Startup Weekend in San Jose April 15th 15 years ago
Great Program...highly recommend it. for all the reasons given above. It's not just networking, but you learn a lot building (and hopefully pivoting) something with people from other disciplines.
I think the key to a good experience is picking a good team. look at the people more than the idea ...after all, ideas don't matter, right? :-)
Specifically, devs: use technology you know well. mkts: beyond being a powerpoint ranger, explain what you did. The rest of us see this marketing crap as a mystical art...or just crap:-) designers: if you don't know how to code, try to pair with a front-end engineer. if you do know how to code....call ME!!!
my two cents...