The atmosphere here at WeekendApps has been really amazing. People are clearly really enjoying their time here, working on all kinds of projects together and brainstorming new ideas. Personally I flew all the way from Finland to attend this event, and it is awesome to be able to meet and really talk to developers of successful OpenSocial apps.

At this time there are still 16 people developing at full steam, although the frequency of yawns is accelerating rapidly. I asked around what those still awake think of the event. One of the participants, Nick Shapiro said “it’s a great coming together of brain juice”. Next I met Chris from Italy, working on his own super-secret project. He said “It’s cool. I’ve been awake for 26 hours”.

Finally I attempted to ask a designer from the fluffy cloud project what she thinks about the event, but at 2am she seemed to be too tired to be able to respond. “I can’t believe I’m still awake”, she finally commented. Google has been accommodating enough to allow us to take naps in a room reserved for that purpose, so perhaps we can ask her later for her well-rested opinion.

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Click Here to take the survey as to which idea pitched you liked most

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Streaming live video by Ustream

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We’re getting really close. WeekendApps is this Friday. To help you prepare, here is a list of things you should do before the weekend. 

1. Sign up for the Google group [important] This is the place to network with others before and during the event. Feel free to post questions and get feedback on ideas. The event organizers are on the group as well, so feel free to ask questions. If you’re not on this list, you might miss important announcements. (if you worry about too much email, you can set it to send you one daily digest)

http://groups.google.com/group/weekendapps-os

2. Add yourself to the event Wiki. Describe your skills, ideas, and who you want to partner with. Also, put a link to your blog or your other apps so people know who you are:

http://wiki.opensocial.org/index.php?title=WeekendApps_OpenSocial

3. Read Alexandros’s post on the Google Group.

http://groups.google.com/group/weekendapps-os/browse_thread/thread/7c4f6437f53c9ee4

4. Join our Facebook Group. (optional) but it helps in that people get to see you and know who you are before the event.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58562149856

    By the way, you can bring your sleeping bag and spend the night there if you like. I know of at least a few people who will. Looking forward to seeing you there. If you have questions, please send them to the Google group.

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We just got confirmation that MySpace has offered to put one of the apps that launch in the weekend on their Editor’s Pick on 50% basis for 2 weeks. Pending, of course, that it’s actually a good app that they like. So, here you go, your chance to win huge promotion. Seriously, this is big, and would easily get you a gazzilion users.

And more good news. MySpace has confirmed that they’ll have someone review and approve apps on Sunday so you don’t have to wait for the lengthly approval process. If you finish your app by Sunday, you can get it approved and live the same day. Wow.

And, as you know, we have a ton of other prizes as well.

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In the following video, Chris Schalk of Google explains:

• Some OpenSocial basics you need to understand the technology
• How a wide range of social media companies have used OpenSocial to deploy 315 million OpenSocial applications
• Google’s role in OpenSocial development

http://www.vimeo.com/2491619

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So WeekendApps will happen at the GooglePlex. The friendly folks at Google offered a great room for the hackathon, and access to their unlimited supply of snacks and coffee all day and night, all weekend. 

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WeekendApps returns. February 20-22, 2009!

Teams of dedicated software professionals will spend the weekend of February 20-22, 2009 creating brand new applications based on the OpenSocial API. Participants will include programmers, graphics designers, software marketers and others necessary to build a software business.

WeekendApps is exciting, three day codefest, this time focusing on the OpenSocial API. Expert speakers will share tips for developing OpenSocial applications. Representatives from major social networks will outline platform guidelines for publishing OpenSocial Applications. Industry expert guests will help you in the development process, business planning, sales and marketing, and on how you can get funding to grow your new application to serve a wider range of customers. Meet new people — or bring your friends — and work over the weekend on original ideas that turn into applications which work almost identically on all major social networking platforms. We hope to meet you on Friday, February 20, 2009, and help you work on your idea for the Next Big Thing through the weekend. On Sunday, you’ll present your new OpenSocial application to an audience of diverse technophiles: VCs, entrepreneurs, journalists, bloggers, everyone seeking to join a cool startup.

Don’t miss any updates, subscribe to the RSS feed!

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