How to win at Campus Party Europe
London’s week-long celebration of all things tech is all about taking part… and winning
One of the world’s biggest electronic entertainment events hits London next month, as Campus Party Europe takes over the O2 Arena for a week-long, 24-hour-a-day festival of hacking, gaming, tech talks, competitions and career workshops.
The event, which takes place from 2-7 September, will see some 10,000 Campuseros unite, laptop in hand, to show the world what they can do. Now here at Stuff we know that our readers are a brainy bunch, so there’s good reason for YOU need to get involved. Yes, YOU.
But what will you do? Well there’s certainly no shortage of options.
EIGHT STAGES OF JOY
Campus Party Europe features eight stages, each with its own theme to inspire you during the course of the week. The O2 Arena’s Main Stage is, as you might expect, the big one. It’s where the keynote speaker holds court, so it’s where you’ll watch internet legend Vint Cerf and Linux boss Jon ‘Maddog’ Hall impart their wisdom. OK, so there’s not much you can do to show off your own creativity here, but it’ll get your juices flowing for the rest of the event.
The Pythagoras Stage is dedicated to developers, aka the architects of our online arenas. Basically, it’s where the coders hang out. There, you’ll get the chance to gain skills from expert tutors in the likes of HTML5 and Javascript, and show off your own talents. Then there’s the Archimedes Stage, which deals with networks, security and free software. Hang around and you might be able to have a go at hacking into networks, or learn all about the cloud.
Or you could spend some time at the Hypatia Stage: E-commerce, Big Data, Social Media and Education 2.0. Or maybe the Galileo Stage is more you – it’s all about Modding, Robotics, Astronomy and Sci-tech. Bring along your Arduino board, listen to some tips from the experts, then create the robotic monkey butler you’ve been planning for years.
Then there’s the Guttenberg Stage – that’s all about Start-ups – and the Michelangelo Stage, which deals with the creative arts: music, video, photography and Design. Spend some time there and you might learn the tricks of the Photoshop trade, or take part in an audio hack day. Finally there’s the Leonardo Stage, which deals with E-sports, E-health and Green tech.
But that’s just the start of the fun. Because listening to the experts share their wisdom is great, but showing off your own talents is just as exciting. And that’s where the hackathons come in.
HACK YOUR WAY TO VICTORY
There are five competitions taking place at Campus Party Europe, and all offer fantastic prizes and opportunities to the winning Campuseros.
You could have a go at Datathon – a joint project between Telefónica, The Open Data Institute and the MIT using provided data sets – or 4G Hackathon, where the aim is to create an app that showcases the power of 4G. Both feature fantastic cash prizes, among other goodies.
SNAP AND GAME TO WIN
Or there’s the Nokia Photo Hackathon For Young Developers, which will see one lucky snapper rewarded with a first prize of £1000 for their photo of other Campuseros interacting with technology. Hacking For Something Better, meanwhile, looks for innovative solutions to the problems facing modern cities and Ebbits Project Hackathon for a mobile app to improve food safety.
And we’re not finished yet. There’s also a bunch of gaming contests, with yet more prizes up for grabs – so if you’re lost without a controller in hand, you won’t want to miss out on the opportunity to prove your gaming prowess.
TICKETS! GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
OK, so you’re convinced now, but you don’t have a ticket. Well that’s easily solved too.
Tickets are available right now at www.campus-party.eu/ for the bargain price of £30 for a full-week pass. Or you can get a day-pass to each of the four main days, including entrance to the opening ceremony, for just £15 per day.
No celebration of all things tech would be complete without the world’s biggest-selling gadget magazine – buy a week-pass to Campus Party Europe at the O2 Arena and you’ll get a 3-month subscription to Stuff.
Just add the code CPSTUFF in the purchase box once you’ve registered for the event and you’ll be sent an email to claim your free issues of Stuff.
See – we told you that you needed to be there. Just don’t forget to thank us when you make your first million-selling app.
