Disįdëntity
Whither you may roam, there'll be a self waiting. It just might be a different one from the last, all grown up and smart and stuff.
The Weirdness of Web3
I attended WebX2023 recently. Its a Web3/Crypto/Blockchain conference that touts itself - much like every other crypto conference - as Asia’s Largest. That’s cool, whatever, I don’t really buy into words anyway. I had a decent time there, hanging out with various domestic and international folx somehow associated to the Web3 thing, which is basically what you do at any conference, but I’ve been going to a lot of these recently, and this one, for whatever reason, is the one that brought a deeper subject to the surface.
Business conferences, especially IT business conferences, are undeniably a peculiar experience. They exist at the curious intersection of profit motive and genuine interest, are a unique amalgamation of progressive and conservative ideals, purport to serve the corporate world while bolstering the personal.
I’m not sure if this rubs me the wrong way or not, but either way it strikes me as, well, odd. These experiences are both a spectacular demonstration of the hubris and disingenuousness of Big Business, and a showcase of the real power of self-selecting interest groups gathering to move a narrative forward.
Which just feels off. Like these events aren’t supposed to be, but nevertheless are.
Conferences.
Business conferences are basically a fraught dance between profit motives and genuine interest which can result in advancing knowledge and industry practices, but can also just be a massive exercise in self-congratulation. Event organizers shoot for maxed out revenue and profits by drawing anyone that has money and is easily separated from it, but the main ones are sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees.
WebX ran after that with an olympic rigor: they had more than 100 sponsors and speakers each, though I stopped counting because it felt meaningless. And this is only for a 16 hours over 2 days event, which seems like overkill, but also seems like standard practice in the events scene these days. I feel like this is one of those things that people explain away by saying something about the economics working out so don’t question it, which is an annoying modern affectation that allows inefficient and ineffective models to persist.
These days, conferences often enough become a commercial venture more than anything else, with a very narrow focus on ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise. The organizers of these conferences also have a criminal addiction to glamour and very reliably host these things at pricey, top-tier venues, which partially explains the outrageous ticket prices of between $400 and $4,000 per person. This combination effectively pushes the endeavor into the realm of spectacle, something that only has a tenuous grasp of value by definition.
But those are just some of my gripes! There was also a lot of good to be had at WebX 2023, most if not all of which was due to the power of people. Participants at these types of events attend out of some level of sincerity and desire to learn, network, and stay on top of new developments, and while I’m tempted to think of WebX as a big money, corporate expo dead set on leeching off of technologies and their related movements that purportedly seek to remove the claws of bureaucracy and overreach from the backs of the citizens of the world, I can’t be perfectly against it.
And that’s the weirdness of it all - the structure of major conferences is pretty off-putting, yet they tend to nevertheless attract excellent people and experiences. Or maybe its not weird, you know? Maybe it’s just reflective of the times we live in, in which we have to bite the bullet and force ourselves into situations that aren’t particularly well aligned with our goals, and because that ends up flooding a nevertheless repellant environment, it becomes less so.
Hmm. Food for thought. Anyway, lemme highlight some of the gems below.
Crypto Girls Podcast
I met Nikita a while back at a robotics thing held by the CIC and Venture Cafe, and we reconnected at Web3. She’s got a lot on her plate, but in her free time is also an explorer and podcast producer in the crypto space.
Which is great because tech has a very serious gender imbalance, amongst other things. So check out her work with the podcast, and familiarize yourself with some of the Web3 universe.
Commun
Operational Proof of Visitation. Hell yes. Been daydreaming about this for years, even going so far as to implement related concepts into projects I’m active in right now.
I had always imagined a GPS powered means of verifying proximity to target destinations, but Commun goes with the NFC approach. Is that better or worse? Who knows. Its still in beta, so its by no means finished, but this is such a cool potential level up to things like geocaching and dead drops.
Shiftbase
I’ve been hanging out with this crew for a little bit now, and they’re just wildly promising. Extremely knowledgable, multi-disciplinary Web3 educationalists (is that a word?), they’ve developed a very large following over a very short period of time, and have a real arsenal of verified developers available to them, through their program, Unchain.
Bitbank
Not so much Bitbank itself but one of their people who I met was real cool.
And, honestly, I don’t even understand why there are Japanese exchanges. Any Japanese citizen in Japan who’s smart enough to be effectively trading crypto is also almost guaranteed to be operating on non-domestic accounts, likely Singaporean or Australian.
My hunch is its just a flex on part of Japan Inc. to make it appear like they are modern and high-tech.
Yugiyn
I have a pretty serious internal conflict regarding the difference between content and art. I see value in both, but definitions and use cases are quite different. In essence, content is a tool to an end without any soul except for a manipulative one, whereas art is a historical subjective representation of experience.
The problem I see with a lot of so-called NFT Art is that frequently its not art; its content, something that is made to achieve an external goal, usually of fame or fortunes. That’s not to say there can’t be NFT powered art - there certainly can be and maybe I’ll regale you about that some day - however my take on what’s out there these days at the intersection of blockchain and media is that it is overwhelmingly a popularity contest, placing it squarely in the realm of content.
But regardless of my analysis, the community has done a very good job of convincing itself that NFT content ought to be treated like art, even though its just sales content, and Yugiyn was the one to demonstrate what that looks like in Summer 2023.
The creative side of me thinks that this is just very sad, that the critical misunderstanding of artistic license leads to a categorical mistake that prevents the perpetrators from actually experiencing the joys of the art world, and that this will persist unless drastic steps are taken to limit the spread, actions which won’t be taken because someone’s too proud or wary of sounding rude.
And then the business side of me just looks at all of this and smiles, acknowledging the pretty novel opportunity to make some money where it previously wasn’t possible.
The End of the Line
Arrr, me hearties, welcome to the mysterious crossroads known as the 'paywall,' ye mateys! Up above, ye be gettin' a sneak peek into me world, a tantalizin' teaser for all ye curious souls. But arrr, brace yerselves, for below lies the treasure trove of wisdom and unique perspectives that weave the path to me triumphs—arrr, 'tis the secret recipe for success, aye!
Grrrrrrr, wrrrghhhhh, intrigued ye be, but not part of the inner circle, eh? Fear not, me trusty companions! Ye time has come, a golden ticket to embark on this swashbucklin' journey with me
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