Now that Cloud Connect is history (first ever multi-vendor Cloud Computing hackathon that I can recall), I have some highlights to share with you.

During the 2 day event, I was impressed to see a majority of technologists (developers, architects, business analysts) that were new to Cloud Computing.   By the end of the event, many of the participants were able to get first hand information and assistance on development with technologies from the likes of Amazon, Google and Salesforce.  This is a unique forum for all of us to reach out to developers – less marketing, more coding.

The event culminated in a review of demos built by conference attendees.  The notable demos we witnessed were:

• Internet events stream analysis using Hadoop and Force.com.
• Refer-a-job iPhone app using Amazon EC2, Facebook Connect and syndicated job feeds.
• Analysis of data using Hadoop map reduction techniques, Force.com data, Google Maps (after geocoding the data) and Amazon EC2.
• Mileage Tracking application built entirely on Force.com.
• A seamless user experience for web meetings related to sales deals, powered by Force.com and LotusLive.

The winning demo was awarded to the Mileage Tracking app, written by Vimal Goel.  Vimal studied one of the use cases referenced at the Cloud Connect conference and used his time at the chalk talks to get all of the info needed to succeed in his task.  This was the first Force.com app that Vimal has coded.

Want to see a similar event in your city?  Let us know your thoughts on what you need to be successful in Cloud Computing with Force.com.