In the past i have done a few side projects but nothing big and the problem i have is most of the stuff i start i don't finish so i think this would help me a lot.
Are there any communities that offer what i'm looking for?
Roughly once a month we meet and we start a brief round table where whoever propose project he would like to work during the day, then we pair up and each pair (or triplets) works together at whichever project they have decided.
After lunch and before to leave we communicate to the other the "successes" of the day which can be either commits, PR, learn a new thing or just had fun with friends.
Goal of the day is to contribute to open source, sometimes we succeed done other times we just have fun and learn new things.
You could start a similar events in your area...
If you are interested send me a message and we can talk.