[frostmatthew]

As much as it sucks to have a laptop stolen if you're hosting an event with 1000+ people I think you need to adapt the policy of not being responsible for lost or stolen items.

Many of the comments here mention a certain level of trust in the [hacker] community...sorry but not every single developer is a saint who would never consider stealing someone's laptop. The larger the group the more people you'll have willing to steal if the opportunity arises.

[andrew_gardener]

Also don't forget that at an event that size outsiders could potentially get in or maybe some staff/security did it.

Best bet is to think about it as being a completely public place at that point. Would you leave your laptop unattended at the corner of a busy street?

Hopefully the laptop ends up being misplaced or reported to lost&found and the organizers just don't know about it yet.