Is this thing even on? How do we frame this picture? Where is the self-timer? How does the self-timer work? Oh there it is! We have 5 seconds guys - SMILE!
NewSteem is only a few days old and the first meet-up already happened in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. A very last-minute call of mine on Wednesday led to a small group of people drinking beers and eating snacks in the center of the city. On a very sunny day this is not a bad thing to do... But of course everything will be even better with the right company.
The last-minute call came from a spontaneous interaction I had with who is from Belgium but living in India - now for a month in Europe but leaving again next Thursday, it led me to the idea to try to get a few people together as it won't happen often we have this amazing Steemians so close to us!
I met him shortly during SteemFest3 in Krakow, but it was only right after the Bowling Evening and had a few too many cocktails... So he didn't even remember we met! Well, I can't stay mad at a drunk man for long, and we made up for the short meeting last November by having hours and hours of chats on a sunny terrace with some lovely Gouden Carolus and other awesome beers (like a very good Jopen 0.3% IPA - these low-/no-alcohol beers are getting better and better!)
Even though doesn't write many posts, don't underestimate that he is heavily involved with Steem in many ways: from building a Steem Village in India to investing STEEM as he sees it as a great long-term investment to being super happy with
's beempy as it gives him (and possibly many many others!) the opportunity to build on/for Steem.
Full of ideas and stories and enthusiasm and a real love for Steem I can't be happier we had some time to connect today. Thank you for traveling all the way to Rotterdam and back in one day !
Then there was , the Croat living in The Netherlands nowadays, who met up for a beer as that's basically his passion in life. Very very bravely he entered the conversation in Dutch - a language he is still learning. Now that can't have been easy!
speaking with a Flemish accent,
with a (slight, but still) German accent and me probably speaking way to quickly as Dutch is my mother tongue...
We almost were able to meet as well, but damn, that guy can party! His hangover was too severe to drink with us - will have to make our next meet-up even more at the beginning of the weekend so we are the first to have drinks with him and he can't cancel on us :D
And last but not least, dear , who I met as a young green Steemians months ago when he was still nervous about meeting Steemians as 'I was the first one he would ever meet' - and now he's there every time <3 I drove with him and
to Aachen for
's epic meet-ups a few months ago, and I can count on him to be available for a beer and a chat and some critical questions about Steem always... He loves Steem, and despite some severe doubts about HF21/22, he's always here, investing and growing his presence on Steem and building community. As that really is what these meet-ups are about.
A small but sweet meet-up, one to treasure! I loved having beers with The Guys and can't wait for a next gathering - they are fun to attend and organize, whether they are 1:1 meet-ups or big events like SteemFest, I always come home knowing Steemians are the best kind of people.
I'll plan the next one a few weeks in advance again so that everyone can be there: who tried but was not able to move his plans at this last minute,
who might be able to plan her stay in The Netherlands around that date, and of course all the people who were there on the earlier meet-ups will be able to join as well <3