as we get closer to the next Hackathon date. Also, if you have any suggestions for the Q4 Hackathon please feel free to bring them to [the GitLab Contributors Gitter](https://gitter.im/gitlabhq/contributors).
## How do I get started with contributing?
A good place to start is the [Contributing to GitLab page](/community/contribute/), where you can learn how you can
contribute to GitLab code, documentation, translation, and UX design.
If you have any questions, you are always welcome to reach me at rpaik@gitlab.com.
["GitLab application screengrab"](https://unsplash.com/photos/ZV_64LdGoao) by [Pankaj Patel](https://unsplash.com/@pankajpatel) on Unsplash
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