Andy Baio
Andy Baio | |
|---|---|
 Andy Baio in 2012 | |
| Born | April 22, 1977 |
| Occupation(s) | Technologist and blogger |
| Employer(s) | Upcoming.org, Waxy.org |
Andy Baio (born April 22, 1977) is an American technologist and blogger. He is the co-founder of the XOXO Festival, founder of Upcoming.org, a former CTO of Kickstarter, and author of the Waxy.org blog.
Internet Entrepreneur
In 2003, Baio launched Upcoming, a collaborative event calendar.[1] The site was acquired by Yahoo for an undisclosed sum in 2005 and Baio joined the company as the site's Technical Director.[2] In 2007, Baio announced his departure from Yahoo.[3][4]
In September 2008, Baio joined the board of directors of Kickstarter, a "crowdfunding" website that helps people with project ideas (often artistic works) to connect with an audience of potential funders.[5] Baio later joined the staff as Chief Technical Officer in July 2009,[6] stepping down in November 2010 to join Expert Labs.[7]
After Yahoo offered to sell the Upcoming domain back to Baio, he launched a Kickstarter campaign that hit its $30,000 goal in May 2014 to revive the site.[8] Baio explained on the Kickstarter page, "Like many of the people that used it, I miss Upcoming. Nothing's come to replace it in the years since, and I have the same problems that motivated me to build it a decade ago -- I'm missing interesting events in my city and struggling to discover interesting events when I travel."[9]
Media
Baio writes mostly about technology and media on Waxy.org, and publishes a sideblog known as Waxy Links.
Baio often takes a stand against censorship on the Internet by hosting or linking to controversial content which some parties wish to suppress. This ranges from unauthorized mashups and other artwork where parody or fair-use claims are disputed[10][11][12] to newsworthy video, such as that of 2008 United States vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin competing in a beauty pageant.[13]
Baio was one of the first bloggers to draw attention to the Star Wars Kid video, which depicted a teenager clumsily emulating martial arts moves for the camera.[14][15] He was the first to identify the youth and interview him.[16] In response to the negative attention the boy received, Baio later organized a fundraiser for him, raising $4,300 in a week.[14][17]
When the parody cartoon House of Cosbys was taken down from its original site due to a cease and desist letter from Bill Cosby's attorney, Baio placed the videos on his own website.[18] Baio later received a similar cease and desist letter but refused to comply, citing fair use and decrying what he termed "a special kind of discrimination against amateur creators on the Internet", since Cosby had often been parodied in the mainstream media.[19]
In 2009, he produced Kind of Bloop, a chiptune tribute album commemorating the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. The album's cover was a pixel art version of the original album's cover, which consisted of a photograph taken by Jay Maisel. Attorneys representing Maisel demanded damages and that the resulting image be removed from the chiptune album, resulting in a settlement of $32,500 from Baio.[20]
Baio has also written for Wired magazine[21] and The New York Times,[22] and was a staffer on R. U. Sirius' online magazine GettingIt.com.[23]
XOXO Festival
In early 2012, Baio and Andy McMillan co-founded the XOXO Festival, celebrating independent artists and technologists. The conference has been held in Portland, Oregon in September 2012, 2013, and 2014. The conferences have been largely funded via prepaid tickets and other contributions, including via Kickstarter.[24]
The conferences have had an enthusiastic reception. Prominent bloggers and traditional media praised the "impressive list of speakers",[25] and described it as a "crucible of trailblazing artists and developers".[26]
References
- ^ "Online Diary". The New York Times. 6 November 2003.
- ^ Yahoo acquires Upcoming.org | CNET News.com
- ^ "Upcoming.org creator leaving Yahoo". 12 November 2007.
- ^ Russell, Terrence (12 November 2007). "Upcoming's Founder on Going From Giants to Startups (and Back Again)". Wired.
- ^ Kickstarter | waxy.org
- ^ Kickstarter's New CTO, Andy Baio
- ^ "Joining Expert Labs". Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Andy Baio crowdfunds $30,000 in 90 minutes to relaunch community event site Upcoming". The Next Web. May 7, 2014.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "The Return of Upcoming.org". Retrieved May 7, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ House of Cosbys, You See | waxy.org
- ^ Danger Mouse's The Grey Album MP3s | waxy.org
- ^ Disney Suppressing the Kleptones | waxy.org
- ^ Found Footage: Sarah Palin's 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant Video, Swimsuit Competition | waxy.org
- ^ a b "'Star Wars Kid' Gets Bucks From Blogs". Wired. 19 May 2003. Archived from the original on July 23, 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ under the iron
- ^ Finding the Star Wars Kid
- ^ "'Star Wars Kid' becomes unwilling Internet star". USA Today. 22 August 2003.
- ^ Waxy.org: House of Cosbys, Mirrored
- ^ Miller, Lia (6 March 2006). "Cosby's Lawyers See No Flattery in an Imitation". The New York Times.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (June 24, 2011). "Chiptune Cover Album Leads to Huge Legal Bill". The Escapist.
- ^ "Wired 15.04: START". Wired.
- ^ Volunteers Put the Economist Into Chinese
- ^ Gettingit.com: Andrew Baio
- ^ Wortham, Jenna (May 25, 2012). "XOXO aims to be an alternative to South by Southwest". New York Times Bits Blog.
- ^ Wortham, Jenna (September 14, 2012). "XOXO Fest, An Experimental Tech Conference, Gets Underway". New York Times Bits Blog.
- ^ Edidin, Rachel (September 9, 2013). "XOXO and the High Costs of Not Selling Out". Wired.
External links
- Waxy.org – main blog
- Waxy Links links selected by Baio, each with a few words of commentary
- Kind of Bloop