Sacha Judd

Sacha Judd is a writer based in Aotearoa New Zealand. She’s spent the last decade advising and investing in technology startups, and speaking about the intersection of the tech sector and fan communities at conferences like Velocity, Webstock, and Beyond Tellerrand. She has written on these topics for Letterboxd’s Journal, The Spinoff, Shit you Should Care About, and has been quoted in Teen Vogue and Rolling Stone and has an out of control LEGO collection. You can subscribe to her newsletter here.

The Good Internet: How Fandom Can Reclaim the Web

Ever miss the days when the internet felt like a wild frontier of fan-made magic, weird little websites, and pure creativity? Sacha does too. In this spirited talk, she traces the internet’s roots in fan culture—from the scrappy communities that wrote epic fanfiction and built personal sites in the ’90s, to today’s social media giants who seem more interested in selling your data than sharing your joy.

By exploring the heart and soul of fandom, Sacha shows us how we can escape the algorithmic doom loops and reclaim our digital lives. She’ll champion small, personal, independent spaces where your online presence is truly yours. From building your own site to discovering (and creating!) small games, art, fanfiction, memes and fun little passion projects, her message is simple: embrace the DIY ethic that once made the web a home for boundless curiosity and creativity.

If you’re fed up with corporate walled gardens and hungry for a more authentic online experience, join Sacha’s journey to bring back the “good internet” – a place fueled by genuine community, creativity, and connection. It’s time to roll our sleeves up, rebuild, and rediscover the thrill of finding your people in the digital wild. The power’s in our hands – let’s use it.