I'm still trying to properly wrap my brain around all the events of the XOXO Fest but it's a whole lot to consume. I can not possibly imagine the level of work that Andy Baio and Andy McMillian put into organizing (and running) the entire thing but it felt flawless. They didn't even appear that stressed during the entirety of the event! Huge credit to them for understanding what makes a conference work and focusing on that. I can't think of a single legitimate complaint regarding anything they had control over.

Overall, I'd say the theme running throughout the conference was People. Basically, useless middle men are no longer needed for our creative endeavors because we can directly socialize with each other and make things happen. Marketing from creation to end user is a 1:1 relationship. As Dan Harmon put it, the Internet is made of people; and they're the most important thing. This might sound overly simplistic but it's that kind of thinking that empowers the disruption we're seeing in so many different industries right now.

Speaking of said People, I am incredibly pleased to have met Jez Burrows, Adam Lisagor, Joshua Blount, Josh Randall, these two and absolutely everyone else. It was a blast and I imagine it's only going to get better if they do it again (which they totally should).