I just got back from North Carolina where the Triangle Zope and Python Users Group (TriZPUG) organized a 4-day sprint in Chapel Hill, NC. The sprint brought about 40 folks together following a 4 day training (Camp5). Building on the training in Zope3/Plone3, this was a chance to apply zope3 learnings and contribute to improving Plone and its available tools.

The participants addressed a group of topics that range from bug fixing (Plone 3, syndication), new tools (Grok), and creating new application platforms for Plone (GetPaid). Typical of the intense sprint environment, there was also lots of fun! There were some impressively amusing Lightning Talks, and the BBQSprinter organizers introduced us to the concept of "Pintification". There was also our very own rock concert! We enjoyed many meals in great local restaurants, where bacon was bountiful, as well as our own bbq event. All in all, a great experience!

The organizers brought a group of sponsored sprinters to the event, which helped to create a critical mass of top talent from around the Plone/Zope universe, making it a very fertile environment for development and experimenting. Kapil really showed us how sprinting is done - he spent an evening and into the early morning coding to create a payment processing framework for Plone. The organizers also took advantage of a cool remote access system (Breeze), which enabled people around the world to watch us and the presentations.

Check out camp/sprint culture:

• Del.icio.us tags for bbq-sprint
• Del.icio.us tags for Camp5
• Flickr photo pool
  
• BBQ Sprint page, includes schedule, reports, etc