Hive Fest 2023 was a truly great way to connect with so many of the talented people who make up the Hive blockchain community. Despite a relatively small turnout this year, we had a lot of fun and the intimacy helped us get to know each other and how we are working to take Hive to the next level.
My Journey To Mehico
For me, the journey began with a night time flight over London, England. At least I think it was London, it looks kind of small in this photo!
Nearly 24 hours later, with a stop at Mexico City - where I bumped into 
Turns out that we had the only high rise building in the area, so had a great view of everything from the top floor of the hotel.
I already knew from experience during my previous visit to Mexico 20 years ago, that the Mexican sun is unforgiving and the first day's talks were outside, without shade! This was a bit of an oversight, but at least it helped me to shed some of the unnecessary skin on my scalp! 😃
One of the main topics of discussion was developing a strategy to get HBD introduced to Points of Sale in shops, to allow trade to take place using HBD. A collective effort led by 
Unfortunately, though, I wasn't able to gain access to the hotel Gym.. So have to pay again now that I'm home in the form of lots of fat burning exercises. 😂
We visited a variety of nice locations, including a ranch with horses and a winery that served some great quality local wines. For some reason I don't have any shots of the stunning views there, but I'm sure others will have posted them.
I was particularly impressed by the restaurant/bar that we visited towards the end of the event, the views over the ocean were stunning and they served easily the best mojito cocktail I've ever had!
I feel Hive would be far more productive if we could all just step out into this place at a moment's notice! (VR just doesn't cut it).
Despite being a sometimes brutal mix between rich and poor, the Mexican spirit shines through in a vibrant and colourful culture. I look forward to returning!
A Movie Premier for Freechain!
Not only did we get to learn so much about Hive projects, but we got to see our own story immortalised on the silver screen in the form of the Freechain documentary put together by 
The team did a great job of simplifying the details of the hostile takeover that led to the forking of Steem into what we now know as Hive. The public release of the documentary is a few weeks away, but you can listen to the reviews from attendees here:
What I Learned About Hive Projects in 2023
We had great presentations from the 
One of the first discoveries for me was the e-commerce solutions being developed by 
I was particularly impressed by what I learned in a private conversation regarding the back end of the system and also the SEO strategies that
I also recommend checking out the talk by 
Of course, the 3Speak team were very present, being the main organisers of the whole event. They did an excellent job of looking after everyone and of selling their project to the world in their presentation. Kudos!
My Mission: Explore The State of Layer 2 Community Tech & Smart Contracts on Hive
My main intention while at Hive Fest was to learn as much as possible about the current level of development of solutions for layer 2 communities. It turns out that there are several groups working on this, plus also several solutions for smart contracts being developed for Hive. Being able to launch a sub token on Hive that is completely branded and unique to the sub community involved is, I think, one of the main features that will help Hive to explode - so this topic is paramount.
Imagine being able to quickly create your own decentralised application and website that hosts your own community, reward pool, custom token and much more - with just a few clicks. That is the future for Hive and it will be as revolutionary for users of Reddit and other similar sites as Bitcoin was for users of money in general!
In short, 3Speak are developing a system to support this, but it is still in it's early stages. However, the 
With regard to smart contracts, we have several options. 
The general goal for these projects is that they are operational within the next year, as I understand. So in about 12 months time it is possible that Hive will have both accessible Smart Contract functionality, plus easy layer 2 community building for low cost or no cost! Exciting!
One very important discovery on this topic was that there is a definite need for a community to form that can help others to create layer 2 communities! Ordinarily, in a centralised world, a corporation might employ teams to help new communities to form and to carry out technical tasks for them.
The initial stages of development of future layer 2 communities on Hive will depend on the technical know-how being present within the communities themselves, which sets a higher bar for access than is ideal. The D-Lux team suggested that we create a community of experts who can either carry out the setup of layer 2 communities on behalf of others or perhaps just offer consulting and education on the topic. This is a huge opportunity that could even support a functional business model for those willing to get involved in a big way.
In combination with the HAF system that has been developed by the
Big hugs to everyone I met at Hive Fest and didn't mention, let's make next year even better!
Wishing you well,
Ura Soul
Powerful insights into the Hive blockchain are available at my website, Hive Alive.
Including the only way to track downvotes on Hive - The Untrending report
