The women at XOXO rocked it

XOXO was fantastic again this year. Since it wrapped up a week ago, there have been a number of fantastic posts from the likes of Frank Chimero, Maciej Ceglowski, and Kelly Kend; you should go read them. I was particularly moved by the unabashed vulnerability and honesty of the speakers, and their willingness to recruit the audience to confront the debilitating effects of impostor syndrome. I expect to write more about the festival in the future. Or maybe I’ll just create something awesome in the coming year, instead.

One thing struck me after the first day of talks that I’ve not noticed addressed elsewhere. While women were under-represented in the audience (though far better than at most tech conferences), but they were pretty well-represented among the speakers. And the women speakers — oh man. They. Kicked. Ass.

Erika Moen openly shared her quest for sexual identity via comics. Vi...