Most Facebook developer events we've attended have been a bunch of dudes drinking beer and talking shop. Last summer, our first official day of work at SAI was capped off with a trip to the developer 'Hackathon' at Union Square Ventures, where coders ate pizza, sipped, and talked about their apps. That was cool.
So what's the point of an invite-only Facebook seminar with a 30-minute "keynote" that someone's paid $15,000 to give? We can't think of one. Yet that's what Facebook is apparently promoting next month at the Harvard Club of New York: "Facebook Developer Garage Media Executive Circle," an invite-only event for 100 people, for which organizer Fahad Khan has decided he needs up to $70,000 worth of sponsorship money.
What do attendees get to hear? That 30-minute keynote, delivered by someone who ponies up $15,000 for the privilege; followed by up to two 20-minute, speeches ($10,000); followed by up to four 10-minute stemwinders ($5,000). Then a speech by someone from Facebook's monetization team, and a panel discussion feature people we've never heard of, moderated by Khan.
Sounds pretty corporate to us, and also to Jonathan Sarno, who brought this to our attention; he'll be organizing the more familiar, low-key Facebook developer garage the next night, "Funding the Facebook app" -- free and open to anyone.
We couldn't get ahold of Khan to answer some basic questions about his event, so we'll let him explain in comments: What's the utility of an event like this for a Facebook developer? We can't think of one. And doesn't this smell dangerously bubble-like to you?
Update: The event has been canceled. Thanks to SocialTimes' Nick O'Neill for the tip.
See Also:
Have Facebook Developers Been Flocking To OpenSocial? No
Who Are The 9 People In Mark Zuckerberg's Inner Twitter Circle?
Facebook Wants To Get Serious. Its Users Want To Play Games
Photo: Fred Wilson
