This Saturday we will be hosting the first Windows Phone 7 DevCamp in Chicago. I wanted to provide some details for people attending the DevCamp that will help them prepare for this weekend’s festivities.

First… this is a DevCamp. What does that mean exactly? A DevCamp is similar to a Hackathon (some would say they’re the same thing). Pek Pongpaet, a Chicago developer explains why he thinks Hackathons (or DevCamps) are Awesome.

Although there may be different interpretations of what a DevCamp is, this DevCamp will consist of the following agenda:

8:30 – Check-In (yeah…I’m not a morning person either, but we have a lot to cover in one day)

9:30 – 12:00 – Overview and (some) Training (we may not go this long)

12:00 – 5:00 – Application Competition (break off into teams and build AMAZING Windows Phone 7 Apps)

5:00 – 6:00 – Team presentations and Judging

6:00 – 6:30 – Awards

That’s right… I said AWARDS! Awards will be handed out to the top teams based on creativity, design, completeness, and sure brilliance! Depending on what teams decide to build (apps vs. games) we may split the awards into Best App and Best Game. We will determine this on the day of the event.

Second… you should come prepared and that means getting your hands on the tools before Saturday. Read the following blog post for a list of links to the tools and learning resources to help you prepare for Saturday:

• Getting Started with Windows Phone 7 Series Development and Design

Here are some additional resources I’d like to throw your way to help you before the DevCamp…

• Designing for Win Phone 7 [Clarity Consulting]
• Building the Elusive Windows Phone Panorama Control [Clarity Consulting]
• WP7 Silverlight Tutorials [AfricanGeek.com]
• Building a Windows Phone 7 Puzzle Game [CodeProject.com]
• Labyrinth Sample for Windows Phone [Peter Blois]
• Looping Panorama for Windows Phone 7 [AimeeGurl.com]
• Using the Bing Maps Silverlight control on Windows Phone 7 [Bart Czernicki]
• Silverlight for Windows Phone Forum [Silverlight.net]
• Windows Phone Forums [Microsoft.com]
• Sgt. Conker (Games on WP7)
• Windows Phone 7 Platformer Starter Kit for XNA Studio 4.0 [David Rousset]

That should keep you plenty busy come Saturday!

The most important thing about the DevCamp is showing up. Bring your ideas. Bring your passion. Bring your skills! We hope this event will kick off a series of similar events that will lead you to making MILLIONS with the Windows Phone Marketplace. ;)

See you on Saturday!