So true - every company I've been at that did a Hackathon was basically a way for anyone that wasn't on the engineering team to try to get engineers to work on their project all night.
At Opower, the intention was good, but execution was terrible. I noped out at LivingSocial when they did it. At Stitch Fix I fought hard to keep us from ever doing it. We did do some that were optional and engineering-focused. Still not great.
https://fediverse.zachleat.com/@zachleat/113346295029674864