Reflections on SteemFest²
I am still processing all that happened at SteemFest² but it’s not an exaggeration to say that this trip to Lisbon was nothing short of a life changing experience.
What was SteemFest² all about?
We all knew it would be Creamy & Delicious but I thought Steemfest would mainly be a place to meet people, make connections and put faces to the names. I wanted to hear about new apps and the future and vision for its development.
Steemit Inc
If I am being honest I was hoping for more announcements from Steemit Inc in the marketing and strategy space. The talk by @dollarvigilante addressed a feeling that I and many others are having; “There should be millions of users on Steemit right now”. There is so much potential in this platform, and the issues are understandable but many are eager to see more and faster progress; the sign up process, more marketing campaigns, attracting influencers to name a few.
I have been wrestling with this for months but after Steemfest I have come to the conclusion that maybe the pace of development is spot on.
New Features
The talk by Michael Vandeberg was very positive. Developments on the back-end Blockchain architecture is moving along rapidly and the level of performance and scalability is already second to none and is going to reach even dizzier heights. (already approaching a million transactions a day)
Steemit.com is just an App
@dollarvigilante mentioned that the Steemit.com website is just an app on the Steem Blockchain and called out the “massive opportunity” that is there for entrepreneurs to build other applications.
Lets pause and contemplate this for a minute...
The innovation in this community and breadth of use cases proposed over the few days was contagious. This, in my opinion, is what will bring most value to the ecosystem. Steem is much more than just Steemit Inc and much more than just a social media Blockchain. Remember Steemit.com is just one app.
The upcoming launch of SMT tokens is also progressing and will be yet another killer feature of the Steem Blockchain, a feature that other Blockchains have not even thought of yet.
Applications
Steemfest turned out to be the mother of all brainstorming sessions. Countless ideas were incubated for viable next gen businesses built on top of this platform.
A forward thinking theme permeated the whole week with ideas about travel apps, ticket validation, influencer tokens as well as charity projects, payment services and countless other ideas too numerous to mention. These ideas touched a multitude of industries, geographies and possibilities.
SMTs are a great example of a future application of the Steem Blockchain and if you haven't heard about them yet check out some talks and get developing. This feature will be huge!
All Aboard the Steem Train
It feels like the pace of development has certainly gotten a jumpstart thanks to Steemfest. This is exactly what I was hoping for, today I read about @elear’s launch into full-time development. I am certain more people are contemplating the same thing. We are beginning to take it to the next level in a tangible sense. Applications are already up and running and it feels like the floodgates are about to open.
So how easy is the Steem Blockchain to use today?
One nice example from the weekend was when I took an Uber from the venue back to the hotel. A friend sharing the taxi wanted to split the fare. I looked at the app but then I though no its easier to just get the guy to send money to my account on Steem. He didn't need a QR code or long address just my username which he already knew. I bet you too are earning crypto on Steemit every day without even thinking about it. It’s that easy!
The Vision
The take away from the conference for me is the impending emergence of applications built on top of the Steem Blockchain.
It was made very clear over the few days that The Steem Blockchain and Steemit Inc are two separate entities. This is a very important point and is forgotten by many when they begin to talk about Steemit, Steem and related technologies. I believe it’s possible for these entities to both flourish but if your in the camp that just thinks of Steemit as Steemit.com, I urge you to dig a little deeper and see what lies beneath.
Nudge Theory
I would like to see more incubators and more projects funded by Steemit Inc, especially in this early stage as I believe it is in their interest to support the development of a base set of apps to showcase the system. There is evidence that this is happening with the news of @ned’s latest delegation to utopian.io
and there was talk of some lobbying at the conference for support for deserving projects that will enrich the ecosystem.
It was such a productive few days that one of the discussion points was that we could have more regular brainstorming style meetups or hackathons. I will definitely be linking up with some people to make this happen in the coming months.
Criticism
There has been much talk lately about voting delegations, large Steem accounts and nefarious influence. I have been going back and forth on this but if you forget for a minute about who has the stake right now and focus on the technology and the innovation, the future is very bright indeed. For the first time I can see real world businesses using a Blockchain in a value adding way.
The distribution of stake is a frustrating point especially for new comers and investors but on this point I would argue that its no worse than the real world and the microcosm that is the Steem Economy is just much more transparent and democratic. Indeed these people are accessible and it is even possible to lobby some of the key actors to use their influence for good.
Obrigado
So many new projects, businesses and friendships will be born out of SteemFest². Such a unique group of inspiring, supportive people attended, community leaders and experts in their respective areas.
Coming back to a work in a FTSE 100 company this week, a leader in its field (whatever that means), I had the realisation about just how special this group is and how every person on Steemit right now is a pioneer in a new technology that just might change the world.
Meeting the people in Portugal left me with the most positive energy and outlook for any project I have been involved with to this point in my life. I heard this new word Obrigado a lot while I was there and this exemplifies how accepting and special this group is. It's hard to imagine that anything anywhere else could trump this with regard to the level of creativity, talent and positive energy being infused. If Steem was a battery it’s surely fully charged and ready to go. This is part of the reason why the Steem Blockchain is literally years ahead of any other Blockchain in existence. It’s already changing peoples lives in a meaningful way but we are just getting started. As a side note Devcon3 was running concurrently in Mexico where they are still discussing the change from Proof of Work To Proof of Stake consensus. Mexico is nice but I am glad I didn't choose that over Steemfest!
Creativity
If I was to use one word to encapsulate the weekend, it's creativity. I have never before been in a room with such a diversity of motives and ideas yet somehow all connected through a creation that is going to cause nothing short of a revolution in technology. It is already enabling people to realise their potential they never knew existed.
The group in Lisbon was full of people that were so open and willing to put their ideas out there covering everything from philanthropy to capitalism. The spectrum was mind boggling and it will take a few days weeks even months to process the experience I had as I went from discussion to discussion.
Community on a Blockchain
Whatever your vision for Steem or Steemit I can say with certainty after attending SteemFest² the group of people it has brought together is quite remarkable. A parallel world and a global community connected by a Blockchain, a community which I am honoured to be a part of.
Thanks to @ned and @dan for the vision, the developers who have made the Blockchain unstoppable, @roelandp and the organisers for the event and the countless other people that were involved for Steemfest 2017. It was great to meet you all and I look forward to getting to know more people every day here on Steemit.
- How many users will we have by this time next year?
- What app are you waiting for?
- Will you make an SMT?
Coming soon
Stay tuned for some interesting stats from the conference and my highlights of the week, which you can view via youtube if you weren't able to make it.
Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.
Hope I can get my life changed next year ... Look forward to your coming posts!
Glad you had a such a fantastic experience. Your point about Steem being much more than steemit.com gets the mind wandering about all the possible applications and services you could build. I'd like to see a "SteemBay" type auction website. That would give Steem a real opportunity to be used as a currency and not just a reward token for Steemit
I believe @pollux.one is thinking of starting an auction app on the Steem blockchain... apologies if I'm incorrect about that, I had many conversations on the weekend, and might be wrongly attributing this to him.
Awesome, it's a potentially great idea so it's good to know someone out there is working on it!
Actually that's almost true... not THINKING about it: It's almost done and parts are already working.
My mistake, thanks!
I have to thank you for remembering it!
So THX for mentioning it in the perfect circumstances ;-)
Steembay I like it.
soon...
Hey, Great to meet you. We live in interesting times! Steem on...
A great read and a tad more upbeat than a few of the other accounts I've read. Thanks.
Excellent report @eroche. It will be interesting to see some of these new projects/apps come to fruition on the Steem blockchain.
Did they discuss how Steem & EOS will integrate?
There was no discussion on that, there was a general feeling though that EOS could be huge. There is a lot of excitement about that project especially given @dan's track record. But it's an ambitious project with a lot of money at stake...
Great report, thank you very much!
this is a great article mr.roche. Its great to read all the more intelligent responses to this event, and see that the same positivity and excitement is there! Bring on the future.... :)
Thanks for the update and your insights @eroche
Very interesting read. It seems like you took a lot away from the weekend and that there is a vision for the future in place. Thats great to see as the potential with smt is phenomenal.
Really great post. I was wondering whether you would be there. It sounds like a resounding success, so much interesting stuff going on, so many in depth discussions.
And most of all....someone who believes in Steemit and the brilliant future of blockchain.
There were some people who were not so enthusiastic. Various reasons; departure from Dan's vision, vote buying, lack of marketing, lack of addressing investors concerns, influence of whales. I can see the arguments but the groundswell of positive energy and innovative projects was amazing.