XOXO

I had sworn I would never attend a conference again but I was at XOXO in Portland a few weeks ago and it was damn lovely. Lots of cool people and fun stuff, I'll be going next year if they have it again. Looks like all the talks are being posted on Youtube. Some favorites of mine were Jonathan Coulton's, Cabal Sasser's, Adrian Holovaty's and Vi Hart's. The first two made my eyes water a few times. I hear there were some great ones in the morning as well that I missed due to the previous evening's party levels getting out of hand.

One of the most inspiring things during the event was seeing all these independent, do-it-yourself creative types struggling with the same issues I've struggled with: overwork, pressure, isolation, confidence, customer/fan issues, balancing business and creativity. When you do it all yourself you can go a little crazy, getting wrapped up in your own universe and forgetting your problems aren't the worst problems ever invented. It's a struggle for everyone and there's something very comforting in that.