JailbreakCon 2014: A 4 Day Journal Chronicling This Incredible Jailbreak Community Experience [PART 3]

JailbreakCon 2014 Part Three: Preparations

We got back to the house where Cyril and Surenix were already hard at work on their presentations. Ryan quickly set up his laptop and got to work as well. A little while later Jim, Sebastien and Filippo returned from the Apple headquarters, and they got to work on a tweak idea Jim was hoping to implement. Around this time, Joshua Tucker arrived. I was so happy to finally meet him! The energy he exudes 24-7 is something I truly value so it was a pleasure to finally meet him. With him in the house, however, alongside Kevin, Craig and Sebastien, the noise level really started to increase. At that point, Cyril headed for the back room to get a little work done. Ryan though, continued to worked almost completely unfazed by what was happening around him.

Missed the first two parts? Start the journey here: JailbreakCon 2014: A 4 Day Journal Chronicling This Incredible Jailbreak Community Experience [PART 1]

A few moments later, the noise brigade proposed going for a beer run, and suddenly the house fell almost silent. It was Friday night and just hours before JailbreakCon was to begin, and while still numerous bodies were gathered, now there is a more serious air about the room — one of work and productivity. The was no sound to be heard other than the sound of keyboards clicking.

In the dining room Ryan and Thientam typed furiously away on their presentations while Jim and Filippo work together on a tweak he was wanting for his keyboard. Claire and Stephanie had busied themselves with video games and electronic books, so I settled in to complete a little writing.

At that point, all activity in the house was purposeful as Britta, the one who rules them all, would be arriving soon. If presentations weren't ready, well, I'm not sure what the repercussions would be, but it seems these guys took that lady quite seriously. She let them know in no uncertain terms the night before that everyone needed to spend the evening working on their presentations to make the conference a success. Things had gotten so quiet in fact, Cyril actually rejoined us, but it wouldn't be long before the noise would return and he would retreat back to a quieter corner of the house.

Moments later the beer runners returned with drinks and fried chicken — and so did the noise. Amazingly, Ryan never seemed to miss a beat. It was only when someone suggested turning on music he finally did protest. With fried chicken in hand, Sebastien began chatting with Thientam about a tweak he was wanting developed, while animatedly describing what the icon should look like.

During the weekend I discovered Sebastien Page was probably one of the funniest people I'd ever met, and watching him describe this thing to Thientam was no exception. Though, at this point, I felt fully integrated into the group, I still found myself consciously in awe of the fact I was here with these people. Telling stories, sharing ideas and eating fried chicken.

The night wore on and more members of the group started shuffling in, including Britta — and she came bearing gifts of sweet breads from a Latin store in her neighborhood!

As Britta and Joshua passed around the breads, everyone filled her in on their presentation progress. Everyone, that is, but Kevin. While most had at least a small amount of their presentations ready, Kevin had completed none of it, nor did he have a title. Britta asked kindly throughout the evening for the title of his presentation as she and Cyril hammered out the schedule details, but it was to no avail. I think she ended up making the title for him!

Dinner was ordered in that evening and soon we were joined by Tim Collins, Richard Fayad and Kyle Matthews of Modmyi. I chatted with these fellows for a while that evening as they shared with me the inspiring story of Because of Ezra and the good that had been done because of the generosity of the jailbreak community. I was once again amazed by the things accomplished by the good will of people in this incredibly unique community. Tim shared that over $26,000 had been raised for children's cancer research since 2013. Much of what we chatted about was covered in Tim's Saturday presentation, but at that moment, his incredibly humble demeanor and passion for the cause struck me and truly admirable.

The night ending somewhat early as everyone needed rest for the workshop day, so we said our goodnights and promised to meet up in the morning again.

Click Here For JailbreakCon Part 4: Workshop Day