InTheWild's Running Diary @ TechCrunch Disrupt

You've got the fever and the only prescription is more TechCrunch Disrupt news, which is why we're going to be keeping a running diary of the goings on here at TechCrunch Disrupt. This will include coverage of events like the Hackathon awards ceremony, as well as our "In the Wild" Oasis and (mostly) everything in between.

Why? Partly for legal reasons (it's good to have an alibi/paper trail at events like this) but mostly because there's just so much happening, we wanted to make sure you got the full experience, or as close to it as humanly possible. But enough small talk, let's get it started....

Wednesday

3:24 PM - Watching the conclusion of the TC Disrupt presentations: http://techcrunch.com/disrupt/.

2:20 PM - Kevin O’Connor To Entrepreneurs: Don’t Be Afraid To ‘Throw A Turd In The Punch Bowl (the proverbial turd, that is)

2:15 PM - Just awarded Josh from insidefacebook.com with a free trip to Las Vegas, as the karaoke contest winner. Lil John would be proud. Congrat's!

2:11 PM - Another great night at TC Disrupt in the books. Great times had by all.

Tuesday

11:35 PM - Magic carpet rides outside Roe...the song and the carpet ride.  

9:34 PM - Just arrived at the TechCrunch Disrupt after-party, happening at Roe. Cool spot.

7:45 PM - Lots of new faces onboard the RVIP Lounge, all of whom have no idea how many times we've already heard Jimmy Buffet.

5:04 PM - Thinking of pulling a George Costanza and sleeping under the table. Second wind cometh.

3:11 PM - Well-known software developer Joel Spolsky has built popular Q&A network Stack Exchange, and launched FogBugz, a project management system for software teams. Next up on the docket is Trello, a team workflow platform and list manager that is launching at TechCrunch Disrupt. Read more...

10:34 AM - Missed Ashton Kutcher's interview on VC investing, but uTest's Erica Smith was luckily able to attend. “I realty think that technology has the greatest potential to accelerate happiness of most things in the world. The companies that will ultimately do well are the companies that chase happiness,” Kutcher said. “If you find a way to help people find love, or health or friendship, the dollar will chase that.” Read more here.

2:34 PM - Preparation for RVIP Lounge Round 2 begins.....now.

1:34 AM - Search party called off for uTest's Matt Johnston, who was found alive and well in the back of the RVIP.

1:25 AM - Matt Johnston missing, presumed scared and lonely.

Monday

8:30 PM - Karaoke now on cruise control. Inhibitions out the windows. One hit after another.

7:30 PM - The In the Wild Oasis RVIP departs....without any members of uTest. Luckily, they promptly came back to pick us up. Close call.

5:14 PM - “Not surprising, our global customers have different demands of our products. We want products to “feel local” and we need to support features that may be unique to specific markets. For instance, in Indic based languages using a standard keyboard is difficult, so we develop strategies like virtual keyboards or category browsing for search. As we specialize our products for certain markets, it introduces more challenges for testing (eg. requiring special cultural knowledge). When we can’t find internal talent, community-based testing is an interesting solution to this challenge.”- Patrick Copeland, Google

5:10 PM - It was tech leaders like the ones here at TechCrunch Disrupt that first named the hidden value of crowdsourced testing: that it extended their testing out 'into the wild,' closer to their users, and helped them launch better products. And that notion of testing that mirrors a company's user base -- in terms of technology, locations and demographics -- is what we've formalized in today's launch of in-the-wild testing.

4:39 PM - Getting our first look at the RVIP Mobile Lounge. Bad singing and good times coming soon to a San Fran neighborhood near you.

3:16 PM - Meeting lots of great candidates for our Testing the Limits series.

2:30 PM - App Testing Gone Wild (totally safe for work)

2:24 PM - CNC, Bloomberg, ABC, NBC all in attendance. Impressive media presence.

11:51 AM - How is there not a 35-person line at the Donkey Kong arcade game? Is it possible that I'm the only one here with the maturity level of a 12-year old?

11:34 AM - "Back in 2008, many companies were either intrigued or even skeptical when we launched our crowdsourced testing services," said Matt Johnston, CMO of uTest. "The idea of using a community of professional testers to test outside the firewall was so new and disruptive to the status quo that we had to educate the market. To our delight, most prospects quickly 'got' the value because they'd already been wrestling with the problem of apps performing differently outside the firewall than inside the sterile confines of their QA labs."

11:27 AM - uTest's Matt Johnston getting interviewed by TNW on camera. Questions likely to include what uTest does, what we're doing here at Tc Disrupt and what his favorite swear word is. Well, 2 out of 3 for sure. I'll post a link when I see it.

10:34 AM - TourWrist. Check 'em out. A perfect candidate for in-the-wild testing.

9:54 AM - Much easier talking about in-the-wild testing with a tech-savvy audience...and they don't come much more tech-savvy than TechCrunch Disrupt. No blank stares.

8:16 AM - Note to self: If given the opportunity, be sure to ask tech giant billionaire Peter Thiel about his plans for a man-made floating, libertarian island.

Sunday

10:30 PM - The great thing about TC Disrupt is that (unlike most conferences) there aren't any conflicting presentations. It's the little things that make a big difference. Reid Hoffman, Mike McCue, Andrew Stalbow, Tom Conrad, Peter Theil and others...all before lunch. Tomorrow's gonna be fun.

4:30 PM - Reminder: All Hackathon participants can stop by our booth anytime to pick up a promo code for a free uTest Express bronze cycle (worth $499). No catch. No questions asked. Tell em Mike sent you.

3:30 PM - We were happy to present the makers AirCart with our "Most Likely To Succeed In The Wild" award -- a prize worth $3,000 of testing. They narrowly edged out the two runner-ups, "Pass My Will" (for what happens to social profiles when people die) and "Top Douche" (for creating the douchiest profile you possibly can). Of the former two, which do you think is the bigger blight on the internet landscape, death or douchery? Discuss among yourselves.

2:45 PM - Someone should have a done a time-lapse video of the hackathon. From zero to app in 8 hours. Impressive.