In reply to mikeschinkel.

It's not like Developer centric WordCamps don't exist and can't be successful. Take a look at WordCamp Vancouver Developer Edition which took place back in July http://2014.vancouver.wordcamp.org/ Maxed out at 300 attendees, nothing but dev topics! I've sent some questions to Flynn O' Connor to learn more about how he marketed the event but it's proof positive that it's possible.

One way I would market a Dev Centric WordCamp would be to have Sessions with names filled with Developer Acronyms so people have no clue what's being discussed lol.