Andy McMillan (designer)

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

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

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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