Despite living in Krakow at the moment, I only recently heard about Steemfest here. There is not much of a legit community on Steemit.
Thinking it might be a joyous community meet up, I was flabbergasted at the prices to participate. What a joke!
Much respect for being pioneers, but you're also helping further the unaffordable exclusivity of the bullshit neo-rich idealism of the blockchain world. Well done for entering the 1% through it!
Maybe with your next projects you can make a positive difference in the world, and enact actual social change. Seems like you're sidetracked, as it does happen.
https://steemfest.com/ - For the rich and exclusive
Worth another share - https://medium.com/@seansley/is-initiative-q-a-scam-money-is-a-scam-42cccde49b8a
Sorry to hear you feel disappointed. You could still visit side-events for free, or meet up with Steemians on your own initiative.
Steemfest is being held in Europe for the third time, because it would have been even more expensive in the USA. The price was much lower for early bookers; last time, it was a headache for the organizers to accommodate more guests than were expected. It's still a non-profit event, subsidized by sponsors and donors.
I'm not going this time, and I'd be OK with an unconference in a squat or a high-school gym, but some people want a professional atmosphere for a project worth more than $200 million. At Steemfest 2 in Lissabon, poor bloggers and rich investors mingled without any friction or distance.