Brainstorming
------------------
Brainstorming is essentially the free, informal gathering of ideas put forward by a group brought together to address a particular topic. Its two basic principles are generating as many ideas as possible and suspending judgment.
The American advertising executive Alex Faickney Osborn (1888–1966) devised this technique in 1940 to promote his agency to its clients. He believed that his method could double a group's creativity. He refined it by developing CPS (creative problem solving). This technique resembles mathematical problem-solving: taking stock of the situation, clarifying it, identifying the obstacles, reframing or even transforming the problems, suggesting possible approaches, and evaluating them against the original problem.
Hackathons
------------------
The term "hackathon" was coined in 1999 by John Gage (born 1942), an American at Sun Microsystems. It combines the English verb "to hack", meaning "to manipulate"—in this case, computer data. At a hackathon, participants work intensively and without interruption to devise an insightful analysis and develop a practical solution to a problem posed by the event's organizers. It takes the form of a competition between several teams within a fixed time limit, typically a nonstop weekend. The solutions are presented to a panel of experts and decision-makers, who reward the winning team.
