We over at Yes Headquarters have been excitedly planning (and un-planning) YxYY002 and have some news for you!
For those that may have missed it, we will return to our beloved Ace Hotel, this time for FOUR stimulating days, and three nights of reveling, from July 11th to July 14th, 2014. Tickets will go on sale February 2nd at noon PST to our pre-sale group, and a day later to the public. Mark your calendars!
So now for the news...
Back in September, we received an email from the folks at South by Southwest requesting that we change the name of our event to preserve the strength of their brand. (Read the full letter from SXSW here.)
The email sparked much discussion. We had grown attached to our cheeky name and our hashtag, and we liked calling it 'Yes by'. There were differing opinions from our friends in the trademark law community as to whether or not they had a legal leg to stand on (most thought not).
On the other hand, even though our frustration with SXSW's current incarnation was the impetus for the creation of YxYY, we still had great respect and gratitude for what SXSW had given us over the years. Also, now that it was clear that the event was destined to continue into the foreseeable future, we had already wondered, 'Do we want our name to forever be a reference to another conference?'
The latter thought tipped the scales and we decided to embrace a (simple but meaningful) name change.
So without further ado, we'd like to announce that henceforth, we shall be known as...
Yes AND Yes Yes!
To explain: For those unfamiliar with the craft of improvisational acting, one of the few 'rules' that exist around engaging others on stage is the rule of 'Yes and'.
That means if your acting partner says 'Excellent! It looks like Benjamin Franklin has shown up to help us with our teleporter!' then, no matter how far fetched the idea is, you are to stay away from the words 'no' or 'but'. Rather, the scene is most helped by exclaiming 'Yes, AND he's brought his kite & key to help power our machine in this lightning storm! This is just like Back to the Future!!'
One of the most inspiring elements of our Yes experience in 2013's event was the fact that, in the absence of a pre-planned conference structure, the community did some beautiful riffing off of one another in a truly 'Yes And' fashion. One of you would create a concept that you wanted to exist over the weekend, and an hour later, there would be a 30-comment thread, a Wiki page tracking the idea, and plans in the works to make it happen. Amazing!
Further, we felt like the community that came together in 2013 was committed to positive idea generation, moved away from cynicism, and as a result, sent us home smiling, brains brimming with new concepts and collaborations. Again and again, each of you said 'Yes And' to one another in Palm Springs and beyond. This made our event more powerful and meaningful than even we imagined it could be.
With our new name, we seek to honor the community you created in this past year and we hope to inspire next year's crew to keep the Yes going. For you social media mavens, our 'x' will now mean 'and' so feel free to keep using the same hashtags (#YxYY and #YxYYfx) and following our YxYY TagBoard. We're multiplying the YES factor!
We are hard at work to both improve on last year's experience, and preserve what you loved about it. As always, we want your ideas and input! We are also looking for the following help:
- Someone to help create a scrolling marquee that would allow you to stay updated as new events are announced, while never having to leave the pool!
- A well-organized individual to help provide support around sponsorship so we can provide you with even more goodies than last year.
Anyone willing to help us will certainly be provided with a complementary ticket! And our undying gratitude, of course. :)
Looking forward to saying Yes And repeatedly with you good people in 2014! More good things to come...
The Yes and Yes Yes Team
Ann Larie Valentine
Hillary Hartley
Amy Muller
Willo O'Brien
Deb Schultz