I just arrived in the Silicon Valley for the Technology Muck-About. I imagine you might say to yourself- what in the *&$^ is that? Well, here's a little background...
Last fall I had the pleasure of attending the first ever Muck-About, which was a chance for a small group of folks to get together (on and off-line) and talk about communities of practice. It occurred on the Washington State coast over 3 days in October 2003.
At the end of the first event, a group of us realized that we really wanted to talk about technology- actually the intersection of people and online community- related technology.
Luckily the original organizers (John and Nancy) and two original attendees (Estee and Teddy) took the lead in creating a new Muck-About that will focus on technology.
They have been working hard to get about 30 of us here to spend some quality time together. I'm really excited about the next few days- I'll get to meet some folks I've known about for a while but never met.
Like the first one, this event is not entirely location-based. We have been using an online community space for introductions, discussions and logistics for the last couple of weeks. Once it's over, we'll convene online once more. I think this is a great model for these events- I feel like I know some people that will be here, which greases the social wheels.
It has started well- we're staying at the "W" Silicon Valley and the suites are pretty awesome for the $. More soon...