I could not agree more with this view of hackdays. I had never been to one until two weeks ago, when I actually ran one! I had tons of support from experienced hackday people like Kevin of Novoda.com, and the wonderful people at Skillsmatter, London. The hack was themed around accessibility for blind and partially sighted people and supported by us @RNIB_innovation. 24 hours later - we had five working apps, each of which were innovative, and solved a problem faced by people who cannot see so well. It was amazing! We want to do it again soon. It really was the antithesis to my daily life of projects and deliverables, and I went away, having had little shleep, (freudian type, methinks!) but feeling strangely refreshed at having taken part in something that actually did something good ... and damned quickly, too!