It seems like there’s a spectrum between “pitch competition” (best idea wins) and “coding challenge” (best implementation wins). Hackathons are somewhere in the middle, but given the zeitgeist behind the “hacker” movement, I am not surprised that they are leaning more towards the pitch side. After all, corporations are looking for implementable ideas rather than cool bits of tech someone hacked out in 24 hours. Transparency in the process and clear expectations help here.