The first meetup of the rebooted Des Moines Bitcoin & Blockchain group was a success! Eight people were in attendance, and the discussion carried on long past our scheduled time. Here’s a slide deck we put together to guide the meeting:
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It was an engaging and energizing evening. Attendees left the meeting with their heads full of information, but some also had several lingering questions:
- How does a cryptocurrency gain value? [Here’s a succinct answer from a course blog.]
- Can I just buy some cryptocurrency? [A good short answer about buying bitcoins]
- Where is blockchain headed? [Here’s one take on a response.]
- How will blockchain change the world? [A big question takes a bigger answer.]
Those were just some of the questions written during an icebreaker activity geared toward self-reflection and getting to know one another. During the activity, attendees were asked to introduce one another then share reasons for attending, what they hope to get from the group, and what they might be able to contribute.
Reasons for attending included:
- Knowledge of Bitcoin & other currencies, including Dash and Etherium
- Learn and understand uses, expand my mind
- Balance adoption [of cryptocurrency and blockchain] with keeping a pace that doesn’t hurt people
- Learn from others and hear other perspectives
- Talk about possible future enabled by Bitcoin
- Meet community, get involved and maybe create a start-up
Attendees hope the group will give them:
- Networking, idea sharing, and collaboration opportunities
- More information about cryptocurrencies and what would be a good investment
- A wider range of views
- Critical feedback on ideas
- Support and energy to continue taking risks
- Connect with community
And they’re willing to contribute:
- Time, resources, collaboration, ideas and criticism
- Help lead [the group]
- Business/capital and technical background
- An outside perspective
Wow! And all of that came from just eight people! We definitely have some exciting and dynamic times ahead.
Following the icebreaker, some members shared current projects they have going in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. Harrison Stahl, organizer of the Eastern Iowa Cryptocurrency & Open Blockchain Meetup, discussed some interesting projects, including:
- HashD: A Peer-to-Peer Bottom Up PKI and Identity Cryptosystem
- For more on this topic, see the recent post Blockchain Will Help Us Prove Our Identities in a Digital World
- Bitheat: a concept for shrinking a Bitcoin miner to fit into a pipe fit as a replacement heating element for electric water heaters
There’s clearly great potential for this group to help lead Des Moines into the blockchain revolution. Won’t you join us for our next meetup?