It was a little under two years ago that I got to check out the very first event hosted by yours truly, @roelandp. And suffice to say, the after effects of it's success story are still being felt to this very day. I mean, look at the buzz surrounding this upcoming one. It's a true exemplification of planing execution and ingenuity. To name but a few words to describe him and his creation. But the model of the Steem blockchain has changed dramatically from that first Steemfest and in turn, seems to be shaping what is to come in the future...
Nobody held any precursory expectations with Steemfest I. Which added to the pleasant surprise when it actually turned out as good as it did. However, the central focus was purely on community and blogging. Some of the names doing the presentations back then (of which a few have since taken more of a backseat role) were primarily attuned to getting the Steemit name brand out there and celebrating everything the "platform" had to offer. It's weird to think but there was no talk of anything but Steemit. The fact you could blog and collect monetary remuneration for it, was in itself mind-blowing for all who attended. That was the general underlying feeling throughout and we all laboured under the same false assumption that this was the finished article.
But fast forward to today and all of us couldn't have been more mistaken. We are on the verge of witnessing the birth of a thriving, self-sustaining social business economy. Gone is the solo Steemit application as the main selling point of this blockchain. Now, it's the blockchain itself. We got a little more clarity as to the business aspect side of things at the last Steemfest as I recall, but still most of it was simply just talk of what was on the horizon. Exciting stuff, I remember thinking, as did mostly everyone else, but we needed something tangible to really understand the true vision of what @ned was touching upon. And I believe we will get that this time around, presented in the form of a veritable cooking pot of Dapps to showcase what is currently in development. Some brand spanking new and some pre-established Steem-based products we already love and use daily. Again, something none of us could have ever dreamed of at Steemfest I. But, what a welcome change, I hope you'd all agree.
The job undertaken by the team at Steemit Inc. is one that I feel is nothing short of "the embodiment of genius in the making". Taking blockchain tech to the next level and beyond. The complexities and intricate tweakings required to interconnect the whole thing into a working, synergised, organic vehicle, is mind-bending to say the least. My absolute maximum respect to the guys for carrying out this monumental task. And coupled with the advertising prowess of @roelandp in the form of his brainchild Steemfest, it seems a collaborative effort made in heaven. Steemit, although still mighty relevant, appears to be exhibiting early signs of an initial shift of moving somewhat into the background. After all, even now, countless Steemians aren't even using the main blogging platform anymore, instead focusing on other Dapps from the plethora of choices we have available to us. That is indeed something very special and will only continue to evolve further still as time goes by.
I absolutely love Steemfest, especially having been so incredibly impressed with the original one. And things are showing no signs of slowing down. Where we proceed from here is looking very positive and the outlined path is clear to me, that the eco-system of Steem is about to realised. And I, for one, cannot wait for it to transpire.* :)
