Activity tagged "XOXOfest"

Read:
"The Final XOXO".
Kit Jones in their blog. Published .
10 years after the first XOXO I attended I went to the last XOXO, held on August 22-24, 2024 at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon. I’ve talked previously (here and here) about how XOXO reflects the importance of community and in being heard and seen, as a creator who lives entirely too much online, as well as the tension between the desire to connect and the hostility of many of the spaces on the internet where we seek that connection. This year’s XOXO, befitting the final one, felt even more focused on that tension.  It was also a space all too rare these days, one that acknowledged that we are still in a global pandemic, that gathering in person carries its own set of risks, significant and sometimes life altering. We are also all changed now by the experience of that pandemic. Whatever our own personal lessons and challenges have been, we’ve all experienced a collective trauma, loss and grief a constant undercurrent, whether we are able to express or even acknowledge it or not. One of the things that so moved me about that first XOXO was being in a space that stood apart for recognizing that the wave of harassment and toxicity hitting my industry was real, and serious, and that speaking up about it mattered. This time, the realities we were collectively acknowledging are so much larger – the pandemic, the waves of transphobia and anti-trans and anti-LGBT legislation in the US, the genocides happening in so many places (Gaza, Ukraine, Tigray). 
Posted:

XOXO and that feeling

At the recent XOXO conference, I spoke about that burning feeling I get right in my upper abdomen when I’m overwhelmed with excitement or inspiration or drive to do something.

I mentioned that I’ve been feeling this a lot over the last few years, even as I too am witnessing what many of us think about as “the web” rotting right in front of our eyes. Working outside of that rot pile, and perhaps motivated by it, there are so many people who are excited about the potential for a better web.

I don’t travel much, partly because even short trips sap my energy in a way that requires a long recovery. But even as my low battery alarm is beeping away, I am feeling that burning feeling very intensely. I met so many people at XOXO who feel it too (whether about the web or a different passion).

I wish I could bottle the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of people like this. People like Erin Kissane, who will just do the thing that needs doing because no one else is doing it. People like Gita Jackson at Aftermath, the people at 404 Media, and all of the others who are writing what needs writing, even if it means using a model for their businesses that people told them couldn’t possibly work. The too many people to name who I talked to who also feel the feeling of needing to write or draw or film or paint or code or sing or dance or photograph or tell stories because they too fear their heads might explode if they don’t.

XOXO, Molly

P.S. For those who weren’t able to attend, the video of my talk should be available online shortly.