Wow, so I ended up getting back on Steemit in the last couple weeks, and who would have guessed it would have lead to this?
That's me (rocking the limonata) with the mastermind behind the meetup, and someone you all probably know very well, Steemit's own @stellabelle.
I am currently on somewhat of a vacation in Kansas City, coming from my home state of New York. In August I'll be moving here, but the story behind that is quite long and best saved for another time. Suffice to say, I never could have guessed that deciding to get back on Steemit after a 9 month hiatus would lead, in short order, to my first Steemit meetup and meeting such big figures in the community. What a coincidence that this happened just a short bus ride away from where I was staying! Stella made some great food for us all, most notably these delicious Steem cupcakes:
When @papa-pepper - who I remembered from my earliest days on steemit from his bee-wrangling antics - showed up, everyone flocked to get a picture of him and Stella together, myself included!
It was so insightful to listen and learn from such adept Steemians as @virtualgrowth, and @sykochica. I can be very talkative when it comes to my own areas of expertise, but I mostly just listened and tried to keep up with the wealth of Steemit and crypto knowledge they had.
Here's another heavy hitter, improv veteran @jacobts, with @Stellabelle:
I tried to mingle as best I could and make sure to talk a little bit to everyone, and felt very welcomed by @clickinchicken, @goatgarden, and @sylviategan who very helpfully provided nametags for everyone.
@jessamynorchard brought the tunes and her friends @melodyrussell and @jasonrussell, who took copious photographs of the meetup. Here's a shot of her performing:
And here's us together, after her stellar performance:
Although I didn't really get to interact much with @pierrefilms, @rebeccabe, @alfonso1003, @reedracer, or @bluerthangreen, I look forward to seeing more of them here on steemit and I can't leave them out because their presences at the meetup were very appreciated!
The gifts that some members brought were so cool! Check out this awesome shirt that @papa-pepper made and that I was lucky enough to be given:
And of course, the @stellabelle coin that keeps giving, worth one powerful upvote, and then again for each new user it's passed on to. Also in the picture is a hilarious $5 Ned-note, and @jessamynorchard's very cool sticker:
Apologies if I seemed nervous or standoffish to anyone, I can be a little reserved around new people, and I tend to be more of an observer than an active participant in unfamiliar social settings; I did very much enjoy meeting this diverse group of people and connecting with you all though, and I'm excited to see more of your content on here as well as seeing you again at future Steem events!
Here's a couple bonus pictures of me and my partner Kayleigh enjoying the delicious Steem cupcakes that I took home with me:
Thanks for reading!