SteemFest² Reflections: Deliciously creamy, delightfully Steemy & Lusciously Lisbon (Part #1)

What happens at SteemFest........ stays on the blockchain ;)

Ok, Stephen King would have a field day with my overuse of adverbs in the title. But what would he know, with his wacky clowns and all. And he wasn’t even in Portugal last month… he doesn’t know man, he wasn’t there man. 

Anyway, you thought you’d seen the last of these posts?? No, well, I’m a little slow off the mark, weighed down by tasty pastry snacks and visions of Steemian dreams I should imagine.

I was partly holding off as I was hoping to produce something epic, but alas, this will have to do, simply a ‘brief’ reflection of my own personal experience and thoughts. A lot has been said already, and most covered eloquently so I have nothing much to add… but I will anyway, you know, keep ye ol’ Steem train chugging…

So these are a few of the ramblings of “Adam… @adambarratt on Steemit” *gently lifts nametag* ;)

Where do we start? Let’s start with registration…

Boarding the Steem(fest) train

Hi, I’m Martin and I sing to people whilst they wait in queues

Or words to that effect. Okey doke.

I was just waiting in line at the Fenix Lisboa to sign in and collect my badge, goodie bag and sample the first of many creamy and delicious treats when I was approached by a German guy (I can’t be sure of his name nor do I know his handle) exclaiming the above. He then proceeded to launch into song having the time of his life. After dragging a couple of other guys in, we discussed a possible exchange of SBDs for his performance. We decided to call it even. 

There he is - the queue singer! That's me in the red t-shirt offering him a handshake. [Pic courtesy of @steevc]. (Edit: the guy is none other than Mr @shla-rafia, I salute you sir!)

Welcome drinks (first of many a tipple)

Back to the Fenix Lisboa that evening for welcome drinks. Gingerly poking my head around, looking for the bar area where everyone was supposedly gathered, I run in to none other than Mr @scan0017… also goes by the name of Craig. He gets the first shout out, as he was the first Steemian I chatted to properly on this trip and a nice intro into the scene. We found the terrace area without much fuss and we went from there. 

Often at these things, you may get a ‘welcome drink’, ie. first drink on them and the rest you can buy yourselves you alchies. But no, it became apparent they would continue to flow pretty much as long as you were standing. Perhaps a sign of things to come too.

I saw and spoke with a number of other people - some of the more well known names on the platform and others not so much. I won’t start crazily tagging them all but I will give special mention to a few over the course of this and the following posts.

This was my first introduction to Mr @basilmarples… a delightful chap from Norfolk, England. We ended up having a couple of dinners and various laughs in between the shenanigans. Rarely without his camera rolling, we may come back to him later ;) 

I didn’t overdo it that night as I knew what was to come, so I scampered off at an appropriate moment to get my ‘beauty’ sleep for the coming days. 

To follow that, there were the 2 conference days, 2 ‘DIY’ days and the final dinner. I won’t launch into each but will just give a few highlights for me. 

The Presentations

The talks were a mixed bag, I’ll just focus on the better ones (that I saw) from my perspective...

I’m not a techie or a geek as such, backend isn’t my thing (ooh, kinky), so a lot of that stuff goes over my head and is ultimately irrelevant to an end user but interesting to some I imagine. I also warm to certain styles of delivery as I’m an energy kind of guy.

@surfermarly - Marly was one of the main people I actually followed going in to SteemFest and one of a couple of names I used when trying out SteemVoter. What I like is that it’s a Steemian talking about their journey which is probably the most relevant to me and for others coming to the platform. This girl’s got the right idea - surfing in Lanzarote (just checked and there are direct flights there from Madrid with Ryanair… so watch out Marly, there may be a rogue Steemian splashing about in your waters soon!). She also talked about her project @dreamsoftheocean which is a great example of how Steemit and the wider Steem blockchain can be used. 

@allasyummyfood - I wouldn’t call myself a foodie per se. Don’t get me wrong, I eat the stuff (necessary for the whole survival thing) and enjoy it but this isn’t the main reason I included her. Alla has done a great job of getting where she is and it was also one of the most professional and prepared of the presentations. I do love discovering new foods, and I absolutely love flavour and spice, so this is an area I am interested in but a little ignorant of (as with drink). What I liked about Alla’s talk was she also touched on success principles. Yes, we may have heard these kind of things many times, but perhaps it’s good to hear them again, from another person and in another way. The importance of working on something you love, devoting a lot of time to it (no getting around it and at the expense of other things at times) and scheduling your days are factors that we can’t hear enough of… all delivered in a pleasant and likeable manner. 

@detlev - something about beer? Again, I’m not a connoisseur but I have been known to consume this beverage from time to time. This is the guy behind #BeerSaturday, something I haven’t been involved with (why not?!) and it does help to inspire ideas of groups and hashtags that could be interesting. And it doesn’t even have to be based around alcohol *winkies*. The highlight of course was that at the end of his talk, the staff came in with a beer for each of us. This is how to win an audience ;)  

@sndbox - these guys are on it! I don’t know their individual handles, but another example of Steem-infused projects. This time in New York. [edit: The two gentleman go by the names of @voronoi and @hansikhouse. Thanks to @robrigo for letting me know!] 

@starkerz - A good talk on the various #promo-steem initiatives around the world and the people involved. 

@terrybrock - this character gets a mention for his overall skills and contribution. He gave a good talk but also was excellent as MC in room 2. We even managed to fit in a couple of fun conversations. This is an example of a person who has substance but also presents himself with humour. When I say things like “it’s all about the characters”, this guy epitomises what I’m talking about and adds a bit of light relief to what is essentially a techie convention.

As ever, it was more about the in-between moments, the passing conversations and the exchange of ideas and stories. That's what always makes an event, not the official schedule. 

I'll be back with part 2, including a few shout outs to new amigos, evening entertainment shenanigans and lord knows what else...

~ Adam

Related:
Pre-SF
SF Part 2
SF Part 3
SF Part 4

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