ETHDenver - A deep dive
Over the course of the week, Parity, Distractive and multiple ecosystem agents took it upon themselves to travel to Denver to represent Polkadot at one of the largest crypto conferences worldwide. To note, similarly to Birdo’s post [found here], I am not an events expert and my opinions are my own. This summary will focus mainly on highlighting what went well throughout the event and areas we should double down focus.
So, what was bullish?
Booth Turnout
Throughout the whole week, the Polkadot booth was by far, if not one of, the busiest booths we’ve ever seen. Attendance was high throughout, and in comparison to others, it was definitely a win. The booth boasted a constant bustling of noise and discussion, something I believe other projects lacked.
Whilst venturing around the venue, I saw how the majority of staff on other booths would follow a path of first trying to explain their project, followed by a quick sales pitch.This is where I believe the Polkadot booth excelled; we didn’t have anything to sell, except awareness and the vision of Web3. I’m a firm believer that the staff of a booth should have a passion for Polkadot and Web3, just this alone is enough to sell Polkadot to a potential project or builder with no further sales pitch needed.
The placing of the booth was right next to the main-stage, allowing for wandering attendees on their way to talks to be attracted by the glowing pink aura of Polkadot. This positioning was perfectly executed and layout of the booths and location should be taken into consideration for each and every event where a booth is present. I believe if we make the decision to attend these larger events we should not dismiss spending resources on securing a good location.
I believe that the fact that we also did not wear matching uniforms contributed to the popularity of the booth. Many booths around the venue had 5-6 people in matching uniforms, which at first impression is, quite simply, intimidating and off-putting. Polkadot didn’t have a dress code, which immediately lowers the wall of intimidation and showcases us as normal people, devs and builders and not salesmen.
What was interesting about the Polkadot booth was that we carried on with our normal day-to-day conversations. Many discussions between eco agents such as @shawntabrizi, @alice_und_bob, Cameron from Mythical Games and more were all taking place in a truly open and transparent manner. These types of discussions were all tailored to improving Polkadot and Web3 in general, which acted as a magnet for those wandering past to feel invited in and to get inspired to join in.
Bring In The Agents
By far one of the best boots-on-the-ground squads we’ve ever had at an event. Ensuring you’ve got staff who are not just there for a paycheck, but are present because they’ve got a passion for Web3 and Polkadot is crucial.
A system was put in place where booth attendees were directed towards agents who were the knowledge sources of a particular topic. For example, someone interested in Polkadot governance was directed to Alice_und_Bob or Leemo, whereas more Parity focused, tech-related and roadmap questions were directed more towards Erin, myself and Shawn T.
To further reinforce the importance of this, and quite possibly a great example, I had a long chat throughout the week with a project who’s looking to bring their product on-chain. First impressions count, and unfortunately for Polkadot, last year we left a pretty bad one. The team was greeted by someone at an event last year who did not fully grasp the vision of Polkadot, the use cases or the ecosystem. By miracle, the team wanted to give Polkadot a second chance, and this time was greeted by a plethora of knowledgeable and helpful agents throughout the booth. Whilst a short story, this team is now exploring the possibility of once again building on Polkadot.
In conclusion, a friendly face and a competent, confident voice with an eagerness to listen to someone’s concerns goes further than you would imagine.
The WebZero Mansion
The Blockspace Mansion, or better known as ‘The Polkadot Blockspace Mansion’ was quite possibly one of the best investments the DAO has supported. A 24/7 hackerhouse, with events, talks and panels throughout the week, all hosted by the amazing @WebZero team.
The majority of my time was spent at the conference itself and the mansion. Both of these locations served their own purpose. The booth was popular, especially amongst those who were not deep into Polkadot and its ecosystem. The mansion on the other hand was bustling full of the Polkadot Ecosystem, allowing a space for networking, feedback and deeper, more in-depth discussions to take place.
A huge credit to the mansion’s success has to go to WebZero, the team behind the whole initiative. Through and through, from the food to the vibes, the whole thing was a huge success. Whether you wanted to co-work or enjoy the vibes, the mansion quickly became the beating heart of Denver.
It welcomed more than 2,000 attendees throughout the week, with many from other projects but curious to learn about Polkadot.
Panels, Talks and Yapping
Polkadot was given quite a few presenting opportunities. These included a main stage talk from Parity COO Chrissy Hill where she discussed critical issues such as the tech talent shortage and smaller panels such as Unlocking the Web3 Skills Gap and how we can unite to bridge this talent gap, with panelists such as myself & Erin G.
Whilst the talks themselves from our cohort were a success, attendance was good and the numbers online were high, the layout of each stage was complex, with the mainstage being the only really noticeable stage.
I’d like to emphasise how critical it is to have our Polkadot personalities at events speaking, they bring a charismatic aura, are key leaders in the space and can attract a crowd. Huge shoutout to those who consistently make the effort such as @CHill, @shawntabrizi and others.
Side Events
Side events at ETHDenver were big, with many teams and projects in the space abandoning the idea of a booth entirely, just so they could host and dedicate their time to successful side events. An example of this was BitVM night and the Kaito AI rooftop party, both of which dedicated their time, energy and resources to hosting an entire event focused around their products.
Whilst many others such as the Kaito AI event, West Hamver [Iykyk] and the official Polkadot-sponsored BASH closing party were all excellent events, my personal favourite was of course our very own Polkadot Blockspace Mansion.
Polkadot Takeover?
My last, and final point I want to raise was the brand visibility of Polkadot throughout the week. Sponsoring the event meant the Polkadot logo was absolutely everywhere. Whether you’re getting your ID badge, walking through the conference, browsing the website, attending the closing party and even paying for your drinks, Polkadot was visible.
My Key Takeaways
Overall, as my first ETHDenver, I’d consider this a success. However, at the end of the day, I was constantly thinking “What have I learnt here? What is there to take away from this?” Below I’ve put my top takeaways from the event and explained my reasonings.
Polkadot attracted those with a vision for the future of Web3
By the above, I simply mean that Polkadot both attracted those with a keen interest in shaping the future but also had the right people on the ground, who in a sense acted as missionaries, to correctly represent Polkadot.
Whilst talking to staff at other booths, I came across a few who had the right concerns on their mind, but failed to explain to me ‘why’ this all matters. Sure, high tx volume and revenue is excellent, but would struggle when I’d poke questions of decentralisation, resilience or data sovereignty.
Whilst this specific market is important to remain in, and events like ETHDenver are beneficial to ensure the wider crypto market does not forget about us, I would also like to explore, alongside these events, technically focused events where we can experiment with positioning ourselves as a decentralised world computer.
Many are stuck in an old view, with little to no knowledge of the current developments
Many at ETHDenver were stuck in an old mindset of Polkadot, with one individual still in belief that we were using the outdated auction model. We were still in the circle, and whilst we are slowly on the cusp of popping the bubble we’ve encased ourselves within, work on reaching the broader liquidity of the ecosystem needs to be done.
Simplified messaging needs to be accomplished. How can we get the world to understand what we have already achieved? Agile Coretime, a fully decentralised governance system, elastic scaling and more are all incredible achievements but our reach is limited.
By using our current winners, the rest will follow
One key takeaway from the event was that we should be using our winners to showcase why you should be building on Polkadot. Mythical was a good example of this, a successful project with a reputation of delivering high quality games. Having Cameron from Mythical there was a blessing: it showed that trusted, reputable companies are pivoting to Polkadot, and when questioned why, who better to answer than someone who’s actually pivoted and made the leap?
Gavin is revolutionising Web3, and we need to communicate what the future holds
Gavin is creating a future of Web3 that we can use to tap into a market of people who are aligned with Polkadot’s vision. An example of this is ‘proof of personhood’. Whilst questions about this at the event were limited, when explaining to someone the necessity of this and what it can bring about, they were left curious and digging for more.
At the heart of it, we’re lucky to have a founder who’s consistently trying to revolutionise blockchain and in that sense bring about real use cases that can be applied to everyone.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the event was great and was thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone was in good spirits and the vibes were high. Whilst I took a lot away and learnt a lot, I also felt like we had accomplished something, the number of opinions that were changed, people convinced and the vision sold was promising. It was a pleasure to see everyone, especially the Distractive Team, my Parity colleagues, the projects building and of course, the fellow ecosystem agents who dedicated their hard earned time to building a better Polkadot.