Reflecting on my Time at Anarchaforko

I just returned from my trip to Acapulco for Anarchaforko. It was everything I could have asked for and more.

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At the start of February, I had no intention of heading to Acapulco for Anarchapulco or Anarchaforko. Though I certainly pondered how great it would be to make the journey down, it simply wasn't in the budget for me.

That is until I won a contest through SmartCash, making the idea of heading to Mexico a no-brainer I couldn't pass up. I knew the opportunity to network with other Steemians and SmartCash folks was going to be an invaluable experience. And of course, escaping Denver in the winter for the beaches of Acapulco didn't hurt either.

I was in a unique position, as the vast majority of people had also attended the main conference and had hung around for the fork. The feedback I heard from those who had attended was that their favorite part of the conference was the conversations they had with other attendees outside of the actual scheduled events.

This made me greatly appreciate the format of the fork.

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Initially, I was a bit skeptical of how things would operate at a conference without any strict schedule. And to be honest, the first few hours made me question if Anarchaforko would simply be anarchists hanging out around a conference center for three days.

My view shifted once people began to give presentations on whatever topic they wanted to cover. Many groups developed spontaneously from existing circles of individuals. Meaningful conversation and connections were allowed to develop organically, exemplifying why I believe this format has massive potential.

In speaking with @kennyskitchen, we discussed how the fork was almost like a rainbow gathering within a conference setting. While we all had converged upon this place with intention, the direction and implementation were open-ended. No one really knew how things would transpire, which required a leap of faith from all participants that things would work out.

For a conference attempting to pull off an incredibly ambitious concept, the first Anarchaforko largely succeeded in this endeavor

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Whereas a conference usually puts you in the role of a relatively passive observer, consuming the information of assigned speakers, Anarchaforko intended to empower attendees to be active participants. This is a revolutionary concept, one that is hard for even the most fervent anarchists to wrap their head around.

Society has trained us to look to others for direction and order. It's convenient to be told where to go, when to be there, and what to do. Traditionally, these are staples of all conferences, which is why this freeform and decentralized conference was a bold step.

I greatly enjoyed the Steemit panel featuring @kennyskitchen, @erikaharris, and @lily-da-vine. I think Steemit was one of the most discussed topics at the conference, and it appears there will be a flood of new users courtesy of the conference. As someone who has been on Steemit for about a year, I still found the discussion to contain tons of useful information.

Unsurprisingly, there are things the conference can improve upon.

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While I love the idea of having things develop spontaneously without an authoritative and constrictive structure, there could have been a tad more direction in terms of organizing the chaos. Improvisation is exhilarating, but sometimes it needs conducting.

Finding ways to subtly guide the flow could be implemented that doesn't infringe upon the concept of the conference. Perhaps having an assigned MC direct the flow of traffic could help reduce excessive downtime between events.

Overall, my experience at Anarchaforko was massively positive. I met several individuals I intend to stay in contact with long after the conference, and it was refreshing to meet people who took dramatically different paths while arriving at the same conclusions.

Finding ways to encourage collaboration and community is utterly important if we are to actualize our vision for a freer and more open world. Anarchaforko was one large step towards achieving these aims. I look forward to seeing what future forks hold, as I'll definitely be returning next year.

Huge thanks go out to Lily and John for organizing Anarchaforko.

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Photo Credits: 2nd image: @lily-da-vine, 3rd image: Claire Rementilla

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