So, Steemfest is over and we're back home. This was my very first Steemest and it was incredible. I've met so many fascinating people and I've really got to know the Steem family in a way that sitting in front of your screen can never do justice.
In order to try to describe my Steemfest experience, I'll need to do it chronologically. So here is the first part of my (condensed) story of Steemfest 2018.
@Techslut and I landed in Kraków on 7.11 at 12:00 or so. When we got to the airport we were surprised to see a guy standing there with her name on a sign. We never had that before. Made us feel important. Even a little like celebrities.
The guy charged 90 złoty to get us to the Qubus Hotel where we were to register.
When we got there we still had some time to kill and there were already lots of steemians in attendance so we started to get to know people. We've met @nathanmars who lives on the line between the UK and Japan, @louis88 who's into photography and @illucifer who's into philosophy and spirituality.
We then got to our Airbnb which was right across the street from the Qubus and unpacked a bit before coming back for registration. We really liked this apartment not just for being so close and relatively cheap, but also for being spacious and comfortable. It even had a nice porch.
We registered, met some more people and got ready for the opening night drinks. It was so fun meeting all those interesting people. I talked about music editing and AI with @chickencaam, art, promotion, and self-image with @eveuncovered, community and travel with @crimsonclad, beards and their cultural importance with @u-e.
I've spoken to @bubke who's from the UK but has been living in India for the past 25 years and to @ludorum from Korea about the politics of north vs. south. I've met @pharesim who lives in a van with his girlfriend and his dog and drives everywhere and with @arcange who likes asking people to guess where he was from by his accent (the answer was Belgium). We've also run into @apshamilton, an AU lawyer now living in Tel-Aviv and suing FB and Google for their treatment of Crypto. We had no idea any other Israelis were in attendance.
Here's just one picture of a slightly intoxicated @techslut with a pink cigarette. (I don't remember who she got it from).
This was also a chance to finally meet @techslut's coworkers, @suesa and @elear as well as her friend @reggaemuffin.
I've also met @redrica, a dear friend of @techslut (even though they've only met once before) and I liked her immediately.
It was such a great night that it was a shame to cut it short but we knew the dreaded presentation was tomorrow so @techslut really needed to get some sleep.
The next morning after getting some food and coffee from the local grocery store, Żabka (we had no idea the conference will take care of all our food needs) we headed out to the Stara Zajezdnia, an old train depot now used as a convention center.
When we got there everyone was wearing these earphones with blue lights. It immediately brought to mind the Cyberman from Dr.Who.
The earphones could be directed to the main stage, the second stage or to a disco channel.
@techslut was really really stressed but I think her presentation went great. People even came to us after and told her so :)
Here she is on stage.
After the presentation, I helped @suesa hand out Utopian shirts and met some more interesting people. I've spoken to @honeydue from Romania about writing, fantasy and Neil Gaiman (in particular this poem and his collaboration with Terry Pratchett). I've spoken to @jeffjagoe, one of the people behind letseat.me, traveling and giving food reviews. I've met the incomparable @katrina-ariel from British Columbia. A singer whom I felt an instant connection with.
During lunch, there was an unplanned singing circle with the @steembirds, @katrina-ariel and some more people and I've enjoyed singing with everyone those songs I recognized. When @katrina-ariel took the guitar and did her rendition of Janis Joplin's Bobby Mcgee even @techslut joined in - Janis is one of her favorites and @katrina-ariel's rendition was really spot on.
At this point, we were getting a bit tired so we decided to get back to the apartment for some rest. On the way, we went into a thrift store and got @techslut a cute jacket and a pair of shoes for 35 złoty. I only 30 in cash on me so a lady behind us handed in the other 5. She only asked us to "Use it for good". We'll do our best :)
Walking back we ran into @jongolson, a marketer from Canada (Vancouver originally though he now resides on the west coast). He told us that when he joined he didn't know anything about steem handles so he used his middle initial in his name. His name is actually John but now everyone calls him Jongo. This was a consistent pattern all through the Steemfest. We'd be walking somewhere and ran into some interesting steemians ending up having fascinating conversations with them. I loved it.
The sun is setting really early in Poland so I took a few sunset pictures over the bridge on our way back.
By the time we were walking back for dinner, the sun was long gone so here is a pic of the night time Kraków.
Dinner was a sit-down serving event, very reminiscent of a wedding. Even the food reminded us of a wedding dinner. The only memorable thing was the desert - an apple strudel with a bit of ice cream.
Right after dinner buses were leaving for the bowling event. Since we were tired we initially thought we'd give it a pass and go sleep but I somehow ended up in a bowling team with @redrica, @gillianpearce, and @soyrosa so we went anyway.
We ended up lasting for three rounds but only because on the last two no other team came to challenge us. I broke a nail (as I usually do playing bowling) and generally had a good time.
The last round we played we were unofficially competing with @sjennon who despite protestations of not knowing what she was doing had two and a half strikes utterly crushing us single handed 72-50 (a half strike is when your first ball goes in the trench and your second is a strike).
After that third round, we decided we were too tired to keep bowling so we just hang out, drank, talked and danced.
@techslut shared a few orgasems with me and I danced like I haven't danced in years.
The music from the nineties helped - it was really music you could dance too and I was surprised to find I could still remember most of the lyrics.
I'll end this chapter here since it's already quite long. I'll try to do the rest of it in the coming days. If you've met me and remember me fondly I'll be happy to hear from you in the comments. I'll also be happy to see any pictures of me you may have since I'm usually not in the habit of taking selfies but I was genuinely happy in Steemfest and I would like to have more pictures of me in that unusual state :)
Love you steamians, stay awesome.
What a lovely description of the amazing experience of SteemFest. I look forward to catching up with you in Tel Aviv or Kfar Saba.
Great to meet you @mrlightning. Sorry we didn't get to say goodbye. 😢
I'm currently at the airport with about 4 hours to kill before my flight is due to take off.
Can't check in yet so going to get a coffee.
Have a lovely evening at home.
I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye as well. I really hope we'll get to meet each other again. BTW, do you remember what you and @techslut were talking about in the club? She said she was too smashed to remember :)
I remember @mrlightning but I'm not sure @techslut would want me posting it on here.😂
It was to do with different sorts of relationships. 😁
Oh yeah. I have SOME vague recollection...
Ha, ha, ha @techslut. Glad i'm not the only one who's memory is a little patchy. I remember this particular conversation though as it was pretty unique. 😍
I liked you immediately too. So glad to dance and sing with you, and get to know you and @techslut better. You’re both amazing! 💞🤗
<3<3<3
It was a great pleasure to meet you guys and will never forget that back massage @mrlightning :)
Hope you guys are doing fine.
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It was great meeting you @mrlightning and now seeing Steemfest through your eyes.
I can’t believe @techslut was nervous before her talk (even though she did mention “no sleep” in the ladies room :)) - I just watched her presentation on the replay and it was absolutely solid, professional and engaging! I’m finally beginning to understand what Utopian is all about! :)
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Part of @techslut's superpower is amazing faking-it abilities. The thing is, I think she really IS that good and the stress is just due to imposter-syndrom. I love her and I think she's awesome and I'm so very proud of her for all that she and Utopian have already achived.
It went so well this time that I have a feeling that next time she might be convinced to do the whole thing :)
It was awesome meeting you, dude 😊
I'm also really happy we exchanged emails. I'll write to you soon :)
I really look forward to it, man ❤️😊
Email sent :)
Hmm I am not seeing it :O Maybe it hasn't loaded yet? I'll drop you a quick line, just to make sure we've both got the right address (I would not put it past myself to give out the wrong one!)
Aah just saw it!!! It's okay :d Sorry about that!
See? This is why I've been spending all my time on the blockchain. This is why Utopian is my life. It's these people and THAT feeling of international family that I am here for. And now you are too!!! <3 <3 <3
^^ What she said. 💞🤗💞 This family is amazing.
Congratulations @mrlightning!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Amazing experience. Highly recommend for ALL.
True :)
Such recountings are the best proof for the strength of the steemit community and its economic structure/validity.
Thanks for this post. I'll be reading your next ones as they will role out.