The ups and downs of Steemfest - Why I didn't 'kill it' - My biggest win,  and other tales from last weeks' trip to Lisbon.

<center>
![title.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQTg5Z98fxQdxySgDYZyjwMTQvFdzueK41nx6JdogCbmE/title.png)
</center>
------------------

The festival started for me on the morning of Wednesday 1st, I was checking in on steemit.chat #steemfest, and noticed that @luzcypher was in need of some fiat currency for the week.  We exchanged messages and I met him, along with @stevec, @silviabeneforti, @paolobeneforti, and a couple of other attendees (I will be apologizing for forgetting names a couple of times in this blog and this is the first one) in the foyer in the HF Lisboa.  We agreed on price and in 3 seconds, I received my 200 Steem as part of the transaction - a good start to proceedings I think!

I then went downstairs to register for the event and collect my pass, t-shirts, and funky water bottle.  I spotted @roelandp in what to be was his style for the week, safari/Hawaian shorts and a short sleeved shirt, Steve Irwin style  - one way to get noticed for sure!  I also saw @ned for the first time, looking to be in a good mood and welcoming people to the registration area.

On the walk home, I noticed the city taxis were sporting the same colour as the new Steemit logo...... hmmm :)

<center>
![taxi.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/400x200/https://steemitimages.com/DQmQGeei7VUvwZvPqVWBguVqWeyNJ6snkK3dWBcEHLbYS5d/taxi.jpg)
</center>

---------------------------

### Opening drinks
### 
Later that evening, most attendees had arrived and were heading to one of the hotels for the welcome drinks.  I walked down the rather steep hill (of which there are many in Lisbon!) and made my way to the bar area.  Err shit, I've never actually spoken in person to any of these guys... so I stood there, pretending to be using my phone for something useful, until I spotted a character most would recognise on here.

Making my way over to the bar, I tapped a large shoulder and @exyle turned round, gave me a 'hey man', and handshake, and a man hug!  Great! He's recognised me at least I thought, this is a good start!  (He later admitted he wasn't quite sure until we'd spoken for a minute or so!)  We were soon talking about Steemit, the new logo, communities, beer, drinking lots of free beer, and then I met his girlfriend Bianca ( @bkdbkd ), who was also very friendly and welcoming.  

We'd communicated in each others blogs prior to the events and so I soon felt relaxed talking to these guys.  Beer helps.

@twinner introduced himself and handed me 2 @boomerang free bid cards, and reminded me the project still welcomed support :D  I haven't forgotten, and thanks for the boosts :D

Next up, @dannyshine walked over and introduced himself.  Danny's [assessment of Steemfest and Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemit/@dannyshine/38uckh-steemfest-a-skeptics-view-the-dangers-of-groupthink-etc) is worth a read if you haven't already, and I could tell by talking to him that he wasn't as excited about the progress and future potential as the general vibe around the bar that evening suggested.  

---------------

After a few more drinks I bumped into @lukestokes of whom I asked if he'd spoken to @ned regarding a recent conversation on the @steemitblog [here](https://steemit.com/performance/@steemitblog/performance-and-scalability-updates).  Luke seemed very positive in general, and assured me that all was well between them - apparently they'd both shared a serving of dog food together earlier that evening :)

<center>
![dogfood.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUgVwG5qw81shVjDUjuB4NZXsonVeVhuxbXJN6SsSsMzg/dogfood.PNG)
</center>

I also managed to sneak into a photo with Luke, as shown below and taken (thank you!) from @mrs.steemit's blog. Yes, I'm the one on the right looking like i'm not really part of proceedings, but smiling anyway!  In the middle you will see that surfer girl, @surfermarly.  

<center>
![drinks1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/600x400/https://steemitimages.com/DQmYbHMELxdTH3RsrBFd1qCLES8ugwBdDHqKPrf89F9dTd2/drinks1.jpg)
</center>

At this point in time, and despite our regular communication on Steemit, she had no idea I was there :D More on that soon.

After another chat with a rather merry @exyle and a French Steemian (apologies x 2) regarding the state of the French community who we heard were lacking support in the form of a larger account holder to boost their community, a la @surpassinggoogle, I said goodbye and pondered this on my walk back up the hill to the apartment.  We had a full day of events starting early enough the next day, and the bar had stopped serving...

---------------------

### Day 1
### 

We arrived at the venue on time, courtesy of a new Steemit colour-schemed taxi (yes, late for the free coaches) and bumped into @dannyshine again who was wearing an awesome t-shirt, similar to the below.  I've not drank cows milk for a while now, wheat and oat milk tastes (and smells!) far better to me these days.  

<center>
![t-shirt.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWNqTmEdJyJVhC4MdZZ2N24XCT3DVT7rZw4LgpXbKW663/t-shirt.jpg)
<sub>[source](https://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/8/8da4dda0-7c37-0133-0c43-0e76e5725d9d.jpg?w=740&h=740&fit=crop&crop=faces&auto=format&q=70)</sub>
</center>

The days' presentations are all muddled up in my mind, and I'd need the schedule to go through them in order.  I hope you've had chance to see the videos as there is plenty to learn.

@ned opened and was again open and positive about the current state of affairs and the future.

We then went to see @jexblackmore (Interdisciplinary artist and activist. National spokesperson for The Satanic Temple.)  Who is a pretty awesome speaker I have to say.  What she spoke about may not have pleased all, and it was here I listened to @quinneaker ask a couple of pressing questions before traversing back to his seat row by row, standing on 6 or 7 seats on his way - he's a tall, confident dude!

Back in room 1 was @sneak talking about the future of Steemit - can I say, this guy is funnier than even @jerrybanfield!?  I liked listening to one of the Developers, as I did with a bunch of the team later in the day discussing the happenings with regards to the platform.  

They didn't shy away from any questions asked, and showed they did know what was going on in the Blockchain landscape -  'Pick and choose the best of what's out there and apply it here' - Sounds fair to me.

Next up was @mrs.steemit discussing another Steem Blockchain application, @appics - The Next-Generation Social Media App.  A nice presentation, well given, followed by the first question... 
'Have you heard about @steepshot?' 

'Sorry, what?' 

'Steepshot'

'Sorry, again?'

Steve Jobs! shouted @roelandp - LOL.  

@steepshot - Share moments. Earn coins.  Competition is good, right?!

--------------

@surfermarly was next on the list for me, I was keen to hear more about her charity venture @dreamsoftheocean and she didn't disappoint - If you haven't checked in on what she's doing, take a look and support what is **a clear use case for the Steem Blockchain - the transparent support of charities**. Awesome stuff Marley :)

---------------

Then perhaps one of the biggest names at the event, a talk by @dollarvigilante.  Honestly, I was expecting an arrogant idiot telling me I should have bought Bitcoin back in 2011.  Actually, this guy gave a clear assessment of where he thought the key areas going forward with Steemit were - Marketing and a swifter sign-on process.

It's worth checking the video (day 1 room 1) for this talk, not only for the talk, but for the comedy mid-way through.  The ever changing video backdrop (a cool screensaver using the Steem blockchain live post/comment submissions - anyone got the link for that?!) decided to show a naked photo.  

After the laughs from the audience began to get louder, he was pointed in the direction of the screen and said 'why am I looking at you guys' - That was a good-un :)

-----------

During one of the breaks, I met @eroche - (tag)culturevulture admin and part of the (tag)bisteemit communities.  What a lovely chap he is!

<center>
![eroche.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/600x400/https://steemitimages.com/DQmX7jURj6ab9c2BenGTzeV9miJVcB2hcVQ31NqQTX8L1KD/eroche.jpg)
<sub>@osm0sis - @abh12345 - @eroche</sub>
</center>

-------------------

Also that afternoon, I listened to @starkerz - (tag)promo-steem and (tag)promo-uk talk about all the work @stephenkendal, himself, and the team promoting Steemit in the UK had done.  A really epic job here, and to all the folks around the world working to raise the awareness of the platform.  Apologies Matt for not coming to speak to you afterwards, one of many misses for me at the festival.

Following this presentation, @terrybrock and @ginacarr - what a lovely double act they are :)  They discussed methods to produce and market your blogs which I think everyone can learn something from.

@demotruk - a short interaction here on the way to dinner - thanks man!

----------------

By this point my brain was pretty fried.  So much to take in, so many avenues to think about and discuss with regards to the future here.  It was time for some food, beer, and Pool.

Socialising over a game of some sort is much more my thing and I spent time talking to the likes of @surfermarly, @anomadsoul, @acromott, @karensuestudios, @getonthetrain, @gmuxx, and at the end of the evening, while I was most likely swaying from side to side, @dollarvigilante.  I also managed a game of Pool against @exyle - I'll let you guess who was the winner here :D

The night flew by. Again, @ned was involved and looked relaxed and approachable. I was also pointed in the direction of @blocktrades and thought (apart from, 'he looks like a 70's porn-star' :D ), I wonder if he'll delegate me some SP if I show him what I want to do with it.  

The next day, he released the 'pay for delegation' blog, I guess he'd been asked one too many times that evening!

Apologies here for the other Steemians I spoke to during the evening, I was wasted at the end of the night...

-------------------

### Day 2
### 
Puking up and in bed all day.  Yep, that's all I have to report.  Massive fail.

I didn't eat enough on day 1, drank way too much, and totally blew it as far as Steemfest was concerned. What a waste.

However, there was something big to take from this day.  

Over the past 6 months, since I 're-joined' Steemit and bought a laptop, my relationship (hi @osm0sis) had, to put it bluntly,  gone down the shitter.  Any 'free' moment I had, I was reading posts, replying to comments, thinking about Steemit.  Steemit, Steemit, Steemit.  

And someone was becoming gradually disconnected, even though she was/is trying to get involved here - for me. 

The past month in particular has been very tough, we've said things to each other that are not cool, I cancelled the Nepal trip feeling it was going to be a nightmare with the current feelings towards each other, and honestly, we left for Portugal thinking it was going to be over post Steemfest.  

What this day did, was remove us from our usual space and allow some heart-to-heart time.  Yes, I've totally been absorbed in this world, and @osm0sis felt unimportant after feeling so much closer in the first 6 months of our relationship.  We spent most of the day talking, and discussing our feelings which deep down and behind the masks of discontent, hadn't changed.

This was my biggest win from my time in Portugal.

-----------

The biggest losses I feel were missing the 2nd days' interactions with the attendees, and the 'fireside chat with @ned'.  I've had a question on my mind for weeks, and @ned, if you are reading and 'lurking' in this blog, this one (or more like 3) is for you (in the style of @dannyshine):

**What was your reasoning behind the 3.5 million delegation to 7 users (in overlapping communities/locations) at the beginning of August?**

**Was this a community expansion experiment, and how do you feel it went following the undelegation of 3 million a few weeks ago?**  Thanks!

----------------

### Day 3
### 
A walk around Lisbon together.  A few drinks, lunch, and 100's of photos which will be displayed in the near future.  

<center>
![DSC_9359-01.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/400x200/https://steemitimages.com/DQmZuzH92XiDeedTZt2ZSmERJEENC8N2jFcUGA3WnivwaGE/DSC_9359-01.jpeg)
<sub><b>Lisbon, Portugal - 2017</b></sub>
</center>

Apologies again for the lack of attendance and interaction all.

We flew home Sunday morning at 7am.

----------------

So, Steemfest - did I make the most of it? I don't think so.  Do I think it was worth the trip - absolutely.

**I am though now, hugely hopeful and more positive than ever that the Steem blockchain has a good few years in it yet.**
 
And if this is the case, then the blogging aspect (Steemit, Chainbb, eSteem, Busy.org, etc) has plenty of time to grow and prosper.

-----------

Thank you to the people who's blogs I've taken the photos from, to prove I did actually attend!

Thank you @roelandp for the 5+ months of organisation and work towards the event.

And, a big **thank you to all the attendees** I did and didn't interact with, for making the vibe what it was - friendly and positive.

<center>
![end.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeojuUfUBzQRgP3gin7SkdqpRTeKZ8ThFj4xx2cj1GZcd/end.png)
<sub><b>Graffiti <3 </3 <3 - Lisbon, Portugal</b></sub>
</center>

<br>

**Steem on, and always make time for your loved ones.**

**Asher**