I originally posted this in the meetup section on the forums, but I thought the speculator crowd might be interested in an update as well...
I think it's fair to say the 2013 Bitcoin Conference kicked off with a bang! Quick recap: 7 people from the forums met up at the Marriott Bar for drinks and bitcoin talk.. The conversation was great, and each person seemed to have their own unique background and perspective to offer. We hit the GigaOM meetup at 6:00 and it was packed. I would estimate approximately 300 people were in attendance, and it seemed like a very serious/professional crowd. Most of the information presented was what you've already heard before, but I have to say it was quite energizing to see all the speaker in person- you really felt their sincerity and enthusiasm for the movement. The crowd was equally energetic, filled the Q&A time, very international, mostly techie, and easy to mingle with- most of the speakers also stayed around to mingle after (not everyday you get to talk directly to Roger Ver!) The GigaOM crowd was also filled with VIPs and a lot of corporate execs, you can check out who was in attendance at
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6462418267#m_1_200...
Anyways, it really could not have gone better and I am very excited about the rest of the week! On that note, since today was such a success I thought it would be smart to set up another meetup for
tomorrow (Friday) at 4:00 in the Marriott Bar... I ran into a couple people who said they did not come to today's pre-meetup because they just stalk the forums and don't post.. bullshit! My interest is in meeting and networking with as many bitcoiners as possible in the next 4 days so please consider joining me for drinks before conference registration begins! It really is a great way to meet people and engage in some longer, more intimate discussion.
This weekend is going to be a major milestone for the bitcoin community, and I am very proud to be part of it!
