Post-XOXO Checklist

There’s a lot to process after any conference, particularly one as involving as XOXO. Taking the advice in this list, here is my list of things to do:

1. Thanking people:
   Old me — good job signing up again this year. Great jorb!
   Random number generator — thanks for picking my name!
   Andy, Other Andy, and Other Other Andy, plus all the volunteers, artists, and everyone who helped create the festival — Thank you for putting on the most amazing event.
   Other attendees — all of you ruined me for other people. RUINED ME. I am tempted to go up to everyone in the coffee shop and ask what they’re working on. Acceptable at the festival, slightly creepy in the mundane world. (Even in Portland.)
2. Following up:
   I did just start following a bunch of people on Twitter, those I could remember, and I owe a couple of people a few things. Working on those now, though it’s taking some time. I am still catching up on sleep, this many days later!
3. Skimming notes:
   I didn’t take a great many notes during the event, so I’m a bit shy of action items. As mentioned above, I do have a few things to send, working on those now. I also added Marrying Mr Darcy to my list of games to watch. Most of my notes were mental, and as I think of the festival, more will be written down. This list is a start!
4. Doing better:
   If there is a next time — and keeping in mind that there are no promises that there will be a next time— I definitely need to figure out a better way to remember who I met and talked to. Some folks were taking photos of nametags, which seemed weird at the time, but in retrospect was a great idea! I tried to pose with mine so a name could go with a face.
   I once read that Steve Martin’s business cards look like this:
   This certifies that you have had a personal encounter with me, and that you found me warm, polite, intelligent and funny.
   Missing Oxford comma aside, something like that might be fun to contemplate for the future of this or any gathering.
5. Doing a new thang
   This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I have so many domains that I’ve registered, I need to something with them!

Perhaps it starts by eating more Tim Tams? (The #tim-tam-slam-jam was one of my favorite events, came complete with a demonstration, a video, and was entirely self-directed by participants. It was so much fun.)

The bounty of Tim Tams and Mint Slice from the XOXO Tim Tam Slam Jam

Might have to keep in mind a bit of advice from Tyler Sticka’s presentation Side Projects That Ship: ship when it’s done (not perfect). As the Cult of Done manifesto reads:

There are three states of being: not knowing, action, and completion.

Aiming for more of the latter two!