- Pumped -

I was so excited to be able to attend this year's HiveFest i couldn't sleep the night before. I haven't been that excited, in a good way, in a long time! It was my birthday earlier that week but i have to say i was more pumped about Hive Fest to be honest.

I wasn't here for the first one... but i have seen how much fun has surrounded the event every year since. Needless to say, this year has been a dumpster fire of a year for most everyone!

As much as it sucked to not be able to fly somewhere extravagant to have a live meetup and festival there were many benefits to going the Virtual Reality direction. I am not wearing a hat but if i were... it would be off to Roland and all the other contributors that made this alternative a successful reality.

I signed up early and went to one meetup beforehand. I played around on the Altspace VR app to get mildly acquainted with the 2d operations. Like many others, i didn't have the money to get a headset for VR. I almost didn't even consider going for that reason until i found out you could participate from your computer without the VR setup.

I am so glad i didn't let my shortcomings get in the way of an awesome experience. Honestly, i believe that even if there is an option to have it live and in the flesh as usual that the Virtual Reality should still be taken advantage of. There are many people around the world that participate in the HIVE community that will most likely never be able to afford galavanting across the globe for a meetup. VR brings the opportunity to attend and participate to them wherever they may be.

- SNAFU -

This year wouldn't be complete without problems to finish it off with. I prepared in advance as not to miss out on all the opportunity to get the most out of HiveFest. I made my avatar as close looking to Bob Ross as possible... from the blue jeans and v-neck shirt, up to the iconic calling card of the afro.

After not being able to sleep from anticipation i got up early. I got my coffee and computer set up. I went to get logged in and my battery on my laptop wouldn't charge. It was at that moment i knew it was going to be a day that would test my patience.

I got my battery working just in time to get there for the opening of the event. I had about an hour before the speakers began to present. I went to get my badge, and as many of you already know, there was a glitch in the matrix.

Rather than mingling and having the get to know you moments... i spent about 45 mins trying to get my badge and wrist band. Eventually, i got it to work and got my badge... but alas, it was invisible the whole event. I backed out and came back in so many times it was funny/not funny!

I spent a large part of my time in the general area before realizing the teleports weren't functioning properly. Thankfully, i had made a few friends along the way and could back out and teleport from my home to where they were (the main stage area.) You can almost see a tear of frustration pooling up in my virtual eye.

I finally made it to the mainstage area and got ready to listen to what all the presenters were going to share. Unfortunately, i had to back out and come back in many times as the audio would give out every presenter.

I could however hear Sgt-Dan click arthritis into his pointer finger, bless his heart, and chewing multiple times from multiple people. Backing out and coming back in seemed to be the cure-all for any glitch in the app. However, it took an astronomical amount of time to close and then reload... and then reload some more.

In the course of the two days, there were some awesome presentations and information shared about many community projects and updates on the future of Hive development and outreach.

- TakeAways -

Please don't take any of my sharing as criticism. I am most thankful for all the hard work that went into making this year's HiveFest possible. It could have been a 2020 without any HiveFest at all. So, once again thanks to Roland and everyone else that came together behind the scenes to make this happen and troubleshoot an experience new to us all!

One of the most awesome things was that i was privileged to be one of the 40 artists showcased in the NFT ShowRoom gallery!

It's even more awesome that the NFT Showroom gallery at HiveFest, still open for viewing! You can check out more about that in the link and upvote it to show NFT ShowRoom some love. I was surprised to be featured as it was my first minted artwork and i got it in extremely late in the process.

You can enter the NFT ShowRoom gallery, if you have the VR Altspace set up, by clicking here. They are actually developing in the next few months to have a permanent Gallery setup. Super cool opportunities are going to be popping up using this new area of potential! Many thanks to Julia, Crimson, Rondo, Roland, and the rest of the folks behind the scenes creating opportunities for Hive Artists.

- Friends -

The most fun aspect was being able to meet and make friends. Getting to meet and talk with Eddie in Mexico or Detlev about beer was cool. Seeing my old buddy Lemoney was cool. I got to speak with Marky a bit and hear what BlockTrades sounds like in person. Getting some encouragement from Crimson and some troubleshooting from M31 was cool as well. Seeing so many bigtimers was intimidating a bit at first but then it didn't take too long to open up. Watching Gandalf float aroud was funny and i saw G-dog pop in for a bit towards the end.

I did get to take a selfie with two of my Venezuelan OCD homies... Perceval and RoadStories.

The emo one is Perce... and the darker one getting a little close and personal was Road! hahaha You can actually see Perce off to the side looking up at who knows what! The selfie thing is a bit tough to be honest. I don't think the photo-booth portal would have worked for us 2-d folk either.

It was nice to hear them speak Spanish and get to hear their English as well. Just being able to say howdy was worth it. I did try to come to the common area on day 2 to help a couple of people in discord get to the mainstage but it never worked out so well. With all the glitches... it was still an amazing time and experience.

I didn't want to spam tag everyone here i mentioned and although i didn't get any tips, or beer, or my visible badges i couldn't complain about a thing. This was the wrap photo that was taken after Marky's joke session to finish things off. I was happy to be there at the very end and from the start. You can see me with my invisible badge on the far left.

I had a wonderful time goofing off and participating to the best of my ability. If this event was any indication of what the future may hold, i say the future looks bright and very promising. Thanks for taking the time to read this post and share in my experiences.

HIVE truly is and has been a contributing factor to making connections all over the world for so many! Thank you to everyone behind the scenes helping to run, operate, and develop this BlockChain and the many platforms spawning from it! It's truly more valuable and appreciated than is recognized or expressed by most. Many thanks to the community and the Hive Family!

Merry Christmas Everyone & Happy New Year!