This is my first post on Steemit and my first time writing for public consumption in quite some time. I hope you enjoy!
I attended my local area's cryptocurrency Meetup yesterday evening for the first time. The group gathered at a local bar/restaurant (that accepts bitcoin as payment, wooo!) and was sponsored by Bitcoin.com. The general structure of the Meetup was a meet & greet, followed by a 10 minute soapbox session for announcements, and concluded with a speaker who discussed the potential of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) through blockchain technology.
The speaker was great (despite my continued skepticism to the very idea of UBI), but my biggest takeaway came from mingling prior. A few keys thoughts:
The crowd diversity reminded me of a 12 step meeting. By this I mean there were individuals of all ages, races, economic classes, experience levels, and careers. This is HUGE in my opinion and very promising for the future of the space overall. Another similar characteristic between this meetup and the 12 step structure was an announcement that asked for a show of hands of those who were new to the field and those who were confident in explaining bitcoin and blockchain technology. This idea of linking up two individuals in an intimate conversation is how understanding of ideas is transmitted best in my experience. A single spark here can send a novice home with the confidence to strike up a similar conversation with an uninformed friend of colleague.
The cryptocurrency realm will continue to face many struggles that come from human behavior and crowd action. It amazed me the variety of conversations I found myself in - from those interested in trading/investing, those fascinated with the potential of blockchain to alter the current status quo, the overlap between VC and the startup world, and much more. Just like any market structure, the culmination of individual actors will create the future and crypto/blockchain can go in any number of directions. Whether your interests lie on the programming side, economics, privacy, security, etc.., there was someone there who matched up with your hopes and aspirations for the technology.
Maybe the most important takeaway of my evening was putting a face to the blockchain. Its become very easy to connect with other individuals from all over the planet via the internet, but being able to pick the minds of folks in my own physical community over a beer gives me so much hope for the future of crypto/blockchain. Prior to the Meetup, I met an individual and acquired a collection of books (with bitcoin - 1st transaction for physical goods for me, yay!) and was able to soak up some of his knowledge and experience in our brief conversation.
If nothing else is garnered from my brief thoughts, remember that you are the face/avatar of blockchain and cryptocurrencies! Each of us is an ambassador - a good example or a bad example - of the field, space, technology. I'm very grateful for the folks who have established my local chapter and will allow me to connect with those in my direct community to share ideas with.