Dave Deifer's comments from the event:
"With this issue, the ninth Web issue of Xconnect, we conclude our third year of life--we can't help but pause--collectively. In reflection, we can almost fall backward toward our founding inspiration--a desire to create a new outlet for writers. One, which would acknowledge the vast expanse of disciplines, arching from experimental and back to works well rooted in our own discoveries.
Xconnect: Writers of the Information Age is not only a documented history of the Writers that have passed through our web magazine and the Kelly Writers House; it also represents where we were, and more importantly where we are arriving as a culture.
Xconnect's mission has always been to promote the works of artists by providing a viable outlet to reach their audience. With most literary magazines, the pages themselves, housed by its covers promotes a sense of artistic community.
As we look around the room, we can begin to see the artistic community of Xconnect, writers and visual artists--surrounded by these walls. Each possesses an individual voice. A message untold until forged into the reality of the medium. We give thanks to the Kelly Writers House for providing a permanent address and a foundation for our virtual magazine. Under the direction of Al Filreis and Kerry Sherin, a real sense of place has taken shape here--with its own energy, its instinct for survival resonates to form a distinct personality. Capturing this culture is our most significant task as editors."