Two weeks after our December Bitcoin meetup here in Philadelphia, I recalled my friend Ryan mentioning the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami. I was sitting at my desk contemplating whether I should attend or not. That month, I made a substantial amount of money with the intention of using it for investment purposes. I knew that if I went, I would gain more than simply an experience, but the little voice inside of me kept fighting back. Later that day, I stumbled upon a quote by Steve Harvey in my news feed, his powerful words of "take that leap of faith". It was exactly at that moment I knew what I had to do and looking back I am eternally thankful.
Leading up to the event, I had been working non-stop to cover the extra expenses for the trip. I felt on edge despite the fact that I purchased my tickets and booked my hostel. My enthusiasm was minimal due to the internal battle of fear and uncertainty. It continued to haunt me all the way until I left, but there was nothing that could be done to change it. All I could do was simply drop these feelings and hope for the best. I packed my two bags and eventually fell asleep.
I took a look at my phone and found out that I had only slept for a couple hours. Pulling myself out of bed, I kissed my fiancée goodbye (she had to work early), and made some breakfast before it was time to go. While cooking, the thought of meeting hardcore bitcoiners, shot me with a dose of excitement. As I mentioned in the past, I always watched from the sidelines and now I was facing some of the brightest and forward thinking individuals of this technological space. Despite the exhaustion, I felt like I made the right call. I grabbed my bags, and contacted my Lyft driver to come get me. The airport in Philadelphia was a breeze. After making it safely through the TSA checkpoint, I waited patiently to be boarded, eventually landing in the beautiful city of Miami.
I arrived at 10:30 am and got dropped off at my hostel located in South Beach. The upbeat vibe that resonated the space made it very welcoming. Nothing but reggaeton music was being played on the sound system which made me feel like I was back in Peru. All the feelings I previously had subsided, like shackles being removed, I was able to do as I pleased. My only goal for the day was to finish my previous piece about Swarm City. Lunch came around and with no food in my stomach, I started to become delirious. Within the next hour, I had to find someplace that was reasonable and relatively close by. Immediately, I was reminded the importance of having emergency spending cash for these types of scenarios. I came unprepared with only two hundred dollars to last me for three days. It was irresponsible on my part, but hilarious in retrospect. Walking down Alton Road, I finally found a nice vegetarian restaurant called Apple A Day Cafe. The food was delightful, I ordered a Falafel burger with soup, which afterwards made me feel as if I was resurrected from the dead. Before heading out, I grabbed a double shot espresso to assist the remaining hours needed for my paper. With the intentions of completing it that evening, I ended up staying awake until 1 am.
Two days in a row with minimal sleep, possibly a total of four hours, really did a number on me. That night I couldn't sleep at all. Besides the strong espresso, the residents that I had shared a room with were snoring all in unison like a choir group. I ended up going out very early and decided to get a couple cliff bars and bananas at a nearby 7-11. My watch read 5:30 am and at this hour the junkies were strung out of their mind in the parking lot. I quickly stepped in, grabbed my items, and headed back to the hostel devouring a cliff bar and banana like a wild animal. The sun was beginning to rise making it difficult for me to fall back asleep. Instead of sleeping, I decided to pick out my outfit, shower, and get my pack ready for the conference. Looking at my Lyft application, I noticed that the drive to James L. Knight Center was FREE, and for my entire stay in Miami, I got to enjoy promo discounts to and from the conference.
Within no time, I arrived. The venue was gorgeous, but a lot smaller than I had imagined. Nonetheless, there was an abundance of people ranging from investors to enthusiasts, to geeks and anarchists. As the presentations were taking place, I made sure to absorb as much information as I possibly could. The one that stood out the most for me was the one by Bill Barhydt from Abra. I was star struck by the use case of this application and would have to agree with Brock Pierce that it could possibly be the WhatsApp for remittance services. Below, I will add Crypt0's video of Bill's presentation.
As the day progressed, I started to get exhausted to the point that it had started to show in my face. During the last presentation, I decided to go back to the hostel to rest for an hour until the after party. With the little bit of might I had left, I grabbed a Lyft and dragged myself to my bed.
The nap, although short lived, helped me that evening. On my walk to the after party, I got to embrace the warm air as it hit my face. Arriving much earlier than I had predicted, I got to have a peek around the bar which was called Drinkhouse Fire & Ice. It had some beautiful paintings and an ice bar inside. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures, but they had these fur coats that looked like something R. Kelly would wear. That night I met Nima (from CoinJabber) and one of his good friends, whom I ended up hanging out with for majority of that evening. Spending roughly two hours, I started to get bored and decided to leave early. Walking down Lincoln Road, I saw an abundance of beautiful people who all seemed high on the hog engaging in conversations, eating, or making their way to some hot spot. Eventually, I made it back to my room and crashed, having the best sleep I have ever had in days.
Arising from a deep sleep, I had only forty-five minutes to attend the first presentation. I quickly threw on an outfit and inhaled a bagel with cream cheese before contacting my Lyft driver. That day, I felt more on point than the last two days combined. Sleep is VITAL when it comes to attending these conferences. Missing only the first presentation, I decided to be more selective on which one's were more important to watch. Many seemed very promising, but my two favorites were Marshall Long's (from Final Hash) and Ryan Taylor's (from Dash). Marshall shed light on the fact that the average individual doesn't fully comprehend bitcoin. He showed that with this lack of understanding, it allowed for some site operators to take advantage of that ignorance. It was touching because that is one of the main reasons why I started to write about crypto in the first place. Until a user-friendly application hits the marketplace, a comprehensible education will be needed. Ryan's presentation, on the other hand, focused on the growth of Dash and what they have in store for 2017. It was remarkable to see how they solved the mass-adoption issue with their upcoming release of Evolution. The race is certainly on fire this year in bringing the best user experience for crypto wallets. After making a couple generous donations, I ran into Nima again and we grabbed a bite to eat downstairs. Finishing our meal, we went out back to the terrace to smoke a cigarette, eventually migrating to this elegant rooftop bar which had a stunning view, see below. For the remainder of that night, we drank and met many individuals who found such a fascination with this digital invention. As time continued on, I didn't want to leave my new group of friends, but my plane was leaving first thing in the morning; forcing me to get a decent amount of sleep before heading back to the cold city of Philadelphia.
The amount of joy I had gained from this trip was immutable. Once I returned, I realized that some money, that I had forgotten about, made it's way into my bank account; with the amount being sufficient enough for me to pay the necessary bills. My spirits were high and I felt blessed to meet such an extraordinary group of people. It goes to show that if you are fearless you can achieve anything. Even if it doesn't pan out the way you want it to, at least you will have a story to tell for years to come.
