My phone rang today - I was home in bed with a cracker of a headache and wearing inflight sleep goggles to shield my brain from the terrible sunlight. An unfamiliar number, Cherie from GovHack calling to tell us that we'd been shortlisted for a national prize as well as winning the regional Spirit of GovHack award.
(If we picked up the regional award by entering a project at all because there were no other teams in the South Island, we may owe that to @hackdunedin for organising the event here - thanks again Phil and Josh! On the other hand, this kicked in the impostor syndrome klaxon: what if turning up was all we really achieved? But I don't really believe that.)
Anyway - I'd already booked my tickets figuring that participating in the awards is part of the package, but now all three of us - myself, Vin and Beau - will be able to get to the awards ceremony.
My motivation to enter was to get to do cool things, meet some other local hackers and work on a team. Being invited to be there for the awards as well is super exciting.
See also: post on Legolas and on being part of GovHack