SAPO Codebits: Difference between revisions

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'''SAPO Codebits''', also known simply as '''Codebits''', was a conference held in [[Lisbon]] from 2007 to 2014, focused on computing and light-hearted [[geek|geek culture]] content for a highly technical audience. It was organized by SAPO which, besides a news media brand, was also an internet-focused [[Research and development|R&D]] division of [[Portugal Telecom]] at the time.

Codebits had a 48-hour [[hackathon]] at its core, but the number of talks and entertainment activities increased steadily over the years, along with the number of seats, attracting an increasing number of international attendees and speakers. At this point isit was as much of a festival as it was a conference.[[File:Codebits Logo 2014.png|alt=SAPO Codebits logo in 2014|thumb|In 2014, the "bot" mascot replaced the organizing company's "frog" as the official Codebits logo.|180x180px]][[File:Pixels Camp logo.jpeg|alt=Pixels Camp logo|thumb|180x180px|In 2016, Codebits was rebooted withouside aSAPO newunder the name: Pixels Camp.]]

In 2015, Portugal Telecom was acquired by [[Altice (company)|Altice]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-06-03|title=Altice closes €5.8B PT Portugal deal|url=https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/home-banner/altice-closes-pt-portugal-deal|access-date=2021-10-20|website=Mobile World Live|language=en-GB}}</ref> SAPO's mission changed, and Codebits was discontinued after seven editions. In 2016, the Codebits format was revived outside SAPO under the name [[#Reboot as Pixels Camp|Pixels Camp]]. Pixels Camp ran for three more editions until the onset of the [[COVID-19]] pandemic.

== Format ==

[[Image:SAPO Codebits project presentations.jpg|right|thumb|Participants preparing to present their projects at the very first Codebits (2007).]]

Initially inspired by [[Yahoo!]] Hack Day]],<ref name="Codebits 2007 announcement by Celso Martinho">{{cite web |title=SAPO Codebits |url=https://celso.io/portuguese/tech-stuff/2007/09/21/sapo-codebits.html}} Celso Martinho, 2007</ref> the eventCodebits lasted for three non-stop days and nights, with many participants choosing to eat and sleep on site. Its core was a 48-hour [[hackathon]] but it also included dozens of talks during the day, as well as several entertainment activities in the evenings.

Codebits was free for all participants, including plenty of food and drinks. Active recruiting inside the premises was disallowed, and there were little commercial undertones apart from a few product announcements during the opening keynotes.

The number of seats was limited and potential attendees had to undergo a short screening process in order to secure a ticket. The screening process was meant to ensure that most, if not all, attendees had a suitable technical background or creative skills related to the event's theme. Applicants such as those in marketing and recruiting were usually rejected.

Codebits always startedopened on a Thursday and had its first morning composed of general keynotes from the organizing company and its partners/sponsors, plus general information about the hackathon and satellite activities. The hackathon startedbegan in thethat same afternoon, along with multiple tracks of talks in parallel, and lastedended untilon Saturday morning, with that day's afternoon reserved for project presentations, voting, and the event's closing ceremony.

=== 48-hour Hackathon ===

[[File:SAPO Codebits 2014 hackathon hall.jpg|alt=SAPO Codebits 2014 hackathon hall|thumb|The hackathon hall at Codebits VII (final edition, 2014), with the teams' tables and the secondary stages (the cylindrical structures).]]

In the hackathon, teams were free to propose whatever project they wanted, software or hardware, with no suggested themes or subject restrictions. On Saturday, teams were required to present their projects on stage. They had 90 seconds to do it and the audience voted (thumbs up/down) between each presentation. The selection of winning teams was a combination of the audience votes and the votes of a jury panel. The weighting between the audience and jury votes varied from edition to edition.

[[File:SAPO Codebits 2014 hackathon voting.jpg|alt=SAPO Codebits 2014 hackathon voting|thumb|The audience voting for hackathon projects at Codebits VII (final edition, 2014). That year's voting system used computer vision to detect red/green cards.]]

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=== Evening Activities ===

Satellite activities were usually held in the evenings. These activities usually combined entertainment with some element of [[geek|geek culture.]] They were initially meant to reliefrelieve some pressure from the hackathon, but gained a life of their own over time. Some of the most prominent activities were:

==== Quiz Show ====

Since 2008,<ref name="Introducing Codebits Quiz Show 2008">{{cite web|url=https://codebits.blogs.sapo.pt/14240.html|title=Codebits Quizz Show}} João Pedro Gonçalves, 2008</ref> in the four weeks before the event, participants had to solve about one challenge per-week to qualify for the quiz show. The challenges included image enigmas, treasure hunts, code golf contests, among others. They all shared a reasonably high level of difficulty and required a fair knowledge of tech-related culture and motivation. Qualified32 qualified participants then went on stage on Friday after dinner time for a few rounds of questions, mostly about science, technology, and [[geek]] trivia.<ref name="Codebits Quiz Show 2010">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fszoqmgQMg8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/fszoqmgQMg8 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=SAPO Codebits Quiz Show (2010)|website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}} Carlos Morgado, 2010</ref>

==== Security Competition ====

The security competition followed a capture-the-flag (CTF) model. Participants were asked to answer questions and solve challenges related to cybersecurity (such as identifying and exploiting vulnerable applications purposely built for the competition) in order to obtain a tokens (flags) that translated into points. The competition took place on Thursday evening and lasted over three hours. Like the quiz show, participants musthad firstto qualify by solving a few challenges in the weeks before the event.

==== Nuclear Tacos ====

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=== Makers and Hardware ===

Codebits wasn't just about software and the Internet, the hardware and [[maker culture]] was also a significant part of it. There were workshops on electronics from the start and, starting in 2010, there was also significant space dedicated to hardware project showcases and workshops (the "Hardware Den").

== Editions ==

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== Reboot as Pixels Camp ==

[[File:Pixels Camp 2016 project presentations.jpg|alt=Pixels Camp project presentations in 2016|thumb|360x360px|Participants presenting their projects on stage at the first Pixels Camp (2016) while others queue for their turn.]]

In 2016, a team composed mostly of SAPO ex-employees rebooted the event under the name '''Pixels Camp'''<ref name="Pixels Camp in Shifter, 2016">{{cite web|url=https://shifter.sapo.pt/2016/04/codebits-pixels-camp/|title=Das cinzas do Codebits, nasce o Pixels Camp. Estás preparado?}} Shifter, 2016</ref> while keeping the format morevirtually or less the sameunchanged.

Pixels Camp had three editions. In March 2020, a fourth edition was already in the very last stages of preparation when the [[COVID-19]] pandemic forced its postponement to later that year. The organization remained active and conducted several online activities over that period, but Pixels Camp v4.0 ended up being officially canceled in mid-September<ref name="Pixels Camp v4.0 canceled, 2020">{{cite web|url=https://blog.pixels.camp/about-pixels-camp-v4-0-6fd8b91cc8f2|title=About Pixels Camp v4.0|date=14 September 2020 }} Pixels Camp Blog, 2020</ref>.

Pixels Camp was organized by [[Bright Pixel]] (a startup incubator and accelerator part of [[Sonae]] group) and financed with the help of sponsorships. It has been informally reported that any future Pixels Camp editions, should they happen, would be organized independently with a financing model still to be defined. As of late 2023, no definite plans are known.

==== PixelsDifferences Campto EditionsCodebits ====

In Pixels Camp, sponsor pitches replaced product announcements during the opening morning. On stage, sponsors suggested themes related to their own areas of activity for the hackathon. Participants were not required to cover any of the suggested themes in their projects, but often did.

Pixels Camp had significant floor area dedicated to sponsors, based on sponsorship level. Sponsors used it to showcase their brands and run smaller activities. Active recruiting was still disallowed, but there was an implicit understanding that participants could approach sponsors to ask about available job offerings.

The increased reliance on external sponsorships for financing and the organizing company's incubator business made some perceive the Pixels Camp hackathon to be closer to the startup ecosystem. Even though the hackathon rules were unchanged from Codebits, participants were more likely to present projects around business ideas rather than projects that focused mostly on creativity and technical ability{{Citation needed|reason=This statement is based on informal perception from talking with other participants and not hard evidence.|date=December 2023}}.

Outside of the hackathon, Pixels Camp continued the trend of increasing focus on self-proposed talks and entertainment content, and attracting a wider community of technical talent beyond programmers.

==== Pixels Camp Editions ====

* 2016<ref name="Pixels Camp 2016 in RTP">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GawH7LpTxZQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/GawH7LpTxZQ |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Pixels Camp|website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}} RTP, 2016</ref> — October 6–8 at [[LX Factory]], Lisbon — 1000 attendees

* 2017<ref name="Pixels Camp 2017 in Observador">{{cite web|url=https://observador.pt/2017/09/28/pixels-camp-traz-campismo-moedas-digitais-e-mais-de-mil-participantes-a-lisboa/|title=Pixels Camp traz campismo, moedas digitais e mais de mil participantes a Lisboa}} Observador, 2017</ref> — September 28–30 at [[Pavilhão Carlos Lopes]], Lisbon — 1200 attendees