The Road to SteemFest | My Trip Down Memory Lane

There’s only another week left to do your post about SteemFest 3 in an attempt to incite people to head to Bangkok in November for SteemFest 4.

To enter and qualify for this incentive you need to have…

attended Steem Fest 3, then the #roadtosteemfest tag is for you

And then write about…

Take a trip down memory lane and go through your SF3 photo album and bring back all the moments that made your trip worth every Steem spent and...

There’s only been a handful of entrants so far so is everyone leaving it until the last minute? This is the original post by @anomadsoul.

From the ones I have read so far, I continually read, ‘it was a blast’, ‘unforgettable memories’, ‘great fun’, so should I say the same?

Not to put a damper on @roelandp’s series of ‘fests’, I have mixed feelings of which I can only blame myself.

Perhaps I attended too early in my STEEM career, or perhaps history may repeat itself in Bangkok if I do decide to go. If I do, this time it will be a solo trip.

You see despite all the front of the maniac and some of the crazy stuff I write, I am quite an introverted character and find it hard to socialise with people that I don't know.

I am currently suffering from hearing problems.. that is I have problems hearing conversations when in noisy environments.

This can have the effect that one is a little dense, thick or stupid. Saying 'eh', 'what', 'pardon' doesn’t work so well when speaking with comparative strangers.

Next week, I am getting my ears treated using Micro Suction followed by an ear test by the NHS one week later. It can only get better methinks.

When I say ‘mixed feelings’, there were times on ‘Day 2’ that I was standing around not knowing who to approach. Everyone seemed so engrossed and I felt like I would be breaking into private parties so to speak.

I have little confidence when it comes to approaching people while squinting at name badges that I barely know.

This happened again on the final evening at the Cubus Hotel. Drinks and some food had been provided and I noticed @celestal but didn't approach him.

I don’t want to appear stereotypical but his crazy haircut I found intimidating. I have since corresponded with @celestal several times about my introverted nature (not the haircut), and I will endeavour to hunt him down at Bangkok, regardless of the hair.

The truth is I really enjoyed most of SteemFest 3 and this November I feel I will know more people and have less of a problem approaching them.

People I did meet and have great memories of are @felixxx (a great talk at the breakfast table about the old days and some full votes of which I was overjoyed about), @jaki01 and @kobold-djawa who @bingbabe ended up chatting too simply because of having Far East origins and @reggaemuffin due to our Magic the Gathering connection.

I noticed some of the prominent Steemians had removed their badges by Day 2, maybe they wanted to appear inconspicuous to the many.

There were rumours that @transisto was around but keeping in the shadows, was there any truth to that?

I kept seeing @exyle but didn't approach him, as at that time he simply wouldn't have known who I was. There's always this fear of, ‘who are you flea?', though that notion is quite ridiculous.

@steevc could sense my apprehension about approaching some of these people and introduced me to @blocktrades of all people. He was great, down to earth, friendly and not what I expected.

Part of Day 1 and 2 was the round tables. I didn’t sit down at any of these simply because it reminds me of work and meetings.

I have enough of this when I’m being paid and there was no way in hell I was going to sit and chit-chat, actually listen to chit-chat because I’m not a great public speaker.

There were enough Steemians milling around and simply talking one-to-one was enough for me. If I only would have had the confidence to approach some of them.

At one point I saw @hr1 looking a little Iost but simply could not approach someone who was in my mind a ‘Legend'. One becomes ‘Starstruck' even at SteemFest sometimes.

I had brief conversations with @abh12345, @tarazkp, @blewitt, @crimsonclad, and @anomadsoul but regret not talking to all of them more.

Some Steemians I completely missed, I didn’t see @nanzo-scoop at all, and though I did see @adetorrent on the @cleanplanet event, I didn’t know who he was at the time.

Other Steemians I conversed with were @kevinwong (deep in the Salt Mines), @shanibeer (many times), @gillianpearce (many times too), @steevc (of course), @revisesociology (someone I felt at ease with from the first minute) and @detlev (what a guy, what can I say?)

Yet there were others I spotted, some who I know better now that I saw and yet failed to make contact with : (@travelgirl, @joythewanderer, @shortcut, @surfermarly (retired), @gtg and @llfarms aka @justineh). Some I have chatted with since and promised to rectify the next time.

I’m not a great beer drinker though I did go for a couple in Krakow central with @steevc that is after we got lost trying to find the place that everyone had arranged to meet in, as well as trying to fend off the local hustlers attempting to guide us into ‘titty bars’.

The first two days in the conference halls (I missed Day 1), had endless food laid on as well as drinks. You could simply eat and drink all day if you liked.

The trips laid on for SteemFest 3 were nothing short of amazing. Auschwitz in all its horror was unmissable, and the Salt Mines outro with the Harry Potter long tables 1000 feet underground was quite surreal.

How there was WiFi that far under the earth I have yet to figure out.

Then there was the Bowling and Live Singing night events as well as other events going on like the @esteem one that @steevc told me he went too.

If this feels negative, believe me, it's not. SteemFest is NOT to be missed if you are serious about STEEM and its future.

While the prices of SteemFest may have seemed expensive, you do get a LOT for your money.

@for91days and @guchtere greeted me like we were old friends. The connection with @travelfeed was immediate and we bonded quickly.

My memories of SteemFest 3 are mostly good but with a tinge of sadness that I did not make the most of the opportunities presented to me.

If you are reading this and thinking, ‘I know a lot of these prominent names’, then you would be correct.

Anyone who is anyone goes to SteemFest. This is the big one, and you don’t want to miss it.

Just to conclude, I would like to know what @roelandp did with that bright orange SteemFest 3 whole body suit. It’s hardly something you can wear walking down the street, is it?