Finally... The time has come... After 10 days of my return from the #HiveFest9, standard getting-sick-after-trip, I could take my time, sit down in front of the computer, and write my HiveFest post! I did a couple of posts while I was on the "road", but those were more titbits... As I promised to myself (and others) that I will do my HF reflection post, here we are... Buckle your seatbelts as this will be a long ride... 😃
EDIT: The idea was to create ONE post, but this one has already grown a lot! I'm afraid that nobody would read it if I did it even longer... So, don't forget to come to the continuation post, where I will write about those people who were part of my (offline) Hive journey from before
As much as it looks awkward, I'm an introverted guy but on the other side, I like these HIVE meetups a lot! It became an addiction... 😃 Yes, I always stress a lot about things like long flights, big gatherings, speaking in front of others, weird food 😃, etc. Probably because of all that, I got sick after (or during) these events/meetups... But, that's my drug, that's me getting out of my comfort zone and doing things that are very uncomfortable for me...
photo by @ninaeatshere
photo by @louis88
Back to HiveFest! This was my 2nd HiveFest, after attending the first in Amsterdam 2022, but, this time, it was even more special to me! This time, I was one of the speakers at the event! I know that @liotes isn't some big coding app that people can't live without, but it is something special that united me with some other people, and not just that, it created a community around it... The idea at the beginning was a slow growth that could make a difference one day, and it does do that... Thanks to @liotes, I met some friends for the first time at this year's HiveFest!
photo by @bil.prag
Speaking of presentations, I will not write about them a lot as you have probably followed them on the official HiveFest YouTube account, Day1 and Day2, but rather talk about everything that happened around it!
People that I first met/talked to!
One of the reasons for attending these things is to meet some people for the first time... People that you maybe have contact with on a daily basis on the chain, or around it, but you never saw them IRL... I have met a couple of those at this HiveFest and I'm grateful that I did... They are some awesome peeps... Btw. When I say met, it means that I had a talk with them, most time knew them from the chain, and in the end, enjoyed their presence!
photo by @bil.prag
One of those people is @achim03 who is my "business partner" as we together run the @liotes project... We met on HIVE 4 years ago, firstly discussing in the comment sections of the posts, after chatting over Discord too, and in the end, we decided to run the LIOTES project together... Today, we have everyday contact over the Internet, but believe it or not, this year's HiveFest was the first time that we met in the real/offline world!!! Before the event, we had an idea to talk about the project and create some future plans about Liotes on HiveFest, but there wasn't enough time to do it... Too many Hivians around to talk with, and too many bonds to be created...
Speaking of people that I first met, this photo was taken at the "Opening drinks", and all 3 people in this image were people who attended their FIRST HiveFest, and whom I met for the first time! How curious is it?! The guy in the white t-shirt is @abbak7 and this was his first HiveFest... We had a few talks during the event about Hive and non-Hive topics too!
The guy on the right side of the photo is @seckorama, who is one of the moderators in the Ecency Discord, but also, more than just that!
my photo
As you can see in this photo, he is one of the OGs on the HIVE! 8 years here!!! On this HiveFest, he was representing Ecency and sharing some cool news about it on the HF stage! As I had many contacts with him on (and off) chain, I was really happy to hear that he would attend the event! We had a lot of talks during the first 2 days, but unfortunately, he had to leave the event earlier... We will continue the talks next time, I'm sure!!!
photo by @ninaeatshere
As I mentioned the Opening drinks, here is another great photo by Nina from that night! Here you can spot the girl right behind Nina (on the left with glasses), who I didn't know from before and unfortunately, didn't have enough time to talk to on this HiveFest... She is @akipponn, a very interesting girl, an awesome blogger, and an amazing person... Check her blog page!
my photo
When @forkyishere (the guy on the left in the photo) said that he would attend HiveFest, I got another big reason to NOT miss it!!! He is another great Hivian who is always there to help, to show you how to do something if you don't know, and he helped me a few times in the past! We had so many great talks and laughs during the event and I can say that it wouldn't be the same without him! He was everywhere, talking with everyone, trying to get the most possible from the event, before going back to far New Zealand!
my photo
Speaking of New Zealand, and speaking about people who are always there to help, I have to mention @eturnerx (3rd guy on from the left, at the table in the back, looking away from the camera 😃) who also did this long journey to meet other Hivians! It was great to meet him and great to hang out with him on multiple occasions during the event...
I have to stay a bit on this photo as it is one of my favorites... I took it in my last minutes with the Hivians in Split... Right after, I said farewell and hit the road to the airport... I would like to mention a few more names here... On the left (his back), you can see @jza and @misslasvegas... As they were one of the "toughest ones" 😃, who stayed longer in Split, we had some extra time to exchange a few words! We exchanged a few words, but we will take our time the next time to chat more... I met also @honeydue (behind Nina at the table in the back) for the first time, and we talked briefly on a few occasions...
my photo
One of the surprises at the HiveFest was @kesilgonzalez! I mean, surprises me... I didn't know him from before, I had no idea what he was doing on HIVE, but when I noticed his flying around with the camera, I had to check out his blog! And what a pleasant surprise! He is doing some great videos, very refreshing and unique on HIVE! Don't want to spill the beans, you have to check it out by yourself... 🙂
photo by @ninaeatshere with @evelynchacin's phone 😃
Huh, I almost forgot... The problem with NOT taking your own photos, you can easily forget someone that you hang out and one of them is @mightyrocklee! I had so many talks with him during the whole event, but somehow, I have just 1-2 photos with him! We have to repeat the meetup and take more photos, buddy!
my photo
More people, more people... 😃 Btw, I'm still in the first "category", highlighting only the people that I met for the first time... This post will be a loooong one... sorry, not sorry... 😃 The person that I want to mention from this photo is sitting at the back, in the brown hoodie... He is @primersion and he came to the HiveFest on his bicycle!!! I met him on Hive when I was setting up the Hive-Engine node, as he has created a website that I use for monitoring my node! It was great to meet him in Split and have some tech (and non-tech) talks with him!
As a matter of fact, I arrived later to this meeting and that's why I managed to sneak in and take the photo while everyone was distracted and tired from the boat excursion... 😃 At the same table, but hidden by Mazin, was @etblink... We talked for the first time on that occasion, but we had another talk at the beer bar.... It was nice to meet you, Evan!!!
my photo
This was a moment when the presentation on Day 2 finished, and almost everyone was on the way to the coffee shop to buy coffee and pay with HBD! It was funny to see over 30-40 people swarming the small coffee shop... 🤣 I will use this photo to mention another person that I met for the first time and had a very nice talk... His name is @yozen, he is one of the developers who works for Peakd, and he is the guy on the right side, having a hoodie on his shoulder...
my photo
The star on this photo is @ninaeatshere, but I would like to use this photo to mention a family that made this HiveFest even more a family event... You can see at the back, one of the @thebombkids with a billiard stick, his father @buttcoins, and the other troublemaker on the other side... 😃 The one missing from this photo is the mother, @myinnervoice... I had a great talk with the whole family at the pool bar... It was great to meet you guys!
I have probably missed someone and I'm sorry for doing so... Oh, I can't forget @ervin-lemark and @dashpay... We had a few great talks about crypto, the past, and the future of it... It was great to meet you guys!
I will finish this post here as this got too serious... I mean, too long... 😃 Don't freak out if I didn't mention you in this one, it is because you are one of those...
People that I met before!
Don't forget to come back to the continuation post...
Thank you for your time,
--ph--
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