I have crossed the threshold of forgetting how many CoinGeek Conferences I have been involved with. It’s exciting because even though New York is one of the hardest places in the world to stage an event, hundreds of people filed in to see the presentations.
For me, though, the trip began a day earlier. For the first time, my 2-year-old son Ronin realized that I was going to be leaving for a business trip before I left. While I vaguely remember missing my dad when he would go to work every morning, the look on my son’s face when I had to say goodbye to him will be seared in my mind’s eye forever. Working from home since his birth means that I get to spend more time with him than a typical father would have spent with their kids a generation ago. What that means for us, is that my day starts with Ronin every morning, and we have about an hour together before my wife and daughter wake up in the morning.
He always waves at me when I have to go out, but when I told him, “I have to be gone for a few days,” his radiant little smile dropped, and he started to tear up. He is masterful at tantrums, but this wasn’t that. It was the realization that I wouldn’t be there, and it broke his heart. And it broke mine too. But I told him I would be back, and that he needed to take care of his mom, sister, and grandma. He doesn’t talk much yet, but he sniffled, cleared his eyes a bit and stuck his chin up like he always does when he’s determined. I’m a proud dad, and I cried a little too…
Representing @hastearcade on the way to @RealCoinGeek Conference! #MakeHaste #bitcoin #BSV #BSVblockchain pic.twitter.com/woc1GYTRYP
— Kurt ◉ GorillaPool.com (@kurtwuckertjr) October 4, 2021
Arrival
From the time I touched down at LaGuardia, it has been a whirlwind. My cab driver was an aspiring bachata singer who played me his five best songs. I’m not sure where they each started and stopped, but it was a good time anyways. Upon arrival, I linked up with the lovely Alex Moon to start planning how to tag team the event, and we got right to work. We had planned a brief CoinGeek Weekly Livestream—which I gave in a suit in the middle of Times Square. The editor-in-chief of CoinGeek helped me with my cufflinks, and I headed out.
Cocktail Party
Per usual, there was a world class party to open up the event. In attendance were Adrian Grenier and Emily Ratajkowski along with the celebrity press that follows them around. As someone who doesn’t really care about pop culture, the real fun was discussing the future of Bitcoin with Calvin Ayre, meeting up with old friends and making new ones amid the pomp and circumstance! Working with Jom and Stephanie in person at the event was a highlight. They mic’d me up and I did some interviews while having some of the best wine I had ever had in my life.
Welcome to @RealCoinGeek. pic.twitter.com/yVTUiEQyT1
— Calvin Ayre (@CalvinAyre) October 5, 2021
We discussed NFT technology amid the launch of FabriikX and the auction went off mostly without a hitch. Afterwards, we hit up an Irish bar and shared stories before going to bed more than a little too late!
More to come soon™.
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