For a couple of years I had this idea in the back of my head that it would be fun to put a bunch of web geeks in a room full of geek toys. At some point during the Bruce Sterling party that concluded SXSW Interactive '05, a group of us discovered a basket of Zoobs on a table upstairs, and we entertained ourselves for a while. We had fun discovering the limitations of the toys, inventing problems and solving them, and collaborating on creations.

It's in this vein that we announce the Interactive Playpen. We're quarantining off a small area on the first floor of the Austin Convention center and filling it with Legos and other kinds of modular toys. When panels are too crowded or you're just looking to get creative and make new friends, swing by the Playpen. Build something no one else would think of.

We'll post more information here as things develop.