Hive community spotlight #13: Interview with @summertooth

Welcome, Hivers, to another edition of our Community Spotlight series!
Today, we have the pleasure of meeting one of our vibrant community members, @summertooth. Known for his engaging personality and active involvement in the Hive community, Summertooth brings a wealth of experiences and insights to share with us. Join here and discover what drives his passion for Hive and community engagement.

Through this interview, I hope you're able to learn from Summertooth's experiences, gain inspiration, and perhaps find new ways to enhance your own involvement within the Hive ecosystem if you're a newbie.

Stay tuned and see you at the end 🤗

How did you first get involved with the Hive community, and what inspired you to become an active member?

Summertooth: Before we get into this I just want to say thanks to @madilyn02 for taking the time to do these interviews. I found Hive back when it was steem. I inherited a small amount of money and was looking to invest it somewhere other than a lame bank, which led me to crypto. I watched tons of YouTube videos about Bitcoin and ethereum, trying to understand it, and ended up on Steem in the summer of 2017. I'm not sure when my first post was but it was a few weeks to a month after I joined that I finally got up the nerve to make a post. It was here I learned about precious metals and became a stacker.

What drives you to organize contests, raffles, and other community events on Hive?

Summertooth: Engagement. Back in the days of steem in 2017 it really was the crypto wild west . The blockchain was busy with people blogging and lots of silver stackers giving away, through raffles, different pieces of silver. I found out pretty quick that holding raffles was a fun way to engage and meet folks. Also it got lots of eyes on my posts. I enjoy gambling and it's so much fun giving things away.

Could you share some memorable experiences or moments you've had while engaging with the community?

Summertooth: During covid I had the idea to start a weekly voice chat on the SGS Discord. I was nervous at first because I felt like I needed to host and come up with ideas and drive the conversation but I found out pretty quickly, and with the help of @enginewitty, to just relax and let it go where it may, which I did, and it turned out to be quite a rewarding experience for me most the time. There were weeks when it felt like work and I didn't want to start the chat but once in the chat it almost always ended up being a good time. It's such fun to talk to so many people from all over the world.

The most memorable experience for me from that chat was when one person, trying to make a point, got so frustrated that he couldn't get that point across to one of the other members, that he hung up! It was unbelievably funny and I'll never forget it. When it happened there were only three of us on the line, me, the hanger-up and the hanged-up-on xD. If you want to know exactly how it went you'll have to join one of our meetups, that's a story I only tell irl

What motivated you to initiate the weekly group voice chats during the challenging times of 2020?

Summertooth: Just trying to engage with folks since we we're all stuck in our houses for the most part. I'm not on any other social media, and never really have been, so this was a good way to meet people and engage in real time rather than posting comments back and forth. It really helped foster some friendships here and I hope it was good for the others that would join too.

Can you tell us more about your interest in the silver gold stackers community and how you contribute to its growth and cohesion?

Summertooth: Like I said, I began stacking because of the folks on Steem that were stacking. I realized pretty quickly that precious metals were a great way for me to save my money as I don't trust the banks further than I can throw them (which is not far) and I don't want to have the bulk of my savings in the hands of someone that can decide not to give it to me at any time.

I don't know if I contribute to the growth and cohesion but I do like meeting the folks that I have been chatting with online from time to time. That's one of the reasons I organized the SGS Meetup in Las Vegas a few years back and why I make other efforts to meet up with any of the members that I can. In fact I'd love to make a Midwest road trip happen at some point this year. There are still a few SGS members that I'd love to meet, and others I've met but would like to visit their part of the world. If @silverd510 is lucky I might make it all the way to the east coast to say hi 😄

I will say I am really enjoying the all the new activity in the silver gold stacker Discord as well as on Hive. There seems to be a good influx of noobs over the last year or so and that's really encouraging. For any community to thrive it needs new folks joining to keep it fresh and lively. After the last couple years of stagnation, probably mostly due to the crypto bear market, it's nice to see a busy silvergoldstacker Discord, even if I don't know all the folks as well as I know some of the older members.

What advice would you give to newcomers joining hive as well as older hiveans?

Summertooth: I guess the main thing is comment. Read and comment. It's how I started. I read a lot and almost always left a comment. And not just a "nice post" or something like that. Think of a question to ask or tell an anecdote about the subject of the post. Not only that but comment to other folks that have already left a comment on the post. It's all about networking if you want to gain some exposure. Hive is a long game for sure, nothing happens quickly here. Don't worry about how much others are making or how many comments other posts are getting, just do your thing, make a post if you feel like it go through and comment on other posts. Engage and be real is the way to grow here, imo.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with the community or any upcoming projects or initiatives you're excited about?

Summertooth: I'm really excited about the potential for Hive to become a blockchain gaming chain. There are so many new games that have come out or are in the works and it's really exciting. There is a new game in development called Astral Revelations that I am excited about. Also the same studio making that game is working on a game called Nism that looks like fun. Check out:
@surgentgaming
and
@nism for all the details.

Lastly is there anyone else you would like to be interviewed here?

Summertooth: I'd love to know a little more about @bitcoinman. He's got an awesome, positive attitude and is really trying to get things going in the SGS community and on Hive in general. Thanks again madilyn02, I enjoyed the chat!