I think in a more demanding job market, we're probably not going to have much choice. Hackers in general are going to need to be able to demo their "portfolio"

I think in a more demanding job market, we're probably not going to have much choice. Hackers in general are going to need to be able to demo their "portfolio" to break into places where they don't have strong personal network connections. As someone who has for the first time been in the position of hiring, I would have completely gone to something like this to try and land candidates. Of course, my first inclination is to hire people I've worked with or know to be smart (and this is what I did), but for someone who was willing to put themselves out there like this, I would have gone outside my network. Heck, I feel like some kind of slacker admitting I don't have a blog/web app of my own to show people now.