There's Still Time to Get Travel Deals for the AT&T Developer Summit Conference and Hackathon

If you’re like me, you always wait till the last minute to book travel and always get stung with last minute pricing. Thus I was apprehensive as I was scrambling to book my travel for the AT&T Developer Hackathon and Summit on January 2 – 5 and was expecting the worst as I went to Virgin America’s site to check out pricing. Hard to believe, a round trip direct flight was only $118! Score!

So if you still haven’t made plans (or even haven’t thought about going to the event) you still have time to do so and not break the bank. The Summit is being held at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features a Hackathon on January 2 – 3 followed by the Conference on January 4 – 5. To learn more or to register go to the conference website. 

If you plan on participating in the hackathon and get in on your chance to win $250,000US in cash and prizes, then you’ll appreciate this guide - “Indispensable tips to survive and thrive before, during, and after the 2016 AT&T Developer Summit Hackathon” – that provides comprehensive guidelines on how to best execute your strategy to win one of the 30 prize competitions. Included is such advice as:

- Make a Plan: Be sure to pick a prize strategy. Are you going for the overall prize, just the accelerators, or sponsor prizes? Or are you competing for as many prizes as possible? Whatever your strategy, remember that your app has to function for judging. Some prizes make sense to group together, so make sure to consider that.

- Check out the Lightning Talks: Watch the lightning talks at the beginning of the hackathon. To help you prepare for your projects, the lightning talks provide a summary of each challenge.

- Check Out Online Training: The AT&T Developer YouTube channel features learning sessions related to accelerator prizes, kicker prizes, and sponsor prizes.

- Don’t Miss the Breakout Sessions: Attend the breakout sessions which provide a short but comprehensive view of select technologies related to the prizes.

- Talk About Your Idea: Discuss your development stack and wireframe your idea. You can’t code prior to the hackathon, however you can create wireframes and mock-ups of the app. This will save you valuable time and help you show up at the event with a huge jumpstart.

- Use the Technical Experts Onsite: These are the experts in their technology and they want to help you be successful. It's better to ask a quick question than to spend a couple hours stuck on a problem.

Once you’ve dominated the Hackathon you can kick back and enjoy the rest of the conference. In addition to the hands-on programming workshops, there will be special in-depth technical training on SWIFT and ReactJS, two of the fastest growing programming languages for mobile apps. 

Also, Qualcomm will be providing special training on using the DragonBoard 410c for IoT development. There are also a variety of track sessions on Devices and Wearables, IoT, Real-Time Communications (RTC), Video (including sessions on TV Apps on Direct TV), Network Advances (think subjects like Software-defined Networks), the Connected Home and more.

And no conference worth its salt would be without serious A-List entertainment. Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey will give a special presentation offering his take on tech (that’s got to be an interesting take!). There will also be an evening performance by comedian T.J. Miller as well as a performance by the rock band Royal Machines.

And for the adventurous of you, why not come in early and make plans to take in New Years Eve in Las Vegas. At midnight, the casinos launch a choreographed fireworks display that is one of the most amazing visual events you’ll ever see. Then you’ll have all New Years Day to recover and get ready to hack away.