Well, one more Steemfest down and many more to come.
I guess it was to be expected but @roelandp did it again with his amazing organizational skills and excellent choice of event presentations. I loved every minute of it from start to finish and I must say, the trip home on the plane was a bit of a downer to say the least. Because I didn't want it to end. It’s those special memories that I get to take back with me to London. I have so many highlights packed into those six days that I can’t even think where to begin. Though after some serious sifting, here is a collection of my personal favourites.
It must be said I found all the presentations to be spectacular. I saw some familiar faces from the last Steemfest as well as a few new ones which was awesome:
The Introduction (@ned and @roelandp):
The initial speech given by these two superstars was superb, from their delivery to the interesting information snippets they delivered. As this is what got me super excited from the outset. I (as well as many others in attendance I’m sure) were not aware of the impressive growth statistics they both provided for us.
These included registered accounts now topping over 400,000 and a whopping $20 million paid out so far as rewards to us lucky steemians. Those figures simply blew my mind and goes to show how valuable this platform has been in actually changing people’s lives for the better.
Yet more information was given by @sneak (on the technicalities of the Steem blockchain) and these were equally astounding. Such as the Steem blockchain being the “fastest” of it's kind out there and generating up to more than 1 million transactions per day! Again, for the average blogger on Steemit, they may not have been aware of this so it just gave me more confidence than ever that we will be reaching the moon within a short period of time.
The way I see things, the future of Steemit could not be brighter. With the introduction of SMT’s, strong developments to the interface of the platform itself and a phenomenal team running the back-end of the whole operation down at Steemit Inc., the evidence is clear for all to see. Steemit (and the Steem blockchain) will be “massive” going into 2018 and beyond.
Jeff Berwick (aka The Dollar Vigilante)
Without a doubt, one of the biggest names at this year’s Steemfest. Mr. Berwick’s talk on his thoughts on “Steem” and ”Steemit“ as well as where he saw things headed where insightful and intriguing to say the least. He also pointed out a few possible flaws in our system (such as the sign-up process) which might be hindering growth at present but are absolutely resolvable.
All in all, I feel he is with us in exploring the larger picture. The fact that Jeff sees Steemit having the potential to grow into something that could change the face of digital social media across the globe, even rivalling Facebook and Instagram in the process. Big words, but backed up by someone who has years of experience in the field and a logical approach to business-like ventures. It was great to get his direct seal of approval and vote of confidence on Steemit, Steem and it’s vast community.
The Promo-UK Presentation
A little while back, I had the pleasure of teaming up with @starkerz on behalf of #promo-uk and spreading the good word of Steemit at Oxford university. I wrote a post about it and what a great and productive day it had been overall. Well, it just so happened that at the last minute, @starkerz decided to not only attend but do a presentation at this year’s Steemfest. If I was amazed by his engaging communication skills before, the quality of his presentation just floored me.
He touched upon an important subject within the community of Steemit. That being, we are all in this together. @starkerz hammered home the point that if we take a proactive step in helping and supporting other individuals who are raising awareness and actively campaigning for Steemit around the world, we will all be winners in the long run. A collective effort is needed to build us up as a unified entity. That will have the effect of not only driving up the Steem token in value but also take Steemit to the next level in terms of exposure and popularity. The message was an important one and this was easily one of the most impactful of all the presentations made. Great job, Matt!
The Hard Fork Trailer
Even before attending the Steemfest, there has been a lot of buzz concerning the upcoming “Hark Fork" series by creator and renowned director @dougkarr. Well, finally we were able to get a glimpse of the world he has envisioned and all I can say is WOW! The production value was top class. It had great effects, interesting characters, engaging visuals and a fully fleshed out bleak dystopian cyberworld. It simply left the audience (who would be us at the Steemfest) begging for more. Incredible stuff so far, guys!
A Fireside Chat with @ned
Last but not least, I thought the idea of having @ned take centre stage and respond to questions from the very community that enjoy the platform everyday was a heartfelt gesture and ultimately showed he really cares about what we think. During the presentation, he took on some tough questions about user-based politics and other issues regarding Steem and Steemit in general, but answered them with honesty and in his trademark humble manner.
Even if some disagree with my stance, I firmly believe he has our best interests at heart and is striving to make the “Steem” eco-system work to benefit us all. The only thing we can do to assist in making it reach it's fullest potential is what we are best at on the platform itself. Blog and enjoy Steemit to the max for everything it is worth. Thank you @ned for that beautiful wrap-up to the day’s events!
These are just a few examples of the astounding work so many talented steemians put into making the Steemfest as enjoyable as it was for us. And to think, this may very well become an annual trend. Well, all I can say to that is that I consider it an honour to have been there from the very start and watch the exemplary visions of two young men back in 2016 take shape in the way that it has and will do.
Truly inspiring stuff!
(To be continued)
第二届Steemfest完美落幕了，我已经迫不及待等着下届的来临。@roelandp再次展现了他优秀的组织能力，把这次聚会办得有声有色， 我非常享受这里面的每一分钟！在飞回伦敦的路上，我心里难免有依依不舍，甚至失落的感觉。 但至少和我一起回来的还有这么多美好的回忆。这短短的六天Steemfest II的经历，其中精彩片段数不胜数，让我都不知道从何说起。以下我来和大家分享一下我个人最喜欢的部分吧，呵呵。
持续了两天的Steemian演讲非常精彩。 我看到了不少来自上届Steemfest的熟悉面孔，同时也有更多令人钦佩的新面孔。
这两位平台上的超级巨星@ned和@roelandp各自发表了开场演说，从逗趣的聚会组织故事到关于Steemit的最新信息， 这都让我超级兴奋。其中给我印象最深刻的是平台上统计的增长数据，包括现在有超过40万的注册用户，以及迄今为止平台上已派发了高达2千万美元的奖金！这些数字都让我相当震惊，可以想象Steemit平台改善了世界各地多少人的生活。
作为平台CEO的@sneak也为我们提供了关于Steem区块链在技术方面的信息，同样令人振奋不已。如Steem区块链是目前“最快”的，并且每天发生超过100万宗交易！对Steemit的大部分成员来说，他们可能还没有意识到这一点。但这些信息让我对这个平台信心倍增。
在我看来，Steemit的未来前途无限。随着SMT的引入，整个平台的发展以及Steemit公司技术人员的努力开发，成员们的齐心协力，这些大家都是有目共睹的。相信在不远的将来，Steemit得到大规模的扩展，晋升到另一个水平。
Jeff Berwick（又名The Dollar Vigilante)
毫无疑问，在今年Steemfest的明星中最有影响力的要数Jeff Berwick 。Jeff谈及自己对Steem以及Steemit平台的见解。他还指出这个平台的系统里存在一些缺陷（如注册程序）可能会妨碍平台的发展，但这些都是可以解决的。
总而言之，我感觉他和我们一样都看到了平台的潜力，那就是Steemit有可能扩展成为与Facebook和Instagram一样具有影响力，甚至能够改变全球数字媒体平台。能够得到像Jeff这样在该领域拥有多年经验的成功人士对Steem, Steemit 平台以及社区成员的认可和信任，非常难得！
英国宣传队演说
不久前我有幸与@starkerz一起代表英国宣传队（promo-uk）在牛津大学推广Steemit平台。我写了一篇关于这个宣传活动的文章，那是非常愉快而有成效的一天，呵呵。在我极力游说下，@starkerz在最后一分钟决定了他不但要参加Steemfest II ，并且将会参与演讲部分。如果说我之前很欣赏@starkerz的宣传技巧，那么他 的演说能力更是让我五体投地，呵呵。
他提到Steemit社区的一个重要课题。这就是我们都坐在同一艘船上。 @starkerz强调，如果大家都能积极帮助和支持正在世界各地努力宣传Steemit平台的成员们，那么将来平台扩展，我们都将是赢家。平台需要大家集体努力，才能建设成一个统一的实体。如果大家都这样做不仅仅能提升Steem的价值，而且其曝光度和影响力也会把Steemit提升到一个新的高度。这个信息很重要，是我认为最具影响力的信息之一。Matt真是好样的！
Hard Fork预告片
在我参加Steemfest之前，就听闻关于著名导演兼平台成员@ dougkarr即将推出的“Hark Fork2”系列片。在这次Steemfest上我们终于看到了他所设想和创造的世界了，我激动得说不出话来！ 预告片的制作水平简直一流， 它塑造的人物性格，特技片段，惊人的视觉效果，完全创作出一个非常有新引力的未来世界，太令人难以置信了！
与@ned现场问答
最后我想和大家分享的是与Ned的问答部分。我认为Ned能在舞台上与平台成员们互动，现场回答大家的问题，这是非常积极的态度。它说明作为平台的创始者，Ned真心想了解我们的想法！这问答过程里，Ned诚实并谦虚地回答了一些关于Steem和Steemit 平台上的稍有异议的敏感话题，但他全程始终保持一贯的绅士风度！也许其他成员会有不同的想法，但我认为Ned是全心全意发展并维护这个平台，努力让Steem的生态系统完善起来，让所有成员得益。而我们唯一能配合他的就是在平台上做我们所擅长的 ，发表优质文章并享受这个平台为我们所带来的物质和精神上的快乐！谢谢Ned以这么完美的方式结束了Steemfest的演讲部分。
以上的这些只是这次Steemfest的几个片段，众多有才华的社区成员各尽所能，才让这次聚会举办得如此成功。能参加这每年一度的盛会，能与成员们互动，交流信息与感想， 我感到非常开心而且无比荣幸！
（待续）