XOXO

What XOXO does

XOXO was an experimental festival for independent artists and creators from the internet, operating from 2012 to 2024 in Portland, Oregon. Founded and organized by Andy Baio (writer, coder, and early Kickstarter contributor) and Andy McMillan (designer and event producer at studio Regular), the festival brought together writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, game developers, coders, and cartoonists for single-track conference talks, an evening Sideshow program, an indie video game arcade, tabletop gaming events, and curated social experiences. Production was supported by a rotating team of lead and supporting producers plus volunteers, with the most recent editions produced at Washington High School (Revolution Hall) in SE Portland.

The core technology layer was minimal: XOXO distributed passes through a survey-and-lottery registration system (my.xoxofest.com), ran a year-round Slack community launched in 2015 with roughly 3,000 members and over 200 public channels, and maintained an archive of conference talks on YouTube spanning all eight festival editions. Tickets were sold as Theater Passes or Park Passes (outdoor tent with livestream) at $250 each for the 2024 edition, down from $500 in prior years; children under 12 attended free, and on-site childcare was provided through a Jovie partnership funded by an anonymous patron. Approximately 20% of 2018 attendees received subsidized or free passes via a sponsorship program.

XOXO generated revenue primarily through ticket sales, supplemented by partnerships with companies such as BackerKit, Panic, Glitch, and Outpost for the 2024 edition. The festival launched in 2012 via Kickstarter, becoming the most-funded event ever on the platform. After a five-year hiatus, the 2024 edition was explicitly framed as the final event, and the website states that it is no longer being developed. The organization remains closed rather than operating as an ongoing business.

Name

XOXO

Legal name

XOXO

Website

https://xoxofest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

XOXO was a Portland-based annual festival (2012-2024) for independent artists and creators from the internet, featuring conference talks, performances, arcade and tabletop events, and a 3,000-member year-round Slack community. It is now concluded, with the website no longer being developed.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Festival & Conference Events

NAICS

All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (71399), All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (713990)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

General Consumer Expos & Trade Shows (MPAGAFAA)

Keywords

• Independent creators festival
• Creative conference events
• Live event programming
• Community gathering events
• Indie gaming showcases

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Festival Passes: XOXO generates revenue through ticket sales for its annual festival. Passes cost $250 and provide access to all festival events including Conference, Sideshow, and social events. Passes are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

XOXO was an annual experimental festival, held in Portland, Oregon from 2012 to 2024, dedicated to independent artists and creators working on the internet. The festival produced a single-track conference of talks, an evening Sideshow program, a pop-up indie video game arcade, tabletop game events, community socials, and on-site food/beverage services, with passes sold to individual attendees via a survey-based lottery system.

Product overview

XOXO was an experimental festival for independent artists and creators from the internet, running from 2012 to 2024. The festival's core offering was a multi-day event featuring a single-track conference of talks, evening programming (Sideshow), an indie video game arcade, tabletop gaming events, and social/community activities. Additional offerings included a curated food cart pod, an on-site bar, video archives of past talks, and the XOXO Slack community platform. The festival prioritized accessibility, inclusion, and diverse representation of independent creators across disciplines including writing, design, filmmaking, music, game development, and more.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• XOXO Festival An experimental festival celebrating independent artists and creators working on the internet, featuring conference talks, performances, and community events held annually in Portland, Oregon from 2012 to 2024.
• XOXO Conference A single-track day of talks from independent artists and creators working online, featuring discussions about the emotional experience of making things on the internet.
• XOXO Sideshow An evening event featuring some of the festival's favorite projects from the internet, introduced in 2024 as a new main stage programming element.
• XOXO Arcade A pop-up arcade featuring unreleased independent video games with designers and developers on-site for attendees to play, typically featuring games from Panic and other indie developers.
• XOXO Tabletop An event featuring indie tabletop games with their designers, including board games, card games, and RPGs played with their creators.
• XOXO Video Archive A public archive of conference talks from all eight years of XOXO festivals, featuring speakers discussing creativity, independence, and challenges of online work.
• XOXO Slack A year-round online community platform for XOXO attendees and alumni featuring hundreds of channels for discussion, planning, and networking.
• XOXO Food Cart Pod A curated selection of local food carts serving diverse cuisine options including vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free choices, operating during festival hours from 9am-10pm.
• XOXO Bar A companion bar with creative drink options including specialty sodas, shrubs, craft beers, wines, and non-alcoholic beverages, serving both day and night during the festival.
• Attendee Directory A private directory listing all festival attendees with links to their social media and current projects, accessible only to current passholders.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 20% of 2018 attendees received subsidized/free passes through sponsorship program
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and support.

• BackerKitcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 August 2024BackerKit partnered with XOXO for the Tabletop Game Jam and Tabletop events. The Game Jam allows attendees to form teams and go through ideation, prototyping, and playtesting process, culminating in a showcase. The Tabletop event features indie tabletop games with designers on-site.
• GlitchcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 August 2024Glitch partnered with XOXO for the Art+Code event featuring creative code and internet weirdness, aligning with Glitch's community-focused coding platform.
• OutpostsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 August 2024Outpost partnered with XOXO for the Indie Media Circus event, showcasing writers behind member-supported indie publications on the web.
• PaniccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2024Panic partnered with XOXO for the Arcade event, showcasing upcoming independent video games with Panic developers on-site. Panic also provided the Playdate handheld console for hands-on demonstrations.
• JoviesupportOthersJovie provides free, credentialed on-site childcare for the duration of XOXO through a partnership with an anonymous patron. Childcare is available Friday and Saturday from 9am-10pm at the Sunset Room in Washington High School.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Eyeo Festival: Annual festival in Minneapolis focused on data, art, and creativity. Like XOXO, it is a curated, multi-day gathering that blends talks, performances, and community around independent creative work.
• VidCon: Annual convention for online video creators, fans, and industry. Like XOXO, VidCon centers internet-native creators and the creator economy, and is among the most prominent US events in this category.
• Creative Mornings: A global, chapter-based creative community hosting monthly talks in many cities. Shares XOXO's emphasis on independent creative work, accessibility, and a community-driven model with a year-round component.
• Reasons to be Creative: A creative conference in the UK featuring designers, technologists, and artists. Comparable to XOXO in its curated, single-track creative talks format and indie creative community.
• Strange Loop Conference: An annual conference for software developers and creative technologists held in St. Louis. Overlaps with XOXO in curating a thoughtful, single-track, community-driven experience around technology and creativity.
• Brooklyn Art Book Fair: An independent fair celebrating zines, art books, and small-press publishers. XOXO explicitly cites the Brooklyn Art Book Fair's COVID safety policy as a model, indicating shared values and overlapping indie/creator audiences.
• World Maker Faire: A large-scale maker community event featuring hands-on projects, talks, and demos. Like XOXO, it celebrates independent creators, with programming that spans tech, art, and DIY culture.

Emerging players

• IndieWebCamp: A grassroots community and annual gathering focused on independent ownership of online content. Shares XOXO's indie-internet ethos and overlap of attendees, but is organized as open-source community work rather than a ticketed festival.

Broad incumbents

• SIGGRAPH: The premier conference for computer graphics and interactive techniques. Much larger and more academic than XOXO, but shares overlap in the interactive/creative technology community that XOXO's Arcade programming engaged.
• SXSW: A much larger festival in Austin spanning film, music, and interactive media. SXSW overlaps with XOXO's internet/creator focus through its Interactive track but serves a much broader and more commercial audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/xoxo
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@xoxofest
• Instagraminstagram.com/xoxofest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/xoxofest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about XOXO