In Memorial of Eyeo and a Changed World View

In 2022 I went to Eyeo, after 3 years of waiting, it was a transformative experience from meeting people in the coding space to having my worldview changed by city that values biking. That was also my last Eyeo as Eyeo is no longer. If you are looking for previous talks they can be found here.

I found out about Eyeo from working on Processing things in the Summer of my 2nd to last year of college and lurking in Creative Coding areas of the net. Then found you could do student volunteering to get a free ticket. Covid derailed those plans and Eyeo was canceled and I graduated. In 2021 there was no Eyeo, but in 2022 there was! This was the furthest I had traveled and what an experience it was. Coming off the back of struggles earlier in the year, this was a sign to myself of getting better and pushing a barrier.

I met friends from the internet IRL.

I met new friends. I went on a bird tour by Jer Thorp and learned about epaulets on Red-Winged Blackbirds (the red spots) and these Chimney swifts that make nests on chimneys and sides of buildings.

I saw a side of an industry totally foreign to me.

Attended some cool talks (Nightingale is a data magazine and not a talk):

Saw some cool art (these were at the Walker Art Center):

I saw a gay couple for the first time in an ad, that was cool

But more fundamentally I saw what a city that values pedestrians is like. I saw a city that had protected bike lanes everywhere. I miss Minneapolis and will be visiting there again soon… I hope. A real protected bike lane.

This experience laid the groundwork in my heart to establish a new company (shhh it’s early days yet) and established a new way of thinking.

Goodbye, Eyeo. Goodbye Minneapolis, we will see each other soon I can feel it.