[austinhutch]

This is exactly how the Disrupt SF Hackathon went IMO. Sponsors doled out hefty prizes for including the use of their respective APIs in a hack. With the addition of teams receiving passes to attend the event by participating, it led to a 5 hour showcase that was mostly comprised of variations on a familiar theme. Lots of, "Shopping app with instagram like filters" and other mishmashes of APIs with no critical thought applied. Really a bummer.

[lnanek2]

It was nice having an easy target to win a sponsor prize, though. I know I got a whole extra app written with the eLance winnings from that event. :) Wasn't even trying or expecting for anything to happen on the winning overall front since I was the only coder on my team.

[minimaxir]

There's a game theory element though. If everyone is going for the same sponsorship prize, the odds of winning become more difficult.