Times have been dark, but let me tell you about the spark I saw recently.
I went to this gathering called Steemfest. What an odd bunch I thought at first. This must be the misfits of misfits someone else said and somehow it made sense. Shyest ones even relied on a scanning app by @arcange (smart, that was really smart indeed and very needed, also appreciated) to begin conversations with others only known in typing or similar before, all of a sudden standing right there, in front of them staring into their souls and smiling back. Except, my scanning device was broken, so here I was with my potato phone awkwardly granny typing a few names manually while gently guided around by the grand wizard himself @gtg until the battery also gave out.
By that time, however, some quite interesting discussions and stories had warmed up, such as the one @blocktrades told to @lemony-cricket about how once upon a time at his basement some pretty smart people gathered and created Steem. Fascinating!
The evening went by unnoticed. I was surprised to see so many familiar faces and even more surprised when some of them recognized me too. It was lovely to meet new people as well. @gamer00 was one of them. But then I made him spill beer all over his bag after I told him about the scanning app and he was reaching for the iPad. Sorry again!
Conference day 1, Siam Society. Yep! That’s @roelandp in his cool, authentic Thai suit on the background of my first Steemfest, the one in Lisbon!
Despite the troubles with the venues this year, @roelandp and the team did an amazing job with their choices and selections of the locations for the event. Not just the locations, but the whole vibe with the bright pink colored lighting, and other decorative elements, delicious Thai catering, entertainment, lovely goodie bags featuring Steemfest fans, the wonderful purple Steemfest shirt, incense and more. They are getting better and better each year! Thanks to them again and also to all of the sponsors for making this experience possible!
“We are Steem survivors!” Yes, we are! Times might be tough, but we just keep marching forward, working away building infrastructure, projects, and the future! If you need any more evidence, it is just to look at these amazing people, the spark, the things they have been working on and tirelessly continue to do so. Take a look at the talks here and here from the conference day 1 if you haven’t already. You don’t have to miss out on that! ^^
We had a ball!
Bowling at Steemfest now appears to be a tradition and a great one to have. So much fun for everybody! @daabi2006, @gamer00, @lemony-cricket and I teamed up and formed the team “Meow” with a slogan “Meow, meow, I’m a cow!” ^^ Even though I had never bowled, team “Meow” went up against the team “Steemit Inc” and after a bloody fight and special granny throw extravaganza, we won! We lost to the champions, team “Germany” later though. Their confidence got under my skin and all my balls went straight to the gutter xD Rest of the evening @lemony-cricket taught me proper bowling techniques, since I even held the ball wrong as it turned out. I can see why people love this game, I shall practice for the next year! Perhaps Meow will strike again!
Riverboat rides!
One of the recommended transportation from place to place and the fastest one was the riverboats. While I appreciated their speed and convenience, they also terrified me a little. Not as much the boats themselves as the water in the river. It was so dirty. So far in my life, I had never seen water pollution at this level with my own eyes. I remember looking at a website that had a simulation of how much plastic is floating from rivers into oceans every second, it was hard to grasp it then. Here, however, not just plastic was floating around. It appeared that sewage is going straight into the river.Conference day 2, Grand Postal Building
There were many exciting talks on conference day 2 as well on the record here and here, but a couple stood out to me. The first one was @buttcoins talk about his journey of finding Steem, trying to figure out this strange crypto world, how Steem is for all kinds of people, how it is about stories, authenticity, creativity, and interaction between humans besides the technology and financial gain. So much enthusiasm and positivity in that guy! And the second shout out goes to @roadscape for his talks both days were refreshing, thoughtful, rising some good points and asking some important questions as well as the cool demo of communities!
My strange fascination with old, time-worn buildings wrapped in wires
Steemians have a superior sense of direction in the busy streets of Bangkok
We found the bull on our way to the Steemy night. Could that be a sign?
Bangkok street art, this one seemed to be carved or burned into the wall
Ha ha ha!
@celestal ready to take over the Steemy night by the Chao Praya River
Pink lights, cheerful laughter of Steemians enjoying the moment, boats passing by on the river, chill music in the background mixed with sounds of Bangkok, delicious Thai noms prepared and served right there on the spot, serious discussions about blockchain technologies, successes and failures, surprise birthday song, loudest Yum Seng cheers ever and bunch silly GIFies - sounds about right, that’s Steemy night!
Closing dinner on the White Orchid River cruise
While bittersweet, closing dinner on the White Orchid was a celebration of what Steem is all about. The wonderful community of people coming together from all around the globe, trying to find solutions and alternatives for the future. We all might have different cultural backgrounds, we might not speak the same language and sometimes we don’t, but at the end of the day we are not so different, we all want the same thing, for Steem to succeed. Perhaps, we have already succeeded, when it comes to all the positivity, love, and drive Steemians embody even at the hardest times. With all we got going on, the good times are not so far away!
Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or Temple of Dawn
The Grand Palace of Bangkok
Closing drinks at Prince Palace Hotel rooftop
It was hard to say goodbye to the lovely people of Steem, but it is hardly a goodbye and more like we will meet again if not so soon in person, then here on Steem for sure. Yet some hugs almost broke an elevator! The best times, hopefully until next year!
I went to this gathering called Steemfest. What an odd bunch I thought at first. This must be the misfits of misfits someone else said and somehow it made sense. Shyest ones even relied on a scanning app by @arcange (smart, that was really smart indeed and very needed, also appreciated) to begin conversations with others only known in typing or similar before, all of a sudden standing right there, in front of them staring into their souls and smiling back. Except, my scanning device was broken, so here I was with my potato phone awkwardly granny typing a few names manually while gently guided around by the grand wizard himself @gtg until the battery also gave out.
By that time, however, some quite interesting discussions and stories had warmed up, such as the one @blocktrades told to @lemony-cricket about how once upon a time at his basement some pretty smart people gathered and created Steem. Fascinating!
The evening went by unnoticed. I was surprised to see so many familiar faces and even more surprised when some of them recognized me too. It was lovely to meet new people as well. @gamer00 was one of them. But then I made him spill beer all over his bag after I told him about the scanning app and he was reaching for the iPad. Sorry again!
Despite the troubles with the venues this year, @roelandp and the team did an amazing job with their choices and selections of the locations for the event. Not just the locations, but the whole vibe with the bright pink colored lighting, and other decorative elements, delicious Thai catering, entertainment, lovely goodie bags featuring Steemfest fans, the wonderful purple Steemfest shirt, incense and more. They are getting better and better each year! Thanks to them again and also to all of the sponsors for making this experience possible!
“We are Steem survivors!” Yes, we are! Times might be tough, but we just keep marching forward, working away building infrastructure, projects, and the future! If you need any more evidence, it is just to look at these amazing people, the spark, the things they have been working on and tirelessly continue to do so. Take a look at the talks here and here from the conference day 1 if you haven’t already. You don’t have to miss out on that! ^^
Bowling at Steemfest now appears to be a tradition and a great one to have. So much fun for everybody! @daabi2006, @gamer00, @lemony-cricket and I teamed up and formed the team “Meow” with a slogan “Meow, meow, I’m a cow!” ^^ Even though I had never bowled, team “Meow” went up against the team “Steemit Inc” and after a bloody fight and special granny throw extravaganza, we won! We lost to the champions, team “Germany” later though. Their confidence got under my skin and all my balls went straight to the gutter xD Rest of the evening @lemony-cricket taught me proper bowling techniques, since I even held the ball wrong as it turned out. I can see why people love this game, I shall practice for the next year! Perhaps Meow will strike again!
One of the recommended transportation from place to place and the fastest one was the riverboats. While I appreciated their speed and convenience, they also terrified me a little. Not as much the boats themselves as the water in the river. It was so dirty. So far in my life, I had never seen water pollution at this level with my own eyes. I remember looking at a website that had a simulation of how much plastic is floating from rivers into oceans every second, it was hard to grasp it then. Here, however, not just plastic was floating around. It appeared that sewage is going straight into the river.
There were many exciting talks on conference day 2 as well on the record here and here, but a couple stood out to me. The first one was @buttcoins talk about his journey of finding Steem, trying to figure out this strange crypto world, how Steem is for all kinds of people, how it is about stories, authenticity, creativity, and interaction between humans besides the technology and financial gain. So much enthusiasm and positivity in that guy! And the second shout out goes to @roadscape for his talks both days were refreshing, thoughtful, rising some good points and asking some important questions as well as the cool demo of communities!
Pink lights, cheerful laughter of Steemians enjoying the moment, boats passing by on the river, chill music in the background mixed with sounds of Bangkok, delicious Thai noms prepared and served right there on the spot, serious discussions about blockchain technologies, successes and failures, surprise birthday song, loudest Yum Seng cheers ever and bunch silly GIFies - sounds about right, that’s Steemy night!
While bittersweet, closing dinner on the White Orchid was a celebration of what Steem is all about. The wonderful community of people coming together from all around the globe, trying to find solutions and alternatives for the future. We all might have different cultural backgrounds, we might not speak the same language and sometimes we don’t, but at the end of the day we are not so different, we all want the same thing, for Steem to succeed. Perhaps, we have already succeeded, when it comes to all the positivity, love, and drive Steemians embody even at the hardest times. With all we got going on, the good times are not so far away!
It was hard to say goodbye to the lovely people of Steem, but it is hardly a goodbye and more like we will meet again if not so soon in person, then here on Steem for sure. Yet some hugs almost broke an elevator! The best times, hopefully until next year!
Song of the day: TK from Ling tosite sigure - Like There Is Tomorrowv
I'm so glad I bumped into you @m31 and apologies we didn't get to chat more, everything was just overwhelming. Hope to ser you at the next one!
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 10/15 - need recharge?)
Thank you @livinguktaiwan likewise :) Aw, yea you know how these things go, beautiful chaos and indeed can be very overwhelming. Wonder where the next one will be, different continent perhaps? :)
Looks great! Do you know if there's any idea on location for 2020? Adelaide, Australia maybe? 😃 Probably not I guess. I think it'll be in the States to be honest.
I think more like central America would be the way to go; cheaper, yet available for the US folks.
Yes, I guess everyone is going to hope for somewhere close lr to their own location for monetary reasons. The thing for Aussies is that nothing is really all that close. That's why not many will attend unless they happen to be going to that location anyway, or live abroad.
It was a blast! ^^ I wish I knew so that I could start saving up, well everyone can and probably should already hehe.
I would not mind to go to Australia or somewhere US, don't think it would be much more expensive to get there than it was this year even though it seems it could be.
Yes, well I suppose we all know it's coming so saving up is something we could all start doing right?
Thank you for sharing this! Haven't been to a Steemfest yet and couldn't join this time either but I'll do my best to join next time! :)
It would be lovely to finally meet you and Ida :) Steemfest is one of those experiences hard to regret with curious, happy souls coming together and just having the best time. It really displays the essence of Steem and just makes you want to keep going, working harder, do better :)
Which scanning app from @arcange? Cool photos by the way, it seems everyone had a good time.
Hey @shaidon thank you for stopping by and reading :) Oh you know each participant had a name tag and on the tag there was this code that could be scanned with phone and registered on Steemfest app that you have met the person and talked to them while at Steemfest, it really was to help the engagement and to make people talk with as many people as possible. Like a little push to socialize which was really brilliant in my opinion. They started it I think the previous year in Krakow, but this time they added in 2 minute rule, that you have to wait at least 2 minutes (to talk with people instead of just scanning them and leaving) and then they could move on to next one, so it worked really great :)
It was lovely, a little more intimate this year since there were less participants due to costs and bear market, more conversational. It is harder to talk to 300 people vs 100ish
Sounds like a really cool idea.
Sorry I didn't get to really have a good chat with you @m31. Even though I heard the turn up for SF4 was smaller than previous years, yet... So many people... So little time!
Glad you had a great time there.
I am hoping 🤞🏻 for SF5... But gotta have to have real financial wisdom to carry out to save up. Haha
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Hey @littlenewthings! :) Indeed, time was just flying there as well, one blink and it's the next event. I am just so happy I got to witness it all and be in the same space with so many amazing people, see all the things in works for Steem. Next year should be great for us!
Yea, probably should start saving up now already, who knows maybe we switch a continent :)
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Hey kitty! Want some seaweed flavored cat food from Thailand? Seaweed this and seaweed that was quite popular there :)
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Glad to read you found the "Meet the Steemians Contest" and its app useful to break the ice with other participants. Looking forward to seeing you next year @m31. Hugs 🤗
Nice photos of the activities of SteemFest 4 in Bangkok. Wat Arun and the Grand Palace are magnificent, especially with the lights at night like these. Great capture!
Ah! I absolutely agree the “bull” would be certainly a good “sign” for all of us!
Thanks so much for sharing. ;)
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