Hack-A-Ton DC



The Hack-A-Ton DC is being held October 22–24, 2010 just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. This is our first developer event on the east coast of the United States, and it's designed more of a hackathon/bugsmash than the Developers' Workshop in Berlin, which focuses on demonstrations and small group discussions.

On Bugzilla, a new keyword, bugsmash, has been added to tag bugs that should be looked at during the event.

Venue / Hotel
We will be meeting in the Tysons Corner area (map), just outside of Washington, D.C. See Wikitravel's page for more information.


 * An overview of getting to DC, and getting around once there.

Emergency numbers
Emergency numbers work free of charge from any land line or cell phone.
 * Police / Ambulance / Fire: 911

Electricity, Internet, etc.

 * 120V at 60 Hz. People from Europe, etc: bring an adapter!
 * "NEMA" plugs, 5, see NEMA 5
 * Cell phone coverage is good pretty much everywhere in DC, except in the subways
 * Free wi-fi can be found at some coffee shops (any Starbucks, for example); you might have to look around though

Transportation

 * The DC metro area is served by two international airports, Reagan (DCA) and Dulles (IAD); Baltimore (BWI) is about an hour north of the city, but can be substantially cheaper to fly into (there's a train you can take into the city for about $10)
 * The subway/light rail system in the DC area, called "The Metro" serves 5 colored lines as spokes through the center of the city. Metro connects you to DCA (use trains and busses from IAD and BWI). DC also has an extensive bus network. Tysons Corner does not necessarily have its own Metro stop.
 * Taxis can get expensive if you travel far, but are readily available throughout the city.

Weather

 * October in DC tends tends to be mild, with temperatures in the mid 60s F (around 15–21 C); suggest bringing a jacket for night time
 * Forecast: BBC and Weather Channel

Money

 * DC is very card-friendly; Visa, MasterCard, American Express are all widely accepted
 * ATMs are everywhere

Q&A

 * Why Hack-A-Ton?
 * Well we plan to do a ton of hacking. Also, everybody has FooBar-thons, so we decided to be different.


 * How safe is the DC area?
 * DC is a pretty safe city. Of course, like most medium to large cities, there are parts of town you should avoid. But we're not going to be in those parts, so you shouldn't have to worry. The biggest concern in the DC area is panhandling.


 * What kinds of food are there?
 * DC is a medium-sized city, so there are plenty of food options for most people. Vegetarian cuisine is available as well.


 * How do I get to...?
 * Chances are, you take the Metro (here's the map). The Red and Blue/Orange lines are probably what you'll be riding. Some stations of note:
 * Metro Center - Big transfer station, 2 levels; move between red and orange/blue lines
 * Gallery Place / Chinatown - Another big transfer station about two blocks from Metro Center; move between red and yellow/green lines
 * Federal Triangle / Smithsonian / L'Enfant Plaza - These stations are near the Capitol/Museums/National Mall; usually pretty busy with tourists, but a lot of cool stuff is in the area, especially if you've never been

Participants
(This is an informal list for now, just to gauge interest)


 * Chad
 * JanPaul123
 * Reedy
 * Catrope
 * Aude
 * RobLa
 * Siebrand
 * Mglaser

Maybe

 * Bryan
 * Clarence
 * Dgennaro
 * Econterms (fluent in DC area; not as fluent in PHP & relevant tools but would like to learn)