This is an op-ed by Marek Vedder, Investro Editor-in-Chief and Bitcoin journalist who recently attended the BTC Prague event.
Let’s start with a disclaimer: I am not associated with the BTC Prague regulators in any way, so in this article, I am only providing my personal experience and opinions as a presenter. And another disclaimer: I haven’t attended many Bitcoin conferences, so my excerpts and impressions from BTC Prague may be old news to some of you. However, I think it was the first “mega” Bitcoin conference not only for me, but also for countless others from Central Europe, so it might be a good idea to sum up the whole experience.
Conference literally for everyone
The fact that the cheapest ticket to BTC Prague was just that 9 euros (about $11) means this conference was literally for anyone. Obviously there were some limitations to this access, but the cheapest ticket got people into the exhibition area plus two stages, and it’s definitely worth it. Perhaps this was one of the nicest touches of the organizers, as they made this conference accessible to the masses, even outside of Bitcoin.
This was reinforced by the fact that the programming on “Czech Theatre” was entirely about the basics of Bitcoin. It contained conversations about what money is. Introductions to Bitcoin, Privacy, and Self-Guarding; Explain the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum; and much more.
For two days, newcomers to the world of Bitcoin could listen to some of the best Bitcoiners from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and get an education equal to that gained from studying for hundreds of hours. I think this highlights the importance of in-person conferences and affordable events that can help make orange mainstream.
Industry Day Rules!
While the main conference was shown on the Czech stage and involved beginner bitcoin programming June 9 and June 10the business-focused Industry Day content started on June 8th, and I believe this was the best day to make new contacts and friends.
First of all, during the day there were “only” two stages with talks and keynotes (the Czech stage was not open at that time), which means there was a less formal program. This allowed people to spend more time in the well-thought-out and inspiring showcase area, where they could find dozens and dozens of Bitcoin companies and institutions. With more than 70 booths and boothsAttendees had the opportunity to speak to mining companies, wallet providers, Bitcoin bookstores, educational institutions, and countless other Bitcoin-related businesses.
Since the exhibition area was not crowded on Industry Day, it provided the best opportunity for attendees to have in-depth conversations with all the companies present. Having spent much of the first day in the exhibition area, I was really surprised not only by the openness and kindness of all participants, but also by their willingness to have thorough and informative discussions with anyone who was willing to listen and ask questions.
First class programme
Michael Saylor, Adam Buck, Eric Weiss, Giacomo Zuko, Stefan Livera, Marek “Slash” Palatinos, Ben Perrin, Peter McCormack, Rockstar Dave and many more speak at the event. The BTC Prague Conference had an impressive lineup of Bitcoin experts, developers, entrepreneurs, influencers and entrepreneurs traveling from all over the world. The keynotes, panel discussions, and talks were amazing.
As of this writing, only two recordings of their on-stage presentations have been released on Official YouTube channel. However, both are worth seeing. Saylor’s “The Future of Bitcoin” and Zucco’s “Ordinals Are Retarded,” for example, filled the main hall to the last seat as people listened to these inspiring and educational keynotes. I highly recommend watching both of them.
Some talks also included Interesting ads of the speakers, but detailing what was announced would require an entire article on its own. However, the announcements of the Vexl Foundation, AmityAge, Fedimint, and Aleks Svetski are particularly worth considering.
Lots of cool side events
Before the conference, some of my Bitcoin friends mentioned that the most important parts would be the exhibition area and side events. As strange as this may sound, I now understand why they feel this way. Although I personally wasn’t able to attend all the side events, I heard only the best comments and opinions on the likes of “dev / hack / day“,” Meeting Nostr and other events.
If the attendees really wanted to enjoy the keynote talks and talks and therefore didn’t spend too much time in the exhibition area, the side events were a perfect opportunity to talk to people in a less formal way. From my observation, the vast majority of staff from conference booths and booths were out and about meeting people even during side events, giving attendees a chance to converse with them in a more relaxed manner. Often, this was accompanied by a little of the famous Czech beer in a restaurant serving homemade specialties from the local cuisine, which made it all the more enjoyable.
Room for improvement
Well, there isn’t much I would change or think is necessary to improve to make this event more interesting. However, one minor improvement may have increased attendee satisfaction, however, that was not related to the programme, speakers or booths:
The food trucks were a source of friction that could be improved upon at the next event. Sometimes the extremely long lines meant people waited for their food longer than they should have, which could cost them valuable time in such a packed conference schedule.
Additionally, while Lightning Network payments were available in all potential food court areas, except for the common areas in the hall, where I suppose it wasn’t possible to accept Lightning payments, I often ran into food trucks with this payment option.
I’ve seen many problems with accepting Lightning as a payment method for food or drinks myself. Whether it was due to internet connectivity, problems with the operations of point-of-sale machines or mobile wallets, or just a heavy frown on the face of a food vendor who was clearly tired of yet another “bitcoin freak” paying with this internet money, the payment experience could have been improved. in full lightning.
Obviously, this wasn’t much of a problem and I can’t imagine a conference of this size being completely flawless. It should be noted that Lightning payments were available, if buyers and sellers showed a little patience.
Overall, this wasn’t critical to the overall feel and outcome of the conference, but if the organizers are looking to improve for next year, I’d probably start here.
Will you attend BTC Prague 2024?
Speaking of next year, the organizers officially announced that The second BTC conference in Prague It will take place, unsurprisingly, in Prague, between June 13th and June 15th, 2024. If next year’s conference level has to be anywhere near the event I attended, it would certainly be a blast.
This is a guest post by Marek Vedder. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.