Podcasts really are awesome. I bought a pro mic a while back ... maybe it's time?
Podcasts really are awesome. I bought a pro mic a while back ... maybe it's time?
"The patent system is [...] a tax on people who build and create." - @marcoarment #xoxofest
@playouya A nonviolent, narrative adventure game about building your own project. #xoxofest
Patreon is a genuinely exciting model for independent artists. http://patreon.com #xoxofest
Learning great lessons for independent musicians from half of #Pomplamoose. #xoxofest
Last year, I said this about #xoxofest:
I’m excited by the people I already knew; I’m excited by the people I met for the first time and might never see again. The conversations stretched past midnight every night. Everyone was an equal participant, and the meaning of XOXO – literally, hugs and kisses – was evident from the opening party through to the closing moments, as the conversation spilled over into an entire street in the middle of the night.
More than anything else, this was an uncynical, hopeful event that celebrated humanity and individual creativity. This is the promise of technology. Let’s make things and connect.
Here I am again, hanging out in Portland with a collection of amazing creatives and makers. I don't mean "creatives" in that asinine corporate marketing kind of way, but rather, people who create; while last year the event was open to anyone who backed it on Kickstarter, this year the only rule was that you had to be someone who makes things. Personally. Executive teams and marketing fact-finding missions were not allowed - unless, of course, the people on those teams were, individually, people who made things for themselves, on their own terms.
The result is, once again, an inspiring group of people, and once again I'm finding that the conversations I'm having in hallways and courtyards are every bit as inspiring as the talks I'm seeing on stage. I'm seeing more of my heroes this year, too - people like Evan Williams, Maciej Ceglowski, as well as people I didn't know were heroes until yesterday, like Molly Crabapple and Vi Hart.
Let's talk about the word "inspiring". Usually we use it in these kinds of contexts as a kind of platitude; it's almost a cipher for "oh, that speaker was very interesting." At #xoxofest the participants are inspiring in a more direct way, as in: "I want to go home and make something incredible right now." Since last year's event, I've written a novel and kicked off the creation of a new open source social platform. If anything, I want to create more things - but also do it in such a way that they're sustainable in themselves. Last year's event helped me blow off the pseudo-clouds of my impostor syndrome. This year's event, again so full of emotion and motivation and creative, hyper-intelligent people engineering their own lives so that they can make the things they dream of, is the kick in the pants I need to begin taking my own creation seriously.
And that, really, is the magic of XOXO. This isn't pie in the sky or some kind of nebulous conference about values. These are people who have done it; people who have made art, music, software, literature, devices and movies themselves. Hundreds of them. And they all want to talk, and hang out, and maybe make together. I hope to be back, and I hope to be meeting those entrance requirements - just make something! - for the rest of my life.
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My mission at #xoxofest is to meet a bunch more amazing people. Everyone there is amazing, so this should be easy.
Some of us indieweb folks are meeting for breakfast before #xoxofest tomorrow, just up the street: http://aaronparecki.com/events/2013/09/22/1/indiewebcamp-breakfast
@urbangoatspdx Do you know if anyone will be around tomorrow? Will plan my day around it if so! @caseorganic #xoxofest #goats
@caseorganic There's a gate on the far side of the field. Very happy to go on a field trip tomorrow! So cute. #xoxofest
Got my #xoxofest book submission in at the nick of time (hopefully). It's, er, a thing. Now watching the news to hopefully learn more about @niallds, who was shot in Nairobi.
Tuning out of #xoxofest on learning that my friend @niallds is missing in Nairobi. Please check in?
My high school yearbook entry says I want to be a journalist. @boingboing is that me's perfect job. #xoxofest
Zines were amazing. My friend @jinxremoving's If Destroyed, Still True still breaks my heart & makes me laugh. #xoxofest
Mingling between talks. Can you name them all? #xoxofest
Evan Williams talking about "give people what they want", in a way. What they desire, not ask for. #xoxofest
There is no such thing as a meritocracy. Worth repeating. #xoxofest
Important talk from Molly Crabapple bursting some bubbles about the ability for people who aren't upper middle class to be independent artists. Important discussion.
Important message from @mollycrabapple about how striking out on your own is much easier for the wealthy. #xoxofest
