What I Saw At The First Steemit Toronto Meetup

nxtblg (62)in #steemit • 6 years ago (edited)

By special request from @barrydutton...

What I Saw At The First-Ever Steemit Toronto Meetup

Simply put, the @steembirds sure know how to throw a party! We met in the Cloak and Dagger last Sunday, one of those places where everyone seems to know everyone else. It took its time before the festivities got rolling, but the @steembirds put on a helluva performance. They not only had me thumping the table, they even got me dancing in the aisle a bit. And I wasn't the only one.

Informal Start

When I headed down to Bathurst and College, via Bathurst, I was surprised to see how much southbound traffic there was. You'd think Sunday night would've seen sparsely-trafficked streets, but not in Toronto. Adding to the fun were two construction zones where southbound Bathurst narrowed to a single lane.

Just as with the Decentral meetup, the parking lot nearby was almost full. I was lucky to find a somewhat cramped spot to park in.

The reason why became clear pretty quickly: across the street from the lot, on the east side of Bathurst at the College corner, was the popular bar/restaurant Sneaky Dee's. It's well-known enough to rate its own Wikipedia page. There was a line-up outside, though not a huge one.

The Cloak and Dagger was about a two-block walk to the east. It's a small establishment, about as long and half as wide as the first story of a townhouse. A capacity crowd would be about twenty-five or thirty people. The regulars there seemed to be mostly hipsters who lived in the area. The ones I talked to were friendly. Friendly enough for me to get in a word to two about Steemit.

There was a 8 1/2 x 11" poster on the front door, like this one we all signed with our Steemit names:

But the bartender, after I asked her who was there for it, didn't even know about the meetup.

She soon found out!

Greeting and Meeting

Everyone drifted in. By 9:30 PM, most everyone was there. We met, talked to each other, and gathered near the front of the bar just behind the open mike. Naturally, the favorite topic was Steemit. One funny moment was had when I found out that both myself and the lead of the @steembirds, @dan-atstarlite, were named Dan - like of course @dan Larimer. A basket of Dans....

We talked about other things. For example, I brought up to another Steemer the notorious 4chan. The person I was taking to didn't even know what it was!

'Tis blessed to be innocent. :)

On With The Show!

Since I didn't forget my smartphone, I was able to post a couple of comments to @barrydutton. The second was placed at the time when the @steembirds, Dan and @jaybird, were about to begin their session.

It was a fantastic performance: a great concert that you wished everyone can see.

In fact, I asked Dan if he had put together a compliation of @steembirds music. I was hoping to buy a physical CD.

Their first number introduced Steemit to the rest of the clientele. There was a song about "Steemit to the Moon," but the one that stuck in my head was the "Blockchain Blues." Never mind why. ;)

There were others who had enough voice and courage to step up to the microphone. One was @lillym, who graced us with a cover song:

To my surprise, she knew what #prepping was. After the sessions, she told me that her husband was really into it.

Another doughty singer was the oldest guy at the meetup, @brian-rhodes . He told us about a small concert that he attended in 1967 where he saw Gordon Lightfoot, "a young lady named Joni Mitchell", and the duo Ian and Sylvia. He then sung one of the duo's songs a capella.

The bartender provided some unintended comedy by putting on the house music in the latter half of the concert.

The @steembirds got back up on stage for the final numbers, one being Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." It was the perfect closer. I did wish more Torontonians had shown up, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Drift Away

A few people left before the concert ended, but most stuck around. We drifted out into the night to our destinations at different times.

When I got back, I found that I didn't take a perfect picture of the signed poster. A shame I cut off two names from the list, as I want to follow everyone who attended.

Just so you know, here's the list of the names:

[One of them seemed to be named @spokenflow ; I couldn't make out another.]

Do you know what virtually all of them have in common? Artists: musicians, digital and physical art, film: the kind of folks who would be almost absent from a tech-centric cryptocurrency. This roster - who I ask you to follow - emphasize why Steemit is unique in the cryptocurrency world. It's a crypto that provably welcomes non-techies - and recognizes that "proof of brain" encompasses so much more than showing techie skills.

Summing Up

It was a helluva blast and a night to remember. Great music, conviviality, and real proof that Steemit is the platform for all stripes of people no matter what their talents. Ten or so people is good for a first-ever crypto meetup. At Decentral's founder Anthony Diiorio said that he could only get ten for his first Bitcoin meetups in 2013. If Steemit Toronto follows the same track, the meetups four years hence will have to be booked in a much bigger venue.

Even bigger than Sneaky Dee's....

EDIT: According to @jaybird , the two missing names are:

As with the others, I urge you to follow them. I have, except for @spokenflow. [For some reason, I get Steemit's 404 page when I click the last link. Dunno why.]