Andy McMillan
Andy McMillan in 2014
Occupation(s)Designer, event organizer
Known forXOXO
Websiteandymcmillan.com

Andy McMillan is a co-founder of XOXO festival.[1]

Career

McMillan attended university at Queen's University Belfast for Music Technology, hoping to make his way into a career in radio production.[2]

Build

McMillan launched Build in 2009, a web design conference held annually in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2013. Starting as a single day of talks, it grew into a week-long festival, including music, film screenings, workshops, evening lectures, and a beer festival.[3]

The first Build was held in 2009 at Waterfront Hall, with positive coverage from the BBC[4] and Wired.[5] The Belfast Telegraph said it was a "must-attend" that "provides nourishment for the design geek's soul."[6]

XOXO

In 2012, McMillan and co-organizer Andy Baio launched XOXO Festival, a four-day conference and festival about independently produced art and technology held in Portland, Oregon.[7] The project raised $175,000 via Kickstarter, selling all 400 tickets in 50 hours.[8][9]

PayPal controversy

In May 2012, PayPal froze two of McMillan's accounts, withholding over $64,000 of funds collected from Build's ticket sales as collateral against pre-orders of The Manual.[10] The resulting social media backlash led to a public response and personal apology to McMillan from former PayPal president David A. Marcus, who released the funds and asked McMillan to work with him personally on improving the service.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Shepard, Susan Elizabeth (18 February 2020). "In Boozy Portland, Andy McMillan Wants to Open the City's First Completely Non-Alcoholic Bar". Willamette Week. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Method & Craft: Andy McMillan Interview".
  3. ↑ "Build gears up for final event in 2013". .net Magazine. 10 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "The next Twitter or Facebook?". BBC News. 5 November 2009.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Keith (6 November 2009). "Belfast looks to Build a high-tech future". Wired. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Adams, Barry (10 November 2010). "A Web Designer's Must-Attend: The Build Conference". The Belfast Telegraph.
  7. ↑ Brown, Ruth (18 September 2012). "Reflections on the XOXO Festival". Willamette Week.
  8. ↑ Walker, Alissa (18 June 2012). "Conferences Get Creative: An Art and Tech Festival Wins Over Kickstarter". Wired.
  9. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (28 May 2012). "A Conference of Start-Ups, By Start-Ups". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Musil, Steven. "PayPal exec gets personally involved in account dispute". CNET.
  11. ↑ "This letter from PayPal's President might just make you believe in the company again". The Next Web.
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