A new residential training camp for web developers looks set to bring a little bit of sunshine to the northern digital scene. CREATIVE Times got the low-down from the project’s head honcho Paul Collins.

Nestled on the peaceful coast of Lancashire, with its acres of beach-front, Morecambe might be the last place you’d expect a meeting of some of the world’s most respected techies to take place. However, come January 2010, that perception is set to change forever, as an impressive roster of digital gurus descend upon the resort for the first annual ‘Technique’ developer training camp.

Billed as a ‘weekender’ for techies, the residential will take place at the Midland Hotel from Friday 29th through until Sunday 31st January. Stuffy classrooms and death-by-Powerpoint will be blown out of the window, as developers pick up new skills by working and talking with some of the best people in their fields, including Peter-Paul Koch (Quirksmode), Luis Lavena (Area 17), Seb Lee-Delisle (Plug-in Media), and Dan Zambonini (Box UK).

“We’re trying to do something different with Technique,” said Paul. “We wanted to bring people from some of the North West’s top digital companies together through something more immersive than a keynote conference, and more progressive than traditional training. So, the whole idea of a residential really appealed. When we went out and talked to developers about it, they loved the idea too.”

Technique looks to be covering a lot of ground, with workshops covering some of the latest technologies in front-end and back-end development including HTML5, Ruby on Rails and 3D Flash, but Paul seems confident that Technique will deliver: “Everyone coming will be able choose the sessions most relevant to them, and we’ve made sure that the people leading them are genuinely world-class. But, we want to bring people together, too – so there will be plenty of networking going on, especially at the hotel bar!”

Places at Technique are limited, as the cost of attending has been subsidised by the project’s funders Northwest Vision and Media as part of their Digital Sparks support programme.

The price of the ticket includes all of the training sessions, accommodation, food, and ‘some’ drinks. As Eric might’ve said, ‘Wahey!’…

Developers are advised to register ASAP through the Technique website – www.TechniqueRetreat.com or by contacting Paul directly by email