The Champions of the steemit.chat #help channel. Part #2 with @drakos

The closest thing we have for a tech support channel is primarily under the care of two individuals: @timcliff and @drakos. These two are to be found helping people, answering questions, and exercising a lot of patience, every single day. I first encountered them when trying to find out about the Bandwidth Bug when I first arrived, back in July. Similar to the bandwidth issues some users have experienced recently, but A LOT worse. This is when I met @timcliff and @drakos faithfully answering questions for troubled users. I've found both of them in the #help channel in steemit.chat ever since. There are other users who help out in there also, such as @sykochica, and @reggaemuffin. However, to my knowledge, there is no one else in all of steem who has as much dedication to this cause as these two.

In the previous post I went over @timcliff's blog history, and told a story of his history based on that, followed by a short interview. Today, we'll go over the blog history of @drakos and get to know him a little better.

Drakos Witness #32

@drakos joined shortly before I did, in June of 2017. His Introduction Post mentions that he's been interested in cryptocurrency since the beginning of bitcoin, and has always been against centralized social media which invades our privacy and profits off of our use of the service. It's quite telling that I met him in that #help channel on steemit.chat a little more than a month later. His early posts tended to be about bitcoin, and other crypto currencies. It wasn't long before he started writing articles with tips for new users, as well as givaways for his followers. These are common trends that a lot of users follow on their way to success. Appreciative givaways for followers is certainly a kind gesture as well.

His Witness Application came pretty shortly after joining Steem, only a few weeks later.

"I'm a PhD scientist with a background in Biochemistry and Immunology. I always had a fascination for computers and it's been my hobby since I was a kid. I learned BASIC programming when I was just 10 years old, from the manuals that came with my first pocket computer, the Sharp PC-1500."

"Believe it or not, I've never subscribed to any social media before. Why? Because I realize their danger when it comes to privacy. There's no such thing as a free ride. Anything free must have something behind to make servers run and pay the bills, and this often happens by violating the users privacy and selling their habits to advertisers. I do not abide by such rules and I freely chose to stay away. With Steemit, I found the privacy aspect appealing and it was the main reason why I decided to join and try it. And so far I haven't been disappointed. The community, the encouragement, the solidarity and the rewards are great. That's why I believe Steemit's success will grow big time."

Next thing you know he was posting tips and sharing tools to help other witnesses get their start, based on what he learned in those early days of setting up his own witness. After getting the witness going, he continued with helpful guides, and thinking deeply about how to make steem a better place. One post, he wrote, which I feel is very important for anyone considering running a witness node is Running a witness, is it as easy as it sounds? This post goes over some of the difficulties of being a Steem witness that most people don't seem to understand when they decide to begin the journey.

Around that time he got involved with @steemcleaners, and began to combat abuse he found in steemit.chat. @drakos even had a chat with CEO @Ned Scott to deal with some of the more concerning cases of abuse which helped to clarify the position of liability when users do publish illegal materials, as well as getting some child porn removed from the steemit website.

He has continually worked to working to fight abuse, writing helpful posts, while mixing it up with with the occasional art contest. Soon he came up with another post explaining to people that running a witness is not exactly a "Get Rich Quick" scheme: The Witness Business: Promise of Riches. I'm grateful he wrote the post, and completely understand why. Someone was making videos online talking about how much money witnesses make, and I think giving people the idea that it was really easy. I've personally observed many people come to steem, and start asking questions about how to run a witness, before they've even had any experience with Steem. In addition to his #help duties, @drakos can commonly be found in the #witness channel. There, he offers help and advice for people trying to get their witness running properly, as well as the obligatory warning: "Running a witness will likely cost you money, rather than earn you money, and it's not that easy."

Next up @drakos introduces: Steemian.Info: "The concise information resource about the Steem blockchain". This is a website he maintains with all types of helpful information for steem users.

"Finding information on Steemit can be overwhelming and reaching all the users with vital information is a challenge. In the last couple weeks, I've been busy working on a little website project that consolidates some recurring information and FAQs. Many bloggers have written about some important subjects over and over, but despite that, not all users are benefiting from those posts. There's a limit to what followers and resteems can do, for example in the event of a new scam.

So I thought to myself, why not pool essential resources together and present them to the users under one reference roof?" - Presenting Steemian.Info

Whether it's overviews on various cryptocurrencies, ideas and tools for Witness Voting Improvement, or doing a Holiday Fundraiser, @drakos is continually adding value to the Steem Platform. He recently posted about the various people and steem groups he's delegating to including: @spaminator, @utopian-io, and @youarehope. Recently he did a Dogecoin Giveaway, in which I was fast enough, and lucky enough to have won 1000 DOGE!!!!!

This most recent post from just yesterday is not so monumental, but definitely endearing:

• Typical Day on Steemit Told by Cats

That cute clip from the above post describes quite a bit of what his life is like over there in the #help channel.

All in all I'd say @drakos is one of the more present, communicative, and active Witnesses out there. He's usually not too far away, answering questions, trying to be helpful, and continuing to learn and educate about Steem, and cryptocurrency at large. As we wrap up this overview of his blog history I'd like to make a special note of this recent post he created:

• The Secrets of Success on Steemit

I get asked by minnows many many times on the chat with a golden question:

"What can I do to be successful like you? Help me."
First of all, you can't be like me, or anyone else for that matter. Each person has their own ways to success. As much as I would love to see everyone succeed on Steemit, unfortunately there's no magic recipe. But I can give you a few pointers on things to do, and things to avoid.

@drakos shares common attributes with a large majority of the people on Steem who I'd consider successful: Being Helpful, Adding Value, and Thinking Deeply about the issues that effect the community at large. There are lessons to be learned about how to excel in steem from both @drakos and @timcliff, our Champions of the Steemit.Chat #help channel.

Interview

Drakos, it seems like you jumped right into steem, deciding to run a witness server after a few weeks here, and becoming a regular in the #help channel not too long after that. How did that all come about?

My interest in computers, programming and system administration drove me towards becoming a witness. It was by simple curiosity at first, but as time went by, I gained much appreciated support and increased understanding of the crucial roles of a witness. Since then, I have sustained a serious dedication to running my servers to support the Steem blockchain in the background.

Does working the #help channel ever make you crazy?

Overall no. I truly love and enjoy what I do. Helping others and patience are innate qualities that I have. However, some users do drive me crazy sometimes, because we tell them to read the FAQ and they don't. Then they come again with the same question!

Does being a witness ever make you crazy?

Not really. Server administration is another thing that I enjoy, so it gives me satisfaction when things are running smoothly. When something goes wrong, I fix it promptly so it's not an issue for me. If I can't fix it, I learn about it, thereby increasing my knowledge, another satisfaction. However, what I dislike is the politics that overshadow the witness business, besides the consensus that can sometimes hinder critical decisions.

I'm curious about the pirate theme you have. I don't know anyone else on Steem with a pirate avatar. Would you like to share a bit about your interest in pirates?

When I was a kid, I used to watch a lot of pirate movies. Great classics like The Crimson Pirate, Blackbeard's Ghost, Swashbuckler come to mind. I still enjoy modern (CGI) movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, but as they say, old is gold. When I joined Steemit, I had no idea what to choose as avatar, so I figured a pirate theme would be cool for my account. And you may notice, I'm not a mean pirate, but a Jolly Pirate :)

Your intro post says you've been interested in bitcoin since it's birth, when did you actually start getting involved in Crypto?

It was through The Keiser Report that I learned about bitcoin. During the 2008 financial crisis, gold and silver where skyrocketing (peaked in 2010). While Max Keiser's main focus was advocating for gold and silver, he occasionally introduced bitcoin. That's when my interest for cryptocurrencies was sparked.

Would mind sharing what some of your favorite crypto-currencies are besides Steem?

Litecoin was something I believed in since its infancy. Because it was much cheaper than bitcoin back then. It still is today and it's faster. Dogecoin is another of my favorites, again for the same reasons as Litecoin, speed and low fees.

Any plans for your future in steem that you'd like to share with us?

I'd like to become a whale one day (lol). There are a few projects I'm thinking about, but before I commit to them, I would like to see Steem become a more stable platform. Right now, the current state of things gives me some doubts about scaling, abuse and management. Steemit is in beta, there's a lot to be done. Hopefully all the concerns will be addressed, which would allow me to go further in my future plans. I will announce them in time. For now, I prefer not to share information about them, to avoid expectations or disappointments.

Final Thoughts

@drakos is someone who cares deeply about Steem, Crypto-Currency, Privacy, and the overall future of this platform. He has been publishing regular witness updates since he started, he is available and connected with the community, and is continually publishing guides to assist steem witnesses, while thinking about the issues which affect us all, here in SteemLand. I'm proud to have voted for him, way back when, and he's continued to deserve that vote.

Click Here to Vote for @Drakos as Witness

If you haven't seen it yet, feel free to check out:

• The Champions of the steemit.help channel Part #1 with @timcliff

Before you do, you can check out this tribute that @drakos did for @timcliff a while back:

(from: My tribute to @timcliff)

Resources

• Click Here to Vote for @Drakos as Witness
• steemit.chat/channel/help
• steemian.info - The concise information resource about the Steem blockchain
• @drakos - Things to avoid doing on Steemit.
• Running a witness, is it as easy as it sounds?
• @drakos - A chat with Steemit's CEO. Some Clarifications about Abuse
• Witness Tips: Efficient Management
• The Secrets of Success on Steemit
• @clayboyn - A lyrical Cry for Pirates and Witness Support
• chainbb.com/@drakos - Chainbb is the primary tool I use when researching blog histories. This is a way to easily view someones entire blog, without resteems.

I learn a lot when doing these types of projects. It's always great to get a deeper glimpse into some of the great people who make up this community.