Good and great morning to you all. Below is a recap of
@avax Summit, easily the best professional experience I've ever had. The TLDR is I love you all and appreciate every moment I got to share with the folks there and here online. Truly you all make me happy and I'm damn proud to be a part of the Avax eco.
A strong thank you to
@vohvohh for making this all happen. I feel like she stuck her neck out hard to get the community involved in many ways at what was truly a very business focused conference that really ticked all the boxes. She welcomed me into her circles, introduced me to folks and gave me the opportunity to talk in front of an audience. So without a hitch, she deserves flowers for all the work done here.
I also want to extend my warmest of gratitude to the welcoming nature of
@vanyapestana who was absolutely owning every facet of it. Vanya and the events team were an absolute force and took it all by storm.
My first night I got to go to a media dinner and got to meet a ton of cool folks. The first person I met at Summit was none other than
@agentboff and let me tell you, that man is British and a stud. Absolutely a pleasure to get to know that dude. I got to meet
@brookejlacey and we got to bond over our experiences in Build Games and got to really pick her brain over what's cooking under the hood. (Be nice to her she's a sweetheart). I even got to take a selfie with
@jonycsarker. I then got to share a meal with tons of folks that I typically watch here on X and Instagram and discuss things that I'm doing. I enjoyed meeting everyone there especially finally getting to meet
@swandogs @VanHoVibes and
@AshleyDCan. I got to face off against my favorite
@c_mami and learn that in fact I have a humor rival that I was not prepared for and it was awesome. I then got to end the night with a drive by meet up with
@0xSmitty (jacked)
@nobsfud (who's really short, thought he'd be taller) and
@ExcelBaller (hunk). I was cheesing the entire night being surrounded with such good people and friends I've never met in person but felt like we were at a family reunion.
I then got to meet my people. The people who truly make
@TheGrottoL1 my favorite thing to do. The Hyatt became the home base for what I consider my family here with
@gribbly_fire @SurfOrDieNJ and
@CryptoQuine. They took care of me like their own. We gym'd, ate breakfast, and took on Summit like a gang. Truly core memories shared with these fine folk. Upon arriving I got to meet
@ToNio87fr and
@HodeyKo and our adventures began. These folks are too good for this world. Hodey was easily the youngest bro there but he easily found his foothold in the sea of suits at Summit.
Getting to Summit the first day was a dream. The event was put together perfectly for networking. If you are a builder and missed out, you were truly missed. The opportunity to meet everyone, shake their hands, give them Pokemon cards and a business card took me to a new level I feel like across this ecosystem. What took the cake was within the first 10 minutes I was there after being shown everything by
@vanyapestana, I walked through looking at all the cool stations and immediately
@JohnNahas84 found me and shook my hand welcoming me to the conference. He had no business doing that but it truly meant a ton to have leadership show their appreciation to the attending speakers and community members being there.
I then utilized every minute I could to network. That was my goal the entire trip. It was to meet and make sure I showed folks that I mean it when I say the Grotto and myself are not to be ignored. The walkways were perfect to bump into folks and make introductions. I got to see how
@DominicCarb doesn't wear socks like a psycho but he and Jake were owning the UpTop section like they should and were great folks to get to know. I met
@itainteasybud and our bff friendship began. I got to do a silly Greg dance and introduce him to everyone as the guy who makes the songs for my games.
I then got to speak on a panel with some of the communities greats. The audience was also packed for us, it truly showed that the community values what we do here and that meant the world. I was up there with the greats like
@Cryptoguy777,
@jasonmdesimone and
@LHBCrypto. I blacked out during the speech so I hope I was coherent and did the Grotto justice. I sat next to captain Defi tho throwing out huge numbers so following that is always fun as the game guy! 🤣
When I tell you that
@YourGrails is one of our most bullish applications on stage, it doesn't do it justice. They owned Summit well with their booth (I got my chase out of Paradox Rift which I just adore
@TradingAloha for letting me demo the product there). I got to meet
@PolyPup during all of this and what a treat of a man he is. Very smart and practical.
The food and drink banged btw and the "Lodge" area was a great spot to park and have a chat with folks. It was a fantastic spot for the happy hour too and that was a great way to settle out the day. I then ended the day eating Mexican food with
@SurfOrDieNJ @Cryptoguy777 and
@HodeyKo. Wouldn't trade the laughs and nerdy conversations there for the world.
Next day was very cool. I found my social battery during Summit was dwindling towards the end of that day as I had to prepare to be on like a mfer at the
@AvaxTeam1 x
@TheGrottoL1 event later that day.
@cryptochimba is a stud for letting me be a part of that event and if you think he's nice online, IRL he's one of the greats. We must protect him at all cost. That day was definitely lighter but the sessions were that much stronger. I got to see O'Leary but like folks said before it was hard to get through the security details surrounding him so I just got to gaze and think "This shit is so cool." I then got to meet Ren and Stimpy- I mean
@NickS0usa and
@D_Scramble which what a set of folks these are. Good times all around getting to meet people we interact with every day.
I then set out a little early on day 2 to prepare for my super bowl, the Team 1 Grotto event at Somewhere Nowhere. My wife picked the venue and she nailed it. I found myself surrounded by friends and got to meet new folks in the space that were genuinely interested in what The Grotto was all about.
@Pardon_my_trade and his lovely partner were there talking all about gaming with me and what a wonderful time I had talking to people who are my target audience. They shared excitement with me that I couldn't begin to describe. Everyone got to meet folks. I got tackled by
@kieksinjapan and met some of the Foundation folks. Everyone got a lootbox card thanks to
@VanHoVibes who pretty much became my party organizer and she didn't need to do all of that which warmed my heart. The Grotto lootboxes were great and I appreciate everyone who now has all of what I have to offer on the platform in their hands.
The moral of the story is
@AshleyDCan's husband and I are now a bromance and NYC was a dream. I could not be prouder to be the founder of an Avalanche L1 and could not begin to express the happiness I hold being accepted here as much as I am. Thank you all and there's not enough space in my brain in this moment as I write this to tag everyone I met, but you all are cherished memories of a once in a lifetime experience.