DevQuiz - Even registration is fun

We've been thinking about the best way for the selection of attendees of developer events for more than three years. First-come-first-serve? Lottery? Neither seems to be completely fair; plus, we don't think these can select the most passionate and skillful developers and it's not fun for anyone either.

We were searching for some new way to:

• Be fair
• Select appropriate developers
• Entertain developers

Now we are excited to announce a much better way: DevQuiz.

Those who plan to participate in DevFest Japan 2010 are required to answer questions in DevQuiz. (Sorry, the quiz is only in Japanese) There are several questions; some are really easy ones and others are a bit tough but should not be difficult for developers. The top 400 high achievers will get invitations for DevFest 2010 Japan.

Here's a sample:

Please post your email address (registered for devfest 2010 japan) to this server with the following encryption:

• A -> X
• B -> Y
• C -> Z
• D -> A
• Z -> W
• @ -> @

Post your encrypted email address and keyword as "{{ secret_key}}" to http://devquiz.appspot.com/personalpost

Please do a POST in JSON format as below with Content-type=text/plain

{

"key": keyword

"pass": encrypted mail address

}

We plan to disclose the solutions to quizzes and announce the results at DevFest Japan.

This quiz program is purely experimental and if we get positive feedback, we can have quizzes as a streamlined process for selection of developers at future developer events.

Give DevQuiz a shot, and we hope to see you at this year's DevFest!

Posted by Naoki Ishihara, Developer Relation Japan Team