Hmm.. I haven't been involved since giving the winners names over, I was hoping everything would be all sorted by now and everyone would be looking forward to their trips/receiving their phones. Sounds like there is a bit of a muddle going on, I hope everything clears up soon for you everyone

Having a quick look at the conference wiki, it seems that sponsorship will come through the Linux Foundation:

I can understand it's awkward for those especially further away to buy their own tickets first, trusting to be reimbursed afterwards. We have winners from Hong Kong and from South America - that's expensive. IMO it seems like the prizes are a workaround using Linux Foundation's existing system, sort of bumping you to the head of the queue rather than straight out sponsorship. I hope this doesn't stop anyone who wants the trip from being able to do so. The consolation is that those who can't make it will get new handsets instead.. so they're still better off as winners atleast. But I'd wish everyone had the chance to decide which option they prefer without any financial pressure...

It's possible but I suspect a lot smaller. When I started the competition it was just gonna be a weekend thing, I put $50 up as a prize but it was mainly for the fun of it. The competition didn't really take off, however, until a bounty collection was established and news of the Nokia prizes was announced. Before that only a few had registered their interest. However I think the comp helped spark some new interest in development and it proved we were serious about running it right, so maybe more would like to get involved in the next one.

Personally I'd love a short competition soon, Im not bothered about prizes I'd enter just for the hell of it I didnt get to take part in this one, hopefully I can in the next one

I'm always happy to volunteer where I can, you only need to ask

As we know from our vantage point behind the scenes there's plenty of lessons we learned the good way and plenty we learned the hard way running this comp. Pleasant surprises and painful lessons. The good news is that means there's plenty of stuff we can do to make the next one even better

That would have been great but I don't think that'll ever happen, remember we waited for that at the start but it was a dead end - we literally waited months on that never materialising Which is why the competition was lucky you stepped in to save the day

I think at the start people were reluctant, heck even I was.. you were just about to head off on holidays to Spain.. with the bounty in your bank account But I think confidence grew with every donation that came in, people became more and more generous and wanted to be involved... it's amazing to think as a community we started with $50 and finished with over $1000

To the winners - I hope you get everything sorted soon and things look clearer for you all. I also hope I get to bump into you all at the conference, it'll be nice to put some faces to the names. Pints are expensive in Dublin but im sure I'll be able to get a round in Although Im not being sponsored ofcourse so maybe you can help poor old me instead! I'd love to get a photo of you all together and that'll be a nice way to finally finish this competition thread/chapter