The theme this year is "Scala vs. The New Features in Java 8." What in Java still "works," and at what point do you decide that life is just going to be easier in Scala? The theme is just an idea to produce conversations, but is by no means a restriction -- you can create any conversation you think people want to discuss.

The Scala Summit is an "Open Spaces" conference. There are no presentations or pre-defined topics. Instead, participants write discussion topics on sticky notes and place them in a room + time slot. Anyone who is interested in that topic shows up. You can end up with small groups or large groups and both are just fine. The best part of most traditional conferences are the hallway conversations, and Open Spaces produce all hallway conversations, all the time. If you aren't used to Open Spaces, they seem a bit strange at first but you'll be amazed at how well they work.

In the afternoons we will have outdoor activities including hiking, fishing, and mountain biking (where, to no one's surprise, the technical conversations keep flowing). Evening events include barbecues, 5-minute lightning talks (by you), and pub discussions.

If you have an idea for the (Thursday) hackathon day projects, there's time alloted for short pitches on day one, to gather interest from those who might want to work with you. This allows opportunities to work on the project before Thursday, if you like. Thursday is a full day dedicated to hackathons, and Thursday evening has short presentations of finished projects. Hackathon project ideas might include programming Internet-of-things devices, building a Salesforce app with Scala, exploring a new app framework, or working on an existing open-source project (or starting a new one). The only "requirement" for a hackathon day project is that you get excited about it.

For full details, schedule and registration see www.ScalaSummit.com. Attendance is limited to 70.