In the Industrial Age of the19th and 20th century, the assembly line came to dominate manufacturing. The building of everything from ships to shoes was split among a line of workers, each completing a set of distinct tasks that were repeated, in order, all day long. 

The rise of the Information Age, and the nature of how software is developed, demanded a different approach. 

Hackathons, which were first developed around the year 2000, realize this new way of working. A group of coders, designers and marketers are sequestered in some kind of space, away from the distractions of daily living - laundry, cooking, sleeping and the like.  The team has a common goal to build a new project; work is shared among the group and then hours upon hours are dedicated to designing and coding free from interruptions. Working this way - in an organic, fluid manner in a shared time and space - can empower the individual and the team. It can lead to big creative breakthroughs. Plus, there’s pizza.