I'm thankful and I'm not. On one hand, it's nice to know you're in-demand and can easily earn income. On the other hand, as a working developer, the subtext of a lot of this stuff is frankly pretty offensive.
"Let's throw some stupid, token perks at these developers who don't know how to negotiate for salary so they'll come build my dream!" How about, pay people commensurate with the value they create for your organization and/or demand (in cash, or if you're cash-poor, equity), and stop playing stupid games -- you'll have plenty of candidates.
I like the idea of moving some of the risk from the job-seeker to the job-offerer. If the developer gets a hotel room for a week in SF and the trip ends up not resulting in a job, he or she is out hundreds of dollars, and that risk might discourage people from visiting from outside of the bay area. There might be a huge number of developers right on the edge where it doesn't quite make sense for them to take a trip to SF, but free room and board would bring them in. Employers are already throwing tens of thousands per employee at recruiting, so this little investment might make a huge difference compared to other recruiting tactics.
"Let's throw some stupid, token perks at these developers who don't know how to negotiate for salary so they'll come build my dream!" How about, pay people commensurate with the value they create for your organization and/or demand (in cash, or if you're cash-poor, equity), and stop playing stupid games -- you'll have plenty of candidates.