I quit going to hackathons when they started to turn into "do something with our web service" instead of "X straight hours of whacking away at whatever project

I quit going to hackathons when they started to turn into "do something with our web service" instead of "X straight hours of whacking away at whatever project you're working on, surrounded by like minded people doing their own thing, that you can bounce problems off of when you get stuck". There are two local hackathons coming up, neither of which I'm the slightest bit interested in, since both are based around handfuls of companies and their products' web-based APIs. It's obvious that they are not interested in you turning out a product, or even getting a start on a product. They're using you to determine possible areas their company could branch into, and like Tom Sawyer, they're getting you to pay to help them.