I was fortunate enough to be able to invite a couple of people to foo camp this year and I think it's worth sharing how I chose them and what that means.

It was random, to an extent. It was random that I was able to pick. What was less random was that I picked people who I knew had strong opinions, but who also had the chops to back them. Additionally, these people are willing to socialize and interact.

Don't think for a second that it's an elitist gathering of hand selected, "famous" nerds. Instead, think of it like someone forming a band--the people are deliberately invited. If a band formed more randomly, there would be much less chance of the music being good.

This camp creates great nerd music.

So, fire up the "bar camps" now that you get the idea. There's nothing special about foo; or at least nothing you can't create yourself.