EDIT: All but one of the 11 teams were tech/programming required startups guys. I'm not talking about "Startup Weekend" as a whole, I'm talking about my experience at the event I went to.
Edit: Reading through these comments, it surprises me to see that so many people think of Startup Weekend first when they see hackathon. Startup Weekend takes on the format of a traditional hackathon, and shares many elements, but it's not a hackathon. Another commenter hit the nail on the head when they called it a business-a-thon. It just so happens that the culture surrounding it tends to use a lot of tech.
But please, don't equate Startup Weekends with hackathons. They aren't. And that's fine. They are what they are. Confusing them with hackathons however will lead to disappointment.
>Restrict to those who are there to code, design, or build something, not to write a business plan - this gives participants the freedom to work on projects that don't need to have profit potential.
That makes sense, but you know, don't restrict it to tech start ups. And from what I read at the SW website, it DOESN'T have to be tech. How were the projects from that SW you mention?
Our team had just 4 people on it, and I was the sole tech person. We came in second place (well, tied for second).