I made it to Steemfest 3. It seems an eternity ago.
There has not been one point in my life where I thought to myself,
"You know what I want to do? Go and hangout with a bunch of tech nerds at a conference and talk about blockchain."
But, there I was, not only at the conference, but sharing an AirBnB with 5 other guys in Krakow, Poland.
Before going I wrote how I planned on keeping it quiet:
Although once upon a time I enjoyed a nip here and there, the last years have been much "quieter" and in the last two, I haven't really had a drink at all. Las weekend I drank a cider over the space of 2 hours and was tipsy. A week?! source
I was in the house for about 2 hours before doing shots of Pálinka. Not too many hours past that and a couple bars between, Alchemia, the bar that would become the unofficial host to a thousand conversations and multiplier more of drinks over the week closed, and @anomadsoul soul said, "I know a place where there is dancing".
That was the second strip bar I have ever visited.
"It'll be fine. Come in." - @coruscate
That was the warm up game, the rest of the week picked up from there and Alchemia stayed open later and later each night to cater for the conversations that ran well into the night, fueled by liquid catalysts. I don't sleep much normally but that took things to the next level as while the days were filled with talks, presentations and niceties, the night were where the real action took place - Where the adults talked.
At the opening night sign-in, I saw an old friend, and his dog. And I went over to introduce myself warmly as we had never met in person. It was loud in there but he didn't pay me much heed at all until I said hi to his girlfriend. Then he looked at my name tag, gave me a big hug and said:
I thought you'd be taller, I thought you' be a giant! - @pharesim
It is funny, it is these kinds of things I remember the most, the little conversations and funny lines that really stuck as accounts who I had spent time with online became people with faces and backstories, jokes and laughs. People who I got close to over that week and spent a great deal of time talking with, hanging with an helping each other find like minds and differing minds to work with.
This photo was taken just before dawn and is of @justineh and @birdinc
with @abh12345 creeping behind.
We decided to stay up a bit longer and wait for the sunrise so Justine and I could take photos. The sun rose, the fog was so thick we couldn't see much of anything. I spent a lot of time with Justine and Asher and got to know them well enough that I hope to see them again, and share a few more drinks. And if you don't know much about Steem, you should know that the most awesome person I don't think I have a picture of creeping around is @crimsonclad. That girl is value for vote money.
But, this isn't a name drop post, I just want people to understand that real connections can be made, real friends. It isn't all shill and network scam and unless one is into that, most of that is avoided very easily. You just need to know who the good people are and I have to say, SteemFest had many. If you want an eyeopening experience and view about Steem, sit down with @gtg and listen for awhile, one of the most generous and humble people I spoke to all week and, someone that is looking long.
This is the thing that might have been the best part of attending SteemFest from a Steem perspective; talking to people who all had differing views of the blockchain, the industry, the world and seeing passion in their eyes as they talked, seeing them actually consider each other's perspectives and give room for them. I sat with @aggroed and listened to some ideas I had not considered earlier, a couple days later at Alchemia, he listened to some of mine, spit-balling ideas at 4am with @andrarchy taking part.
The photo above is from the free-day activities, a trip to Auschwitz. A somber place to be sure but, a place of reflection on the worst of what humanity is capable of and a reminder that we can all do better in this world and for each other.
Face to face, there was a leveling of relationships, Steem Power didn't matter, coding skill didn't matter - ideas mattered. And I had a chance to speak to people I have argued with, fought with and then, once we could discuss while looking into the other's eyes, understand better and depart with a handshake. Yes, even with @therealwolf.
There are so many moments from Krakow I want to share, so many conversations but it is impossible to put them all into one post and, impossible to convey in a way that does the little things justice. All the laughs and all the hugs. All the random conversations with people who I never expected to meet, never expected to listen to, never expected to like.
For me, it was the nights that made SteemFest special, the times where I feel I actually had a chance to get to know people as they are and listen as they talked about what they aspire to create, to be part of and t become. I loved being able o share ideas openly without the filter of the screen, the distance. I loved being able to discuss Steem related stuff with people who got it, were getting it or, had no idea at all but wanted to learn.
I loved the meat at this grill too.
Yes, the evening meals with people I hadn't known 10 minutes earlier, the faces put to names I had talked to for 2 years, the words spoken by so many who all wanted the same thing, but all approached it from a unique angle. So many highly intelligent people who loved what they did, even though it came with a lot of work and often, a fair amount of personal suffering. It was hard for many people to get there, it was hard for many people to leave.
I don't know what else to say about SeemFest3 as there was so much and while not everyone has a chance to go, those that do I urge to take the opportunity to really find out what is important about Steem. Get to know people. Real people.
I will leave you with an excerpt from one of my drunken or hungover posts from SteemFest.
Perhaps through our discussions, words and continual conflicts, we are negotiating a path to a future where one day years from no, generations and centuries from now, we have a solution, a community where we as people matter and people who understand that community matters. Whether we get there or not is less relevant than our attempt to get there, and our actions now are the only way to make what we all want, reality.
We are the worst of it.
We are the best of it too.
source
I think this is what made SteemFest for me, I got to see the community in action, look them in the eye and recognize;
we have something special.
Hope to see you all in Thailand for SF4
I am trying my best.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
I would like to thank everyone at SteemFest3 for making it what it was. I would also like to thank both @anomadsoul for organizing this competition and @blocktrades for supporting it once again. I spent a lot of time with Eric, and if I had been there, I would have had your back mate.
The housemates:
@anomadsoul, @abh12345, @celestal, @guyfawkes4-20, @zlatan-spielberg, @luzcypher and @raj808