On SelectButton 1.0 we used to do Bakedowns, where people would spend January just committing to making a game. My first really major game project Caverns of Khron came out of that. I make a lot more games now, so that doesn’t feel as necessary,
I actually have a hard time with jams in general. Big events like Ludum Dare and GGJ can be exciting, but I rarely like the announced themes, can usually not set aside a full weekend for crunching out something, and I tend to work alone so those aren’t my bag. I might change my mind if I ever find a team to work with in-person (48-hour film projects have been fun for me in the past that way, with intense collaboration).
So I find myself much more attracted to jams like the ones I posted, or the Chess or Tomb Raider jams hosted by Sophie Houlden (or, ahem, the Wumpus Jam I hosted last summer). Ones where I know the theme in advance, can meditate on whether I want to make something, and have a little bit of leeway in scope and time to refine my idea, with a very broad theme to riff on.
Anyway, I’m into the idea of a SelectJam.