Jennifer Robbins

It was Christopher who tweeted back "I'm in!" (after only 4 minutes!) to my call on Twitter for collaborators for a mobile web conference in 2012. Less than a year later, we were standing on stage at the first ARTIFACT conference in Austin!

There's a saying that some people really light up a room, and that was certainly true of Christopher. At our conferences, it was also literally true, in that he was the one who brought the magic to our conference halls with vivid colored lighting effects and softly glowing purple fairy lights on the podium. And what other conference organizer shows up to the pre-party wearing a Chewbacca costume?! He had a good instinct for making experiences memorable.

I learned so much about running a tech conference from Christopher (and Ari too!) over the years, and we had a lot of fun doing it. I especially loved how natural he was on stage, putting the audience at ease, getting them to laugh, and indulging them in a nice afternoon stretch. He brought a laid back vibe to the whole event and to me personally--he always calmed my jitters and made me laugh in our whispered chats with one another during the show.

I'm really going to miss his humor, his easy, generous manner, and how he went all-in on things he loved.