It was held in Alexandra Palace, a very nice location on top of a hill. You can picture it, 300 geeks with expensive tech gear sprawling all over the place. Highlight of the event was a thunderstorm, lightning struck the building, messed up the security systems and the building thought it was on fire so it automatically opened up the roof. Yes, during a tropical downpour with 300 laptops under said roof. Should have seen the mass scramble 🙂

We actually got to sleep there (what few hours you can spare if you prioritise finishing your project) and beer and pizza were provided too. Also culminated in a brief pitch and awards (we sucked) but all in all you learn a lot, especially if you’re used to interacting through forums instead of face to face and have never been under extreme time pressure to deliver a project.

My advice: don’t be scared to go. Even if you are not a programming legend, design guru, sysadmin ninja or seasoned business person, there’s bound to be something you can bring to the table for your group. Just quickly grow some balls and give it your best shot as you’d be an idiot if you walk away at the end not having learned a thing!

Good luck with moving forward with the idea.

Cheers!