A Dive Into Implementation: Hackathon4Good 2023
A question I've often come across during interviews was "Do you have any implementation experience?" It was only recently that I have actually gained some. NetSuite has social impact efforts, and this year, the social impact team has decided to host a hackathon4good. And it was quite an interesting experience. The non-profit organization partnering for the event is a company that delivers blankets to children in hospitals. I couldn't use their company's logo, so I just used the closest picture I could find that's somewhat related to their cause.
Hundreds of attendees were grouped into teams. I was teamed up with six others with expertise from various NetSuite modules. It was a good mix -- an opportunity to bring different perspectives to tackle the three main problems of the organization we were to help.
The main goals were (1) to establish a more efficient process to cut down Invoicing and Shipping lead times, and at the same time accurately forecast expected invoice totals for each event sponsor, (2) to improve reporting and communication by, automatically distinguishing individual donors from "blanket makers", and sending automated messages/creating automated tasks to specific groups of people, and (3) to accurately forecast demand so that the company can prepare and, not run out of inventory, in times of high demand.
In 72 hours, we were to create prototypes for solutions for each goal and document the requirements on building and implementing the solutions.
We decided to split the work and work on the tasks where our product knowledge would best fit. With my expertise in CRM, I was naturally inclined to work on the second goal. I barely did a thing on the first day, since I had a NetSuite Administrator Certification exam to worry about. But on the second day, in minutes, I quickly built a general campaign system in our demo account. This goes along with a simple customization via scheduled mass updates and custom fields, to identify "blanket makers" It's something I've gotten used to building over the last 3 years. But I realized, after building it, that it doesn't solve the entire problem. The requirement was more specific. I did a bit more research and found that drip marketing (otherwise known as lead nurturing) would be the best solution.
Building such campaigns requires some knowledge on SuiteFlow, which I lacked. So I asked around from non-attendees who were experts in SuiteFlow. I was eventually able to integrate a workflow with a campaign. I added a bit of conditions and delays here and there, to fit the requirement, and we got a working prototype. It seems like a simple story but documenting everything took very long.
Day 2 working hours over and I knew I had to extend. Nothing was getting done for the first and third goals. So I stepped in. It was at this point that I found that not everything in a solution needs to happen in the software. For the first goal, we did some brainstorming, and we were able to come up with a solution that would require a change in the physical process -- cards would be sent out in addition to blanket kits. These cards can then be returned and scanned for faster inventory and shipping processing. A great solution I guess does not always refer to building a software that would cater to current processes; it's actually sometimes about changing current processes to align with what works with the software. Again, I documented everything.
Before the end of Day 2, I was able to discuss with half my team our plan for the third goal. It was then I realized that the goal actually involved a fair amount of knowledge in SuiteFlow and SuiteAnalytics. Luckily, I had some knowledge on SuiteFlow, and am currently a subject matter expert on SuiteAnalytics. The first question was, "How do we forecast demand?" I actually knew, back from college that there is Demand Formula. I just forgot what it was. So we asked Bard (it's Google's response to ChatGPT). We got the demand formula and saw some variables that required to get averages of quantities of items ordered over a period of time (which we designated to a month). I spent several hours on this and got started with the documentation as well.
I worked until I realized that my next shift started in 2 hours. We would have around 4 hours left before the deadline. I knew the prototype was missing something. It required a script. I had to consult with one of my friends who was a SuiteScript expert. With Bard's help, I made a script and tried to get it to work. But the compile errors did not stop recurring. I eventually saw that there was no way to complete the prototype, but at least the theory was there. Though we did not finish the prototype, we managed to finish the documentation.
The submissions will be judged and the top 5 groups with the best solutions will be announced this week.
It was a typical hackathon, but nonetheless, a wonderful event -- three sleepless nights, with building and collaboration. I made new friends, developed leadership, and learned new things. This was an event where I really shined as a linchpin. It's a shame none of my managers saw how well I performed, heck, not even hiring managers. But at least I was able to touch a few lives. I'm grateful that everyone in my team appreciated the leadership I demonstrated. That appreciation even led to one of my team mates actually buying Seth Godin's book. I was glad I got to share some wisdom, even during such a busy time.
For the next hackathon I guess I should make more preparations. It might be a smart to:
- Choose team mates who are knowledgeable in various areas.
- Have your team mates make themselves available -- they should expect to spend overtime during the event, and temporarily forgo some of their other duties and hobbies.
- Prepare physically - get enough sleep before the event.
- Come up with ideas as soon as the problem is announced (the problem is sometimes announced way before the hackathon). Meet with your team, and bring the ideas to the table before Day 1. That way, on Day 1, when access is given, all you need to do is build and document.
- You can pre-write your documentation/presentation as well, even before Day 1.
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