Valve is set to host the Steam Dev Days developer conference in mid-January as a means for developers to interact with the Valve team; attend lectures, and participate in roundtable discussions.
Gamasutra reports that the conference is set for January 15-16, 2014 in Seattle's Washington State Convention Center. Those in attendence will have the opportunity to test SteamOS as well as prototype Steam Machines and controllers.
This will be an "off the record" event exclusively for developers as Valve wishes to create a relaxed atmosphere in which studios can share game design and industry expertise while getting advice from the Valve team.
The lectures being hosted at the event will look at what Valve's currently up to but also discuss virtual reality technologies; Linux, and user-generated content. Valve will soon release a full list of speakers and events.
Developers looking to attend must first receive a registration code from Valve which they can then use to apply for an event pass costing $95.
More information is contained on the event's official website.