“So what is Webjam?” the girl at the bar serving my mate and I a beer asked. She’s thinking that maybe there’s something to do with music happening tonight, but it’s nothing like that.

I’m here in Sydney at Webjam, a beer-and-boast fest for code geeks; the podium and data projector are yours for three minutes to strut your stuff. Think of it as stand-up night for the Web 2.0 crowd.

Those that have done it before know that one of the presenter tricks is to try and get a position later in the line-up after the audience has had it’s share of the free beer that seems to come in waves as someone else decides to be generous and put their name and dollars forward as another hundred in sponsor’s cash gets put across the bar.

Those that really know how Webjam works know that there’s a prize up for grabs — tonight it’s a copy of the Adobe CS3 Web Premium bundle. There’s a small contingent from Adobe at the back of the room; Chris Hock, Flash Media product line Group Product Manager, is currently visiting Australia and had come along for the evening.

The presentations themselves included pitches, enterprise solutions, proof of concept screenshots, and humorous viral campaigns. The style of delivery varied from pink wigs to jackets and chinos. But the night was all about enjoying yourself with a dash of networking thrown in, and that’s certainly what happened.

Tonight’s winner’s argument for an open source licence-free video standard for the Web was no doubt forgotten as it was the video he chose to fill in the remainder of his three minutes with that no doubt earned him the votes of the crowd.

Standing well over six foot five, Lachlan Hunt was certainly the tallest in the room, his geek in a lounge dancing and lip-synching to the Spice Girls video should be on YouTube as I reckon it’d be a viral hit. It certainly was a crowd pleaser at Webjam.

Webjam is next on in Melbourne at ReMix at The Crown Promenade Hotel on June 25.

Laurel Papworth

Emphasising her point, Laurel Papworth called for yet another industry organisation made up of lots of letters.


Lachlan Hunt

Technical difficulties on the night proved no barrier for Lachlan Hunt as his presentation was declared winner.

Danielle

Danielle from Binalogue gave a spirited demo of VJ loops that they had originally created in Flash for Carlsburg.

Matthew Rietdijk

While he looks like he’s serenading the audience, Matthew Rietdijk demonstrated Live Q&A, an AI e-commerce sales bot.

Charlie Brewer

Looking like a youthful Michael Caine, Charlie Brewer gave some insight into news.com.au’s PinPoint application.

Lachlan’s victory dance

Lachlan Hunt gave a live reprise of the dance video that earned him first prize.

Lachlan Hardy

Lachlan Hardy, Webjam organiser, takes to the mike during the evening’s proceedings.