I’m thinking about scheduling a week-long retreat in July for a small group of techies – say, six to ten people.

In past years, I’ve found that a week at OSCON was some of the most fun I’ve had – particularly being around lots of high-powered brain talent. It wasn’t so much that their fields paralleled mine – far from it – but the inspiration of seeing what others can accomplish has usually propelled me to some of my best moments as a tech myself.

So that’s the why. Get a whole bunch of bright people together for something other than their day jobs, and interesting things begin to happen. An informal brain trust, basically.

I have my own tech hobby, but I work on it alone. I’m not asking for help on it, but I am asking if there are other people like me in the same situation. Here’s what I’m suggesting, in concrete terms:

• People involved (this means you!) must have a hobby involving technology.
• That hobby must not be their day job!
• People involved should be able to commit one week’s vacation time.
• They must be willing to spend that week around ten to twelve other tech hobbyists, in a relatively small space – say, a large conference room.
• They must be willing to spend that week somewhere away from home… say, Napa wine country
• They must be willing to work extensively on their hobby during this week.
• They must be willing to talk about their own projects – and to listen to others talking about their projects.
• They must be willing to take some time as regular vacationers… say, a trip around the vineyards in Napa Valley. 🙂
• They must be willing to have fun!

If there’s enough people interested, I can try to set up a “Week For Hobbies” tech retreat somewhere. If I get a lot of people, I’d probably go so far as to invite a couple students (who may not have hobbies yet, but an interest). Talk to me in the comments!

(Also, if you have blogs that are syndicated to other tech Planets than Planet Mozilla, feel free to post links to this blog where others will see it. I specifically do not want this to be a Mozilla-friends-and-family-only event!)