Update edit: Added a new section on my take on the other talks that went on during Day 2 (or in print, Day One of Steemfest)! Please note that I'm writing this as a POV without reference.
Great, great weekend with awesome people. I think that's what you'll see in everyone's firsthand report of Steemfest. And I can vouch for that. Weirdly, it was a good break from Steemit (and the Internet). Just being in the moment with Steemians, and getting to know them is irreplacable.
To be honest, I'm usually on the cynical side of things, so I don't really know why I feel good with these folks. Like 100%.
I had to take the whole day today just resting, reflecting on all that has happened. Pretty braindead since yesterday.
Steemians are like cats, and that's awesome.
Everyone's just flowing in and flowing out of different groups, conversing openly about anything. Absolutely limitless. Even a short walk with a small group going for lobster rolls took like an hour. You really can't herd cats and get them to walk in a straight line.
I even missed the group's morning boat twice for waking up slightly late. Nobody called or even messaged me. It felt like everyone's drumming their own beat, and I absolutely love that! Of course, I was on-time with my presentation and DJ session. I really appreciate that trust is given without a leash.
My thoughts on the talks that happened in Day One
As I was busy myself prepping the slide best to represent Curie (honestly I don't have much of a good idea on how to present it), I could really only focus after 2pm. I think @furion's mention about Steemsports as prediction market (like Augur) is particularly compelling. @xeroc's talk about key and identity protection using the indestructible Trezor thingie seems super important too (reminder to look into this).
The witness and dev panels are a great addition to know what's going on with all the apps and knob tweaking going on with running this next-gen social platform. It's great that everyone acknowledges that the parameters / UI are not perfect. I really hope to have more time in the future to dig into the Steem blockchain, at least to be able to prototype something up myself easily. Btw @pharesim sitting at the end of the bench with his quick, straight-forward answers is the perfect combination lol.
I got really hungry at one point and went for some food with others and missed a whole bunch of talks, and returned to @cardiff on stage with his really intense, poetic speech about Steem as a dependable financial instrument. Then, Tatiana (someone please point me to her account..) played great acoustic music after!
Special thanks.
There are just too many people to thank, even just for being consistent with their expressions on Steemit before I met them in person! However, I want to have a list of those whom I've shared more moments with -
- @andrarchy for his amazing, and pretty much impromptu speech for Curie's presentation. This guy is the ultimate conversationalist and chill buddy.
- @firepower, @anyx, @sjennon, @steemrollin for all the company. Most of us were just walking around visiting places and had our last day dinner on the same corner. Just like all other Steemians, I don't know how to express this, but everyone's just vibing the right way. I can't really explain why everyone's kinda familiar, and not out of place.
- @robrigo for being my missed-the-boat buddy, twice lol!
- @roelandp of course. Much thanks for the great event and hospitality! Double thanks for the awesome accommodation!
- @knozaki2015. This person is really sociable and hardworking. Thanks for the lobster roll recommendation, and I'm definitely inspired to make my own blog more social and frequent!
- @fabio @shla-rafia @felixxx. Funny and lively AF. And thanks @fabio for christening me as jesus node #3.
- @jamesc for the great talk at the bar. It was also awesome to meet another fellow dj and music enthusiast!
- @sneak and @ned for the burrito, beer, and explanations. @sneak's like Steemit's surprise weapon (well at least, in my case), and I have great confidence in him. Quite a right fit for Steemit.
- @saramiller for the Steemit cap and amazing, amazing massage. Seriously the best I've ever had!
- @mariandavp and @everlove for the painting. My crib doesn't have posters and stuff on the walls, so I'm happy to finally have something I really wanna put up!
- I'm pretty sure I missed others, but my mind just could not process any further.. sorry for not including!
Wrapping it up
I'm really happy to have met just about everyone, and I think we're onto something here as a community. I may not have told anyone this, but I really got hit with more than half a dozen dejavu moments in this trip. What I regret is actually not having more time to spend with this community in person. The bigger regret is actually not having a better game plan to work things out with the wider community. I hope I'll have better collab ideas before the next fest!
Can't wait for more social features on the site now.
Alright, super duper tired atm. Time for a nice toke before my flight tomorrow :P
PS: If you've any pictures of us or just me, feel free to send them to etherpunked@gmail.com. I would really appreciate it since I'm really not a camera person, as you may have noticed from my blog.