I got home from Steemfest last night around 11.15 PM only to realise that I’d somehow forgotten my keys at the Volkshotel, but it didn’t even upset me as I was still buzzing from an incredible weekend. Fortunately my parents were still awake and were able to come to my rescue with a spare key so my reunion with my bed was only delayed by 30 minutes!
I suppose people are getting tired of hearing about how great Steemfest was but I’m gonna have to join the chorus. It truly was an awesome event and massive props to 
Hive account@roelandp for organising it, his very patient wife (and cute baby) for letting him do it and of course his big crew of helpers who made sure everything went along smooth as could be, Freddy, 
Hive account@firepower, 
Hive account@sjennon and everyone else, great job.
The power of community
What this event really brought home for me was the diversity of people that Steem has brought together, and the incredible feeling of community it has fostered. Here were people from 30 different countries, most of whom had never met before in real life, of wildly differing ages and walks of life getting along famously thanks to a platform that only 6 months ago had barely gotten off the ground. What we all experienced this weekend can only be described as special, and I’m very grateful to 
Hive account@ned and 
Hive account@dantheman for having brought Steem into the world, as well as the dev team slaving away behind the scenes.
Shoutouts
Shoutouts to the always smiling 
Hive account@liondani and his wife Maria and all the rest of the Greek crew you guys are awesome, 
Hive account@skapaneos, 
Hive account@steemychicken1, 
Hive account@mariandavp and 
Hive account@andrianakout, 
Hive account@pkattera and 
Hive account@dbrock for some intense web dev discussions, 
Hive account@riverhead, 
Hive account@blocktrades and 
Hive account@xeroc I wish I’d gotten to talk to you more, 
Hive account@cass and 
Hive account@roy of course for their amazing designs and burritos, 
Hive account@knozaki2015 the drink master, 
Hive account@wingz and his kingly beard, 
Hive account@jonnybitcoin the Dutch like tiny beers eh, 
Hive account@saramiller and 
Hive account@everlove with their amazing energy, 
Hive account@andrarchy and 
Hive account@fabio who man-hugged to clear up a discussion gone wrong, the French crew 
Hive account@fabien and 
Hive account@ekitcho and 
Hive account@picokernel, 
Hive account@arcange and his wife.
Hive account@tatianamoroz who held a great concert, 
Hive account@kevinwong a man of many talents, 
Hive account@steemrollin who will be hosting the next Steemfest in California (right?), 
Hive account@mrs.steemit and 
Hive account@lisadang always looking fab and being on top of things (except for travelling that is!), 
Hive account@anyx, 
Hive account@onceuponatime and all the other Canadians, 
Hive account@nanzo-scoop the best-looking football bookie you’ll ever see, 
Hive account@sneak the most extrovert introvert I’ve ever met, 
Hive account@furion who never ceases to amaze me, 
Hive account@pharesim and his awesome dog, oh and 
Hive account@blueorgy of course and so many more I can’t think of off the top of my head. You were all awesome, thanks for being part of this weekend and making Steemfest what it was!
Despite having met a ton of awesome people there were still many I never even got a chance to talk to, so I hope I’ll see you all again next time around, wherever it may take place. I’ll be there that’s for sure!
