I am still processing all that happened at SteemFest² but it’s not an exaggeration to say that this trip to Lisbon was nothing short of a life changing experience.
What was SteemFest² all about?
We all knew it would be Creamy & Delicious but I thought Steemfest would mainly be a place to meet people, make connections and put faces to the names. I wanted to hear about new apps and the future and vision for its development.
Steemit Inc
If I am being honest I was hoping for more announcements from Steemit Inc in the marketing and strategy space. The talk by 
I have been wrestling with this for months but after Steemfest I have come to the conclusion that maybe the pace of development is spot on.
New Features
The talk by Michael Vandeberg was very positive. Developments on the back-end Blockchain architecture is moving along rapidly and the level of performance and scalability is already second to none and is going to reach even dizzier heights. (already approaching a million transactions a day)
Steemit.com is just an App
Lets pause and contemplate this for a minute...
The innovation in this community and breadth of use cases proposed over the few days was contagious. This, in my opinion, is what will bring most value to the ecosystem. Steem is much more than just Steemit Inc and much more than just a social media Blockchain. Remember Steemit.com is just one app.
The upcoming launch of SMT tokens is also progressing and will be yet another killer feature of the Steem Blockchain, a feature that other Blockchains have not even thought of yet.
Applications
Steemfest turned out to be the mother of all brainstorming sessions. Countless ideas were incubated for viable next gen businesses built on top of this platform.
A forward thinking theme permeated the whole week with ideas about travel apps, ticket validation, influencer tokens as well as charity projects, payment services and countless other ideas too numerous to mention. These ideas touched a multitude of industries, geographies and possibilities.
SMTs are a great example of a future application of the Steem Blockchain and if you haven't heard about them yet check out some talks and get developing. This feature will be huge!
All Aboard the Steem Train
It feels like the pace of development has certainly gotten a jumpstart thanks to Steemfest. This is exactly what I was hoping for, today I read about 
So how easy is the Steem Blockchain to use today?
One nice example from the weekend was when I took an Uber from the venue back to the hotel. A friend sharing the taxi wanted to split the fare. I looked at the app but then I though no its easier to just get the guy to send money to my account on Steem. He didn't need a QR code or long address just my username which he already knew. I bet you too are earning crypto on Steemit every day without even thinking about it. It’s that easy!
The Vision
The take away from the conference for me is the impending emergence of applications built on top of the Steem Blockchain.
It was made very clear over the few days that The Steem Blockchain and Steemit Inc are two separate entities. This is a very important point and is forgotten by many when they begin to talk about Steemit, Steem and related technologies. I believe it’s possible for these entities to both flourish but if your in the camp that just thinks of Steemit as Steemit.com, I urge you to dig a little deeper and see what lies beneath.
Nudge Theory
I would like to see more incubators and more projects funded by Steemit Inc, especially in this early stage as I believe it is in their interest to support the development of a base set of apps to showcase the system. There is evidence that this is happening with the news of 
and there was talk of some lobbying at the conference for support for deserving projects that will enrich the ecosystem.
It was such a productive few days that one of the discussion points was that we could have more regular brainstorming style meetups or hackathons. I will definitely be linking up with some people to make this happen in the coming months.
Criticism
There has been much talk lately about voting delegations, large Steem accounts and nefarious influence. I have been going back and forth on this but if you forget for a minute about who has the stake right now and focus on the technology and the innovation, the future is very bright indeed. For the first time I can see real world businesses using a Blockchain in a value adding way.
The distribution of stake is a frustrating point especially for new comers and investors but on this point I would argue that its no worse than the real world and the microcosm that is the Steem Economy is just much more transparent and democratic. Indeed these people are accessible and it is even possible to lobby some of the key actors to use their influence for good.
Obrigado
So many new projects, businesses and friendships will be born out of SteemFest². Such a unique group of inspiring, supportive people attended, community leaders and experts in their respective areas.
Coming back to a work in a FTSE 100 company this week, a leader in its field (whatever that means), I had the realisation about just how special this group is and how every person on Steemit right now is a pioneer in a new technology that just might change the world.
Meeting the people in Portugal left me with the most positive energy and outlook for any project I have been involved with to this point in my life. I heard this new word Obrigado a lot while I was there and this exemplifies how accepting and special this group is. It's hard to imagine that anything anywhere else could trump this with regard to the level of creativity, talent and positive energy being infused. If Steem was a battery it’s surely fully charged and ready to go. This is part of the reason why the Steem Blockchain is literally years ahead of any other Blockchain in existence. It’s already changing peoples lives in a meaningful way but we are just getting started. As a side note Devcon3 was running concurrently in Mexico where they are still discussing the change from Proof of Work To Proof of Stake consensus. Mexico is nice but I am glad I didn't choose that over Steemfest!
Creativity
If I was to use one word to encapsulate the weekend, it's creativity. I have never before been in a room with such a diversity of motives and ideas yet somehow all connected through a creation that is going to cause nothing short of a revolution in technology. It is already enabling people to realise their potential they never knew existed.
The group in Lisbon was full of people that were so open and willing to put their ideas out there covering everything from philanthropy to capitalism. The spectrum was mind boggling and it will take a few days weeks even months to process the experience I had as I went from discussion to discussion.
Community on a Blockchain
Whatever your vision for Steem or Steemit I can say with certainty after attending SteemFest² the group of people it has brought together is quite remarkable. A parallel world and a global community connected by a Blockchain, a community which I am honoured to be a part of.
Thanks to 
- How many users will we have by this time next year?
- What app are you waiting for?
- Will you make an SMT?
Coming soon
Stay tuned for some interesting stats from the conference and my highlights of the week, which you can view via youtube if you weren't able to make it.
Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.