I’ve been looking into the Hong Kong Web3 Festival and can’t tell if it’s actually worth it or just another overhyped crypto event. On paper it looks solid. Big names, strong Asia presence, Hong Kong pushing hard on Web3 again. But what’s it like in reality? Are people actually making useful connections or just showing up for the vibes? And are the talks worth it or mostly surface-level stuff? Also hearing the real action is in side events and after-parties, which makes me wonder if the main event even matters that much. Anyone here been before or planning to go? Worth it or skip?
A lot of Web3 stuff can get really technical if you can sit through long presentations from developers? It’s mostly for VC fundraising and drawing in indie developers (kind of like hack-a-thons). They are not all Polkadot-specific events.
I remember at Polkadot Decoded, in 2022/2023 (-ish, I don’t remember precisely), Gavin Wood dropped the concept of JAM, but it was literally just scribbles on a piece of paper. Impossible concepts that anyone would laugh at if they saw them in person, displayed this way, from such a prestigious developer. I thought to myself (is this a joke? 
).
Going to those events, you need to keep an open mind about what is going on? Some people are just unfunded geniuses, there are scam artists trying to swindle people, developers introducing new ideas, it’s a mixed bag of internet freedom stuff. Generally they are not over-the-top, luxurious events.
If you mean to make connections, it’s not a bad place to start.