In 2010 contests were a proven way to generate attention about your API and products as well as generate some great code and applications for your API.
Some contests in 2010 were:
All these contests are finished now, except for the World Bank Apps for Development which is still running for another week.
We will see many more
contests is 2011 for new and existing
APIs, bringing in new developer talent and attention to those APis. Have you considered throwing a contests for your API or participated in a contest as a developer?