My Rambling Summation: Cross Pollinating the Future - A Minneapolis Bitshares + Steemit + Agoric.Systems Get Together!

_{Vaguely pictured here at the table are: @fox @denno @mada @kommienezuspadt @robrigo and @fkinglag, (just offscreen) and me of course, behind the camera.}

So apparently, we were all too busy waxing cryptosophical upon the incomprehensibly vast field of potential in our emerging community, and no one had the presence of mind to properly wield a camera. Well ok.. I managed to snap one shadowy photo of the crew assembled together at Sisyphus Brewing Company where we were able to share a few pints and catch up with each other.

It was a pretty spontaneous gathering on account of @robrigo was in town, and so that inspired our first get together.

Honestly, it always feels so rushed when a bunch of blockchain enthusiasts get together. There's so much ground to cover!

Everyone has such amazing thoughts to share, we shall have to make better efforts to record the proceedings of the next mpls crypto-con, but for now my rambling overview shall have to suffice.

@fox always impresses me with his detailed knowledge of the history and inner workings of the Graphene Ecosystem. I love hearing the story told in near perfect chronology, which I'm not so sure many here on Steemit are all that well versed on, of how Angelshares became Protoshares became Bitshares became the Graphene Toolkit! Someday we will be grandparents, telling our children about how it all came to be... ;) I hope @fox is around somewhere when I start losing my mind. "Back in Bitshares 0.9.3, before the great "Pitch-fork" to BTS 2.0 -- oh those were the days!

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Time Capsule

_{@fox reminded me of this gem! Here's the 'pitch-fork' photo (4/6/2015) from the "Bitshares P2P Tour", when BTS 2.0, aka The Graphene Toolkit was but a glimmer in the eye. Pictured from left to right are @stan, vikram, @lovejoy, @roadscape, @onelove, @modprobe, @dantheman, nikolai, @slickwilly, @robrigo, @theoretical, and @xeldal. What an amazing crew!}

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Back to the present day in Minneapolis...

@denno I'm just getting to know. He's a developer and had quite a lot of good questions for us... I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings to the space!

@mada is one of my absolute favorite local people, I've known him for a good while before Steem existed, and when it did, it was just a natural fit. He's an amazing artist and writer, and I'd encourage you to go read everything he's written here, then come back and see me! I hope he's around if I ever get stuck trying to build a graphene nanotube mecha-suit, and need a hand, or if we need to architect a new system for collaborative work on a blockchain, I think he may have something to offer there. Always insightful, so glad he's part of our local scene.

@kommienezuspadt routinely breaks my brain with hypothetical questions about theoretical sci-fi blockchain situations. Yeah. I appreciate it. He's always asking a question no one expects. I really hope he can make the trip to Steem Fest this year, so we can unleash that curiosity on the general populous of Steemit / Bitshares Alum. It's great to have him in a crew where any mind-bending discussions are taking place. Plus, he's a super talented photographer and artist. Check out his recent post: A closer look at the Minneapolis Steemians who make up the Caffetto incubator!

@fkinglag I don't know so well, but I hope to see him around at future get-togethers! He has a very unique tempo which I appreciate and added a great deal of thoughtful commentary to the equation.

@robrigo brings it all together, and on this particular occasion we were all hearing about his visionary new undertaking, Agoric.Systems. Rob and I knew each other from the Bitshare P2P Tour, which he was a part of, and so we have a pretty good sense for each other.

We had a few extra days to catch up, so when he wasn't busy, I spirited him away to one of my favorite places in the Twin Cities: Minnehaha Falls. Here, we were able to watch the water flow by and really get into the heart of Rob's vision for Agoric.

_{Yes, this is right smack in the city of Minneapolis. Right under your nose... in fact, if you ever have a couple hour layover in Minneapolis and you want to commune with nature for a little while, take a cab to Minnehaha Falls Park... and let your jet-lag soak away.}

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Rob and I were able to talk about so much it's almost impossible to recall the many nuanced threads of our discussion those days. I'm really looking forward to watching @agoric.systems take shape. I think that the goal of being a conduit between this immensely empowering blockchain technology and the marginalized communities which most need such tools will be an absolutely revolutionary development for the space.

I can say that Steemit will be playing an integral part of bringing many of these ideas to fruition.

I know I haven't relayed many details of the sprawling conversations had while we were all together, but I hope I relayed a sense for the magnificent crew which is assembling here in Minneapolis, and @robrigo's team, currently based in Detroit.

There is so much room for collaboration and for engaging and helping to empower local communities with the Steem blockchain, and the many services which are soon to be developed. I love to see that the Steemit community is connecting people in real spaces, and building alliances which will serve to increase our capacity to create abundance and opportunity for those who will avail themselves of these tools, and this community.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings... I wanted to send this off onto the blockchain for all eternity before turning in for the evening. More (specific) thoughts to come. :)

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As Rob and I were climbing the stairs back up from Minnehaha Falls, I caught a glimpse of this message...

I think it's a good one for the Steemit community!

_{"I Will Be With You Every Step Of The Way"}

All the best!
@lovejoy