Have you never been to a Bitcoin conference, or have you been to one and felt underwhelmed? Wondering how to get it right?
This post is for you. Covering: why go, why go if u = dev. cost, conf goodness, conf recs, etc.
SHOULD YOU GO TO A CONFERENCE
Short answer: probably not. Bitcoin is at $28k right now, and most conferences will cost you $1,500 to $3k.
Rule of thumb: if you don’t have at least 0.25 Bitcoin, buy Bitcoin instead of a conference.
If you’re so new to Bitcoin that you haven’t had time to stack more sats, you’re likely to benefit more from a DCA (dollar cost average) and exploring more educational resources than you would from going to a conference.
If you’re a long-time Bitcoiner but have limited income, you’d love the conference—but keep stacking, sell some sats in the next bull market, and go to a conference then. Don’t compromise your stack for a conference—it’s not worth it. Full stop. Repeat. Full stop.
Cost is farther down, but if you’re not a quarter-coiner or higher, I wouldn’t even think about it. Grow your stack, stay humble, stay patient.
IF YOU’RE A DEVELOPER
…
and you’re serious about it, go to a conference. Ideally, contrib to some FOSS and get partially or wholly sponsored. Do the work. Go to a technical one (more below) and build relationships. The quality of your experience will depend on your desire to drink (GA confs) or your targeting (smaller dev confs like TAB or Adopting). Suggest rejecting GA conferences, go for dev-focused events.
My suggestion is to get a friend who understands (generally) what you do, but is more gregarious than you are. Ideally, go with a friend who has a complementary skillset (design, marketing, biz) or even better, a pretty girl with principles who can call bullshit on other devs. If you’re a pretty girl with dev tendencies, do us a favor and code first and foremost, and then help nerds any way you can after you destroy their PRs.
WHAT MAKES A CONFERENCE GOOD?
Obvs, depends on you. If you’re new to Bitcoin, stack sats and join good Spaces and read more. If you’ve stacked >0.25 Bitcoin and are starved for Bitcoiner friends, start thinking about it.
Broadly speaking, the more expensive or difficult-to-get-to a conference is, the better it is. Like most things in life, Proof of Work generates higher quality adoption that Proof of Stake/Convenience. Traveling to a far away conference will probably expand your worldview, and the people who went there will display similar amounts of openness and dedication.
SHOULD I ASK MY EMPLOYER TO COVER THE COST?
This is up to you, but generally speaking, I advise against it (if you can afford it).
If you represent your employer, it’ll effect your ability to go where your heart/mind wanders because you’ll be thinking about your career instead of your heart.
If you’re working for a Bitcoin company and you can afford the travel, cover it yourself. After you attend it, keep your receipts and use it as a justification for a higher raise—a remote conference you paid for out-of-pocket is a great signal that you’re aligned with your company’s goals. If you work for a big corporate, get your employer to pay. And get a new job in Bitcoin using BitcoinerJobs or something similar. :D
WHICH CONFERENCES ARE WORTH ATTENDING?
You’ll get a million different answers. I suggest a few different ones, with a few “must attends.” My “must attends” have the Holy Grail combo of remoteness, affordability, and a focus on creators as opposed to commiserators.
—Must attends
:-: Nostrica (any)
:-: Adopting Bitcoin
:-: Bit Block Boom (got expensive, big, but still incredible)
:-: TAB conference
:
-: Local meetups!!!
:-: Unconfiscatable (capped tix)
—Strong Contenders
:-:Pacific Bitcoin (killer first year, tbd)
:-: Baltic Honeybadger (difficult to get to, vax issues, expensive, still great folks)
:-: Anything Gigi is going to
:-: Anything r0ckstar is going to
:-: Anything ODELL or Marty do
—Weak Contenders:
sorry to Bitcoin Mag, but Miami is too big and the conference is too open to shitcoiners for me to give it any endorsement aside from “If you live in Miami and have a business that’s consumer facing, I guess it’s not a total waste of your time.
”
WHAT’S THE COST?
Free (+ travel/lodging) to $10k+. Seriously. If you’re not a quarter-coiner, don’t even think about self-funding it. If you work for a company that wants to send you to a conference to market a product, there’s a very good chance that your product is a shitcoin or your management is a shitcoin. Beware.
SUMMARY
Conferences like Bit Block Boom are about 30% education but 70% sanity-restoration—it’s SO nice to meet likeminded folks sometimes, and sometimes you need that. It’s literally cheaper than therapy. We live in Clown World, and BBB is an amazing conference I will attend most years, if I can.
Conferences like Nostrica or TAB are focused on action and connections between builders, they’re remote, and people show up out of conviction. If you’ve got the cash to spare, the love to give, and the time to invest you’re going to have an incredible time. I’m well-known for over-investing in others, and most folks at these conferences put me to shame. They’ll make you feel inspired, humbled, shy, stupid, genius, and all-around empowered. These are your people, but put in the time, work up to it. Don’t spend money to go to a conference unless you’re a quarter-coiner.
Got less than 0.25BTC? Stack more before conferences.
Got a conference you wanna rep? Respond, let me know where it fits in given the above!
rorshock /
npub19s…adaw5
2023-03-24 04:54:47
Author Public Key
npub19s23am608wcerhslt9htft4656ks3tu0r0zkrupkergcd7p0lv3s0adaw5Published at
2023-03-24 04:54:47Event JSON
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"content": "Have you never been to a Bitcoin conference, or have you been to one and felt underwhelmed? Wondering how to get it right?\u2028\u2028\nThis post is for you. Covering: why go, why go if u = dev. cost, conf goodness, conf recs, etc.\u2028\u2028\nSHOULD YOU GO TO A CONFERENCE\u2028\u2028\nShort answer: probably not. Bitcoin is at $28k right now, and most conferences will cost you $1,500 to $3k.\u2028\u2028\nRule of thumb: if you don’t have at least 0.25 Bitcoin, buy Bitcoin instead of a conference.\u2028\u2028\nIf you’re so new to Bitcoin that you haven’t had time to stack more sats, you’re likely to benefit more from a DCA (dollar cost average) and exploring more educational resources than you would from going to a conference.\u2028\u2028\nIf you’re a long-time Bitcoiner but have limited income, you’d love the conference—but keep stacking, sell some sats in the next bull market, and go to a conference then. Don’t compromise your stack for a conference—it’s not worth it. Full stop. Repeat. Full stop.\u2028\u2028\nCost is farther down, but if you’re not a quarter-coiner or higher, I wouldn’t even think about it. Grow your stack, stay humble, stay patient.\n\u2028\u2028IF YOU’RE A DEVELOPER\n…\u2028\u2028and you’re serious about it, go to a conference. Ideally, contrib to some FOSS and get partially or wholly sponsored. Do the work. Go to a technical one (more below) and build relationships. The quality of your experience will depend on your desire to drink (GA confs) or your targeting (smaller dev confs like TAB or Adopting). Suggest rejecting GA conferences, go for dev-focused events.\u2028\u2028\nMy suggestion is to get a friend who understands (generally) what you do, but is more gregarious than you are. Ideally, go with a friend who has a complementary skillset (design, marketing, biz) or even better, a pretty girl with principles who can call bullshit on other devs. If you’re a pretty girl with dev tendencies, do us a favor and code first and foremost, and then help nerds any way you can after you destroy their PRs. \u2028\u2028\nWHAT MAKES A CONFERENCE GOOD?\u2028\u2028\nObvs, depends on you. If you’re new to Bitcoin, stack sats and join good Spaces and read more. If you’ve stacked \u003e0.25 Bitcoin and are starved for Bitcoiner friends, start thinking about it. \u2028\u2028\nBroadly speaking, the more expensive or difficult-to-get-to a conference is, the better it is. Like most things in life, Proof of Work generates higher quality adoption that Proof of Stake/Convenience. Traveling to a far away conference will probably expand your worldview, and the people who went there will display similar amounts of openness and dedication.\u2028\u2028\nSHOULD I ASK MY EMPLOYER TO COVER THE COST?\u2028\u2028\nThis is up to you, but generally speaking, I advise against it (if you can afford it).\u2028\u2028\nIf you represent your employer, it’ll effect your ability to go where your heart/mind wanders because you’ll be thinking about your career instead of your heart.\u2028\u2028\nIf you’re working for a Bitcoin company and you can afford the travel, cover it yourself. After you attend it, keep your receipts and use it as a justification for a higher raise—a remote conference you paid for out-of-pocket is a great signal that you’re aligned with your company’s goals. If you work for a big corporate, get your employer to pay. And get a new job in Bitcoin using BitcoinerJobs or something similar. :D\u2028\u2028\nWHICH CONFERENCES ARE WORTH ATTENDING?\u2028\u2028\nYou’ll get a million different answers. I suggest a few different ones, with a few “must attends.” My “must attends” have the Holy Grail combo of remoteness, affordability, and a focus on creators as opposed to commiserators.\u2028\u2028\n—Must attends\n\u2028:-: Nostrica (any)\u2028\n:-: Adopting Bitcoin\n\u2028:-: Bit Block Boom (got expensive, big, but still incredible)\u2028:-: TAB conference\u2028:\n-: Local meetups!!!\u2028\n:-: Unconfiscatable (capped tix)\u2028\u2028\n—Strong Contenders\u2028\n:-:Pacific Bitcoin (killer first year, tbd)\u2028\n:-: Baltic Honeybadger (difficult to get to, vax issues, expensive, still great folks)\u2028\n:-: Anything Gigi is going to\n\u2028:-: Anything r0ckstar is going to\u2028\n:-: Anything ODELL or Marty do\u2028\u2028\n—Weak Contenders:\nsorry to Bitcoin Mag, but Miami is too big and the conference is too open to shitcoiners for me to give it any endorsement aside from “If you live in Miami and have a business that’s consumer facing, I guess it’s not a total waste of your time.\n”\u2028\u2028WHAT’S THE COST? \u2028\u2028\nFree (+ travel/lodging) to $10k+. Seriously. If you’re not a quarter-coiner, don’t even think about self-funding it. If you work for a company that wants to send you to a conference to market a product, there’s a very good chance that your product is a shitcoin or your management is a shitcoin. Beware.\u2028\u2028\nSUMMARY\u2028\n\u2028Conferences like Bit Block Boom are about 30% education but 70% sanity-restoration—it’s SO nice to meet likeminded folks sometimes, and sometimes you need that. It’s literally cheaper than therapy. We live in Clown World, and BBB is an amazing conference I will attend most years, if I can.\u2028\u2028\nConferences like Nostrica or TAB are focused on action and connections between builders, they’re remote, and people show up out of conviction. If you’ve got the cash to spare, the love to give, and the time to invest you’re going to have an incredible time. I’m well-known for over-investing in others, and most folks at these conferences put me to shame. They’ll make you feel inspired, humbled, shy, stupid, genius, and all-around empowered. These are your people, but put in the time, work up to it. Don’t spend money to go to a conference unless you’re a quarter-coiner.\n\u2028\u2028Got less than 0.25BTC? Stack more before conferences. \nGot a conference you wanna rep? Respond, let me know where it fits in given the above!",
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