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There is a lengthy discussion about possible improvements to the overtheair event and, well, to hack-a-thons in general over at Cristiano Betta’s blog. The conversation — which is a better read than this will be — sent my head spinning and somehow it landed in Microserf territory. This post is a month late. Awesome!

First, something fuzzy …

My memory is cloudy on the exact context, but in Microserfs, there is a hacker who locks himself into his office (for some days) while he is busy
developing the-next-big-thing. His colleagues/etc supply him with the necessary ingredients of life through the small gap at the base of his door. Sliced cheese, as I remember, is one such item.

Ok, enough with the pseudo memory.

The idea is simply a combination of a formal hack-a-thon — with all the candy of sponsorship attached — combined with a voluntary ”lock-me-in-a-room-and-wait” Microserfs approach. I’ll call this 5-by-5 (5×5) for obvious reasons.

The process is quite simple. Separate rooms are set up to accomodate no more than 5 people; each room can be locked — or unlocked for bladder events. I digress. The point is to provide some form of (voluntary) isolation within the context of a larger event. The reasons for this are obvious; I’ll continue …

The only issue I had with event was this: the main conference hall was the distractive showroom for some flying saucer gimmick that went on to win the event. It was unfair. A toy they bought? Really? Ok, I admit, showmanship is King but this was a hackers event. Next time — if the hackers are given some isolation — I’m sure the saucer boys will be going home with a poster.

Finally

The folks at overtheair know how to run a show. Their followup/email earlier today was highlighted with “Thanks for being awesome!” and was the instigator for this post. It was, it really was, an awesome mix of people, entertainment. philosophy, education and free beer all compacted into a great venue. Next year, I hope to lock myself into a 5×5.