Besides being at the top of HN, what sort of validation does this have as an actual viable event. I mean, can I get a tropical picture with some water, make a simple one page website, and just start harvesting your guys emails to?
I'm not trying to be overly negative, it just seems like there is sooo little information being given to be making the top of HN
Yeah, I wasn't expecting this. It's an idea that is in my head that I want to make a reality, but only if there is enough interest. I can promise you I won't do anything with those emails except keep you up to date on what happens next.
Now that it seems like there is enough interest, we can go to the next phase: figuring out wether it would be a paid thing or a sponsored thing. Opinions welcome...
You need to go to cahuita costa rica. They have villas with wifi for crazy cheap (less than 25 a night), and a beach that is probably where that picture comes from. Plus if you want to recruit any ticos, intel and hp are some of the countries biggest employers. Consider it, message me if you want help, I've done business down there.
http://www.google.com/search?q=cahuita&hl=en&client=...
in reply to csel: We're planning to do it in Southeast Asia indeed, and target people from worldwide. Many countries around here have very decent visa policies, and vaccinations are not that hard to get either.
I am in SE Asia at the moment (Chris Travers-- signed up on the site). If you need ideas regarding places let me know. I have contacts around, and there are great places like Lombok. The question becomes though how remote is remote.
There are nice islands near Padang, Sumatra too (and Padang is famous for its food). In terms of SE Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia both have lots of tropical islands, but there is always the Maldives and the Philippines too.
Again, feel free to email me. I will look around. Last time I was in Lombok the internet connections weren't so good, but that was 8 years ago, and I would expect that there are major improvements.
Who are you targeting? Are you targeting hackers and devs from Southeast Asia only?
If you are targeting developers from US or Canada, you are going to have issues with passports and all other travel complications like shots (vaccines), visa's etc. Unless, if you do it in Hawaii you will not have any of the above issues.
Great idea nonetheless. Good luck with everything.
Excuse me. That picture comes from Bidong Island, Malaysia. I know that because I took that picture during my last diving trip. We also have beautiful tropical islands in this part of the world :-)
You should offer more than just the trip. Preferably have some mentors/advisors available to the group. There is no point in spending thousands going to a tropical island to do exactly the same you can do at home, that's just spending money on a fake vacation.
hey this sounds awesome, let us know how you progress with this idea! I'm starting a project involving developing a social media tool and have been learning coding lately. Doing this exclusively for 2 months in a collaborative environment sounds ideal.
I've done some tropical island hacking (solo) and it worked really well for me.
The longest I did was 3 weeks on Koh Phi Phi in Thailand. I had a nice discrete problem: write Forth drivers for all the interesting hardware in a little ARM SoC. Blog at the time: http://goo.gl/V9qGx
I can say that:
Finding a place to sleep, entertainment (snorkel, scuba, etc), and food were all easy problems.
Finding a place to work can be harder: power, internet, quiet, table/desk all in one place. (Maybe you need to borrow a house?)
Three weeks was enough for me: then I wanted a dose of civilization and city life, hard though this was to imagine on day #1. Maybe it's different with more people.
Can you start simple, with just a few people and lasting until they get bored, and scale it up gradually perhaps?
We'll see. I did a three month thing like this, and was sad when it ended. That was all about the people we were with though, that made the world of difference. And we had time during the weekends to get away.
Have you consider Penang island, it is not really isolated or exotic, but we have beautiful beaches here, and when you need a dose of civilization, it is just within 30 minutes driving distance, there are quite a few big companies here like Dell, Intel, Motolora. Standard of living is cheap. The island been ranked by Yahoo! Travel as one of the "10 Islands to Explore Before You Die". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang
Hope I didn't sound too much like a salesman already.
Penang is definitely a good option. Though I haven't been there heard a ton of good things and it's just a stone's throw from the mainland. +1. Accommodation and food is relatively inexpensive in Malaysia.
I've did this (alone) for a while. The things I discovered:
* Mosquitoes really, really suck the fun and productivity out of sitting on a tropical beach coding.
* To a lesser extent, so does sunburn.
* Finding somewhere comfortable to sit in shade is crucial, and harder than you'd think, and lying is out (appealing though it may be).
* The ideal place to work was a beachside bar, without standing pools of water close by (attracting mosquitoes), that was quiet, serving coffee and wifi. Often hard to find, though.
* Lack of wifi was sometimes a plus, provided it was never too far away. It's easier to focus on coding without Internet access.
In the end, my favorite tropical location to write code in was Singapore. The beach is overrated :)
12 weeks on a remote tropical island, luxurious villa, 12 geniuses... a cook and housekeeper.. airfare.. time away from current projects... that sounds like a pretty hefty price tag per genius if it's a paid event. I think you may have trouble finding hackers to sign up when the reality sets in. I'd recommend you get to work finding serious sponsors because right now it sounds like a nice dream. Good luck good sir.
Thanks. We are fully aware it might be too expensive for people to cough up all the dough. Preliminary research show that a house for 12 people doesn't have to cost more then 500USD/person/month though. With a bit of smart marketing it should be possible to find some people interested to sponsor this..
Just sign up and include your expertise in the "additional info" box. We just wanted to quickly put up a simple form. If you can hack something, you can join ;-)
We're looking into either getting the whole thing sponsored or charging a fee that will cover cost. Our target is not to make a profit, it is to have a great time working with inspiring people.
It will be partly personal interviews, partly skills. In my previous experiences with communal living i have learned that even the most skilled people can be a total pain in the butt to live with. I wanna avoid that at all cost :)
Is this only for singles and those who are willing to be apart from spouses for 2 months? I'd love to go to some remote location to work for few months, but I need to take my better half with me.
If he/she can make themselves useful, you're welcome to sign up both of you. But rest assured that competition for this will be tough, so it might not be easy. Just that it's not excluded from being an option, that's all :)
Hey, I'm also trying to hire coders to work on a remote tropical island [1], although for a little longer term than you. Where is this located? I can recommend some places in the Seychelles if you haven't yet decided on a spot :)
How about Pitcairn Island? You can't get much more remote. Two months fits in fairly well with the supply ship coming and going for transport to/from the island. 12 people would increase the local population by almost 25%!
My company is based in the Philippines. I won't be applying but I'd love to take you and the crew out if you're laid over in Manila for any stretch of time.
That's a really obvious thing. Did you guys proofread? It's the little slips that make people doubt an organization i.e. "if they missed this tiny detail, then how will they perform on the big things?"
I don't mean to be a jerk. Best of luck with your event and everything, but if you're going to plan a 12 week hack vacation for people, then details matter.
Agreed, and it's pretty dumb. Then again, we weren't aiming for big exposure like this. Also, both of the people involved in this are not native English speakers, can I put that up for a valid excuse? :P
That's what happens when you design a site at 4am in the morning. But otherwise, we have performed on big things here before so no worries. already corrected the typo :-)
I'm actually very intrigued, I just booked a flight to Indonesia to spent a month or so hacking / designing for myself in Bali, but doing this with others sounds like a much better plan. Any details on the schedule yet?
Great to see the interest. If anyone is interested in hacking and joining a start up incubator on MAUI, please sign up here. http://www.startupmaui.com
Well, I decided to organise this because I have loads of experience in location independent living and communal living. I have experienced how great it is when you are in a place that makes you feel good, surrounded by people that are smart and motivating. In a luxurious villa on a tropical island, there is no distraction. By having a cook and housekeepers as well, you really don't have to worry about anything but getting shit done :)
Yup. If anyone is interested in hacking and joining a start up incubator on MAUI, please sign up here. Trying to nail down dates. More details soon. http://www.startupmaui.com
Fair enough -- and do know, that I wish you the best, and expect that this will be a lot of fun, and that you will probably produce some cool stuff.
It's just that, speaking for myself, I am now Old, and have gone from having a love/love relationship with computers, to a love/hate relationship.
Meanwhile, my level of interest in plants and birds and bugs has increased tremendously. So if I were in on a tropical island, I would really want to spend a lot of time with the bugs and the birds and the plants.
By the way guys, there's nothing set in stone yet. We're trying to put together an awesome event for all of us to benefit. Please send in your ideas/suggestions :-)
I'm not trying to be overly negative, it just seems like there is sooo little information being given to be making the top of HN