I’m in the process of writing a series of blog posts on my experience at HiveFest this year in Amsterdam. The articles are generally geared towards those who were either actually at the event or involved with Hive in some way, so have some general understanding.
However, this may all not make much sense to anyone having a peek from the outside, so will all just seem like gobbledegook and irrelevance to those looking in. Perhaps a short article with a bit of background info may be of help…
What is Hive?
Hive is a blockchain. HIVE is a cryptocurrency.
This isn’t a ‘what is blockchain’ article so do follow the links and/or do your own research but just know that is the underlying technology and not worry too much for now but more on how it can be used (like the internet).
Just think of Hive as a particular ‘enterprise’ which inhabits all kinds of tech development, blogging, gaming and social media applications, which can be tokenized and offer in-built rewards and incentives. It also allows for decentralization, immutability and ownership, as well as standing at the forefront of Web 3.0 which is the next iteration of the internet.
Bitcoin is also a blockchain (the original in fact). It does some things well, but lacks in other areas and doesn't store content like articles etc, it's more just a ledger of financial transactions.
There are some people who are 'maxis' in one form or another, and the smarter people who know there is a place for many complementing entities (although Hive does cover a lot of bases and is actively expanding).
See more at Hive.io and the PeakD (a prominent Hive front-end) FAQs page.
What is HiveFest?
Well, HiveFest is simply a conference and social event bringing together in person the people involved with Hive. That could be core developers, all the way to casual users. People who have been on since day one, to those literally just joined and are curious as to what’s happening and fancied an adventure.
It’s now in its seventh year with the first 4 being ‘SteemFest’, beginning also in Amsterdam in 2016. Then there was Lisbon 2017 (this was the only other event I attended), Kraków 2018 and Bangkok 2019. Then things got a bit funky in 2020 (ie. not much traveling or in real life meetups) so there were 2 years of Virtual Reality fests, which filled a gap but were by no means a replacement for this.
Roeland always dresses to impress at these things. Pic by @solymi
Which brings us round to this year - 2022. This being the 7th overall but the 1st in real life / in person meet up specifically being HiveFest. The resurrection of the old but also bringing in the new.
There are numerous talks, with updates from developers, info from various projects and platforms and anything else that fits in. This is a key part of course, but for me and many others is secondary to everything else. You can even watch the streams of the talks online so could save yourself a trip if that’s all it’s about.
As with any type of conference, the true value is in between, the conversations and networking that this kind of thing affords and encourages. Not to mention the extra-curricular activities, and a good ol’ party! You create strong bonds and it’s a great chance to explore a city.
They tend to last 4 days with 2 days full of talks and activities, opening drinks, and a closing dinner… with bits and pieces in between depending on the set up for that year.
I won’t lie to you, some of the talks can be a bit techie but are very interesting to those in the know. And if it is over your head a little, it’s ok, everyone’s there to learn - and teach - what they can. That’s part of the development - put yourself in a room with people smarter than you. Besides, you may well be smarter in other areas. It’s all relative and we all have something to offer. And that’s where this kind of event comes into its own, the bringing together of those people in one place at one time.
Keep a beady eye on HiveFe.st for more!
So What’s Steem/SteemFest?
Steem is another blockchain (and crypto) which Hive stemmed from. It’s a subject of a whole other article, but it was Steem that was about first and showed some promise in this arena, however lacked in certain ways that were exploited and could affect us all (badly) going forward.
Some tomfoolery at the GIF machine in Lisbon, 2017
As a result, the core of the community forked to create a new blockchain, meaning everything that had happened on chain from the start to that point remains the same but from that point on it was a whole new blockchain with its own parameters. This is one of the beauties of this tech, it is possible to fork and create something new/adapted, not just for more extreme circumstances such as this but for all manner of reasons.
SteemFest was of course the conference/event that took place involving those in the community at the time. Most of the core developers, dapps, projects and users came over to Hive in the ensuing months, as did the main organiser of the Fest who now continues under the Hive banner. Whether Steem still has their own version of a fest, who knows! (Although, it would be interesting to be a fly on the wall for that one. Or not ;))
That’s about it. A quick(ish) summary of what we’re talking about. There’s so much potential there and this barely scratches the surface. Hopefully it gives some sort of background to some other posts I’m writing, have written about and will write more about in the future.
Enjoy!
Related:
HiveFest '22 Part 1: Going Dutch
SteemFest '17 Part 1: Creamy & Delicious
(links to subsequent parts at the bottom of each post)