Words can't fully describe how awesome it was to meet so many Steemians face to face!
I was pretty bummed out having to miss the Springfield, MO meetup back in January due to moving to St. Louis just a few weeks prior. Even though I did get to talk with @Papa-pepper and @Stellabelle on the @steemittalk podcast through Discord...it just wasn't the same. This time around I was DETERMINED to make it no matter what!
Just like time spent here on Steemit, it felt like there was SOO much packed in to a couple of days. @Jacobts and I left St. Louis on Saturday morning and managed to get to the park in time to help @Stellabelle get things setup. I was absolutely flabbergasted by how much she put into this with things like having "Fun Car" spelled out on her vehicle in black tape, had Ned dollars attached all over the place, her HUGE Steem-bling necklace and a massive amount of fantastic food. I have to give her mad props for all of this on top of the actually organization of the event which is no easy task.
She even had the amazing idea to have "Full Vote Certificates", a Steem Coin and a business card for every attendee. The best part about these is that once a certificate is used, we are supposed to pass it and the steem coin on to another Steemian who can then redeem it once and pass it along again! What a great idea...I love it! :D
I didn't get to take a ton of pictures (especially compared to some of the others), instead focusing more on getting to talk with everybody, especially the newbies (shocker I know.) It really was a great time being able to meet everybody, put a face to the names and just spend some real life time with so many great people!
The passion, intelligence and friendliness of every person there was beyond compare!!
I was also really excited to be able to meat the non-virtual @VirtualGrowth who I've worked with for so long dating back all the way to the beginning of the Steemprentice mentor group.
The Few Pictures I Took
I did wander a bit at one point to take some pictures of gorgeous flowers that were around the park. I've posted a few of these and will have the rest in a separate post. There were some people who I didn't get much time to talk with, but I honestly hope to be able to rectify this at some future meetups!
Special Thank Yous!
I wanted to give a special thank you for @Stellabelle for making this all happen and to @JessamynOrchard who had a phenomenal performance (and made sure to bring the Weird Plastic Baby!)
It was great to meet everybody that made it there! It was really a very special experience for me!
I was so inspired with my FIRST EVER Steemit meetup that I just can't wait for more! Over the weekend many of us already started talking about getting St. Louis and Springfield Missouri ones organized ideally in the next few months!
After all talking with @stellabelle, @virtualgrowth, @jacobts and @fungusmonk until about 11pm..it was finally time to at least get myself checked into my hotel for the night. Myself, Virtual and Jacob then skidaddled to find somewhere for some dinner, ending up at the Green Room, which just happened to be next to the improv building that Jacob had done a workshop at in the past.
How amazing was it that the stars aligned that he was able to run into some of this old friend how came through the restaraunt after their show!!
The Next Morning and the Drive Home
@Jacobts's sister was nice enough to let him and @VirtualGrowth stay at her house for the night. And the next morning I met back up with them over there, where Jacob made us a fantastic breakfast while the three of us talked Steemit and Crypto for HOURS!! Thank you Jacob!!
After being on the road for a while, I started to get really tired and wanted to pull off for a bit. We were just going to do this in Columbia, MO and find somewhere for me to wake up. But WAIT!! What was that sign right there?!?!?!?!
Russell Stovers Store?!!?! YESS!!!!!
Every time I traveled from Springfield to St. Louis I would see one of these shops but never stopped. NOT THIS TIME!!! OMG OMG OMG!!
The shelves and shelves of chocolate, fudge and other sweets! I ended up grabbing a few boxes (one for me, one for my mom and one fro my sister.) If we stayed much longer, I would have REALLY been in trouble.
This was JUST what I was needing to finish the drive home. Man was I exhausted, but I'll remember this weekend FOREVER!
Don't Miss the Show! Follow the Steemit Talk Podcast (STP) Account
New STP Website!!
Are you new to Steemit and Looking for Answers? - Try https://www.steemithelp.net.
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where's randowhale? :)
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He was hiding behind that REALLY BIG tree! Next to the land shark! Lol
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Ooh, man! I would have loved to have been here, but honestly I don't think I'm worthy! Hahaha. Look at all those whales!!!! Jeezlaweezafreakinlukeskywalkertexasranger!!!!
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Nonononono..there was someone there that had joined the day before. There were a lot of other new people there too! That's what made it so much fun! Personally, I spent most of the time with the newbies!
People are people on here...not Steem Power level, reputation, etc....just people. :)
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Great to meet and spend time together @sykochica and get some talking together of our shared crypto & steem(it) passions. Great to work with you and interact with you over the past year and more to come!
shared on twitter
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Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
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Things are only gonna get more amazing from here!! :D
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YES!
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nice photos! awesome necklace!
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Thank you! :D
I'll admit I think my flower pics came out better than my people ones. And these don't compare to some of the other's like @melodyrussell and @jasonrussel's. I highly recommend checking their posts on the event to see those!
And thank you!! I love that necklace...it makes me smile. :)
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Wow sykochica - Seems to have been quite a party. As you have described - The main attraction obviously was meeting other Steemians and exchanging excited views about Steem. However, I can not help noticing the funky sunshades, the nice Steem medallion and the smart outfits of Steemians. The food also seems to have been great. I would love to attend such a Steem event. Sigggghhhhhhh. No such events in my country yet. Someday, I will gather enough Steem to fly to attend one of those. :) Thanks for sharing. Upvoted
I would be honored if you take a look at my latest blogs when you have time. Your valuable comments are eagerly awaited. Thanks
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Great pictures.
Wow! looks like you all had a great time. Sure hope to meet you and the others at the next gathering.
thanks for sharing :)
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Whole thing sounds awesome! Nice pictures. And Omg yess. I want some Russell stovers now lol
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It was a unbelievable time!
Hehe...that was totally the icing on top!
They had boxes the size of boardgames in there!! It was nutz!! and quite dangerous. Lol
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Yeah very dangerous!
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great photos
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LOL ! That was Funny 😂😂😂
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That's awesome.. so u had fun.. and those picture of dollars are so cool. "Ned Scott" will be so proud of watching this.. haha 😂 and yes I want that chocolates. Lol.. 😂😃😊😄
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I sure wish we could have stayed longer. I would love to pick some brains a bit more.
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Always feel free to hit me up! I'm more than happy to do what I can. :)
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Fun times!!!
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YEAH !!! - ))
NicE to SEE .. FUN to SEE !!! - )))
Thanks for being a VirtuaL CONDUIT .. !! - ))
... for the VicariouS CreW at HOME !! - ))
WooP WooP !! - ))
... so much FUN !!! - ))
... seeing the NEW FamilY come together - )))
WE're ALL INSPIRED !! - ))
ha ha .. 'me' and the VicariouS CREW !! - ))
LOVELOVELOVE )))
greb'Z )
PumpeD & reSTEEMed !! - ))
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So awesome. I love seeing all the pics from this event. Also, fyi I got my chocolate I was craving in the form of ice cream. ;) Thanks for documenting this for us! :)
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I was an absolute blast!! My pictures soooooo don't to it justice. I highly recommend checking some of the other writeups from people..their pics blow mine away. (Though I got more flower pics I bet...muuuaahahaha. Lol)
That's awesome you got the chocolate! Ice cream definitely counts! And that's good..I didn't wanna have to 'law down the law' for you roommate! (Just kidding of course.)
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I have seen a few other people's pics. I think this is the 3rd post I saw with photos of it. :D
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Hehe..I was the last one I think. Stupid day job!
(I actually really like my day job, lol)
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It was nice meeting you and getting to talk a bit about the STP. Thanks for all your useful insights and encouragement.
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Absolutely!! I was so glad you came! And I heard you were a part of getting mr pepper there..again a big thank you!!
If you even have any questions or anything I can help out with...feel free to ask! :D
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haha It looked an aweome meetup, I wish we had some in the uk :/
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Oh, it was such a great time!
I've seen some UK meetups around in the past! Hopefully there'll be another soon!
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Super cool - I so want some Steemit bling right now!
It's so awesome that you all got a chance to meet up in Kansas City. If I was a little closer (I'm in DC), I would've definitely made the drive over just to meet all of my favorite Steemians! I'm always so honored as a newbie just to leave comments on your posts.
When are you guys planning to have the next meetup?
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Ohh..that would be a bit of a drive for sure! I'm hoping to see more of these popping up in various places, but I've got some work to do before I can say more about this at the moment.
However, I am hoping to have Springfield and St. Louis meetups organized the ready to go in the next few months. But I've gotta take a few days to catch up on posts, comments and sleep first. Hehe
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More sleep is always a good plan to have. I'm following so many more people now that catching up on posts is becoming a challenge. And of course, gotta keep an eye on that voting power!
Awesome, if I don't have any business trips around the same time, I would love to join y'all for the next meetup. Keep us posted @sykochica!
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Nice community you have there!
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Hehe, Thank you!
I'm still constantly amazed how many Missourians (or near Missourians) are apart of Steemit!! We're taking over! Muuaahahaha, lol. jkjk
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Agreed, the long-distance STP interaction was not the same as actually meeting you.
Wow, you guys hung out until almost midnight?
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Next time we'll actually have to talk a bit more. We both had our own conversations going on this go around. It was still awesome to meet such staple in the community!
Yea..the conversations just kept going and going. I know stella was trying to head out about 10ish..and it just kept on. Great talks and well worth it in my opinion.
I actually remember this song when you had done it way back when...freaking awesome!! Can this be the official steemfest anthem?!?! :D
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It can be the anthem as far as I am concerned.
I know what you mean about talking a bit more too. So many steemians so little time. Soon enough, plus, I plan on making it back to the STP, so at least we should be able to hear each other. Thanks!
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YES!! WOOTS!
I'm actually hoping to get a St. Louis and Springfield Meetup together in the next few months. Next time you make the trip to STP I'll travel down there! I actually have weekends off now making it possible. :D
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Cool, I like Springfield and STL!
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Woots!! I'll keep you informed as I get things together. I'm still recuperating right now...had to take a nap right after work today. Lol. But I want this to happen.
One of these days I want to commission a couple of your SteemChains to 'raffle off' on here. :D
I KNOW how many people are jealous of your SteemBling!
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How fun!!! I wish we had a meetup in Seattle!! :)
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I really enjoyed reading your post. I felt like I was there lol, I hope one day I can meet all of you soon including you @ sykochica I have heard such good things about you. Ok well if the stars align maybe we will meet sooner than soon :))
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This give me more inspiration to do a SteemDiego meet up. Here in San Diego. There is a handful of us here now. WE IN HERE! lol Thanks @papa-pepper now I got the "steemit like you mean it" song stuck in my head...
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We are in Los Angeles! I will come! :)
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That sounds like a really great time :)
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Nice to see the photos hope you had a great time. Enjoy.
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Sounds like a great time had! I love the power of the internet with its ability to connect folk with common interests whom you wouldn't just bump into in the street! Well done all!
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Looks like it was a great meetup and I'm glad you were able to go! @sykochica
Upvoted
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Thank you! :D I had a fantastic time.
The best part in my opinion was how everybody was all just being people..no matter the newer users or the bigger icons. It was even more friendly than being online! :D
I can't wait for the next one!
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That's the way it should be! I can't wait to attend a meetup sometime in the future! :)
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Wow, steemit is doing amazing things! Nice pics, thanks for sharing!
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Awesome pictures. I love those Steemit neck chains! lol
Those chocolates... YUM..... Breakfast... Yum Yum
Excellent post as always. A+
Upvoted
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Someday we've gotta fly you over here!! We'll drag out bonz, dr tickles, karma and the rest of the USA gaming crew too! :D
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Now THAT would be EPIC ! ! ! !
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Its good to be in this platform. It's just amazing how the community relationship from people around the globe. Simply amazing.
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What a great time!
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It is a great thing to see steemians creating life time bonds. Keep it up guys.
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Amazing can't wait until there will be more meetups like this one!
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That gif. OMG, that gif.
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Very cool stuff! KC is really close. I wish I had known about this!
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DOH!! Sorry we weren't able to catch you for this one.
However, after I get caught up on life and sleep..I'll be workin to organize a Springfield and St. Louis meetup within the next few months. :)
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Excellent! I was hoping for photos.. and you delivered. :) I love the part about talking about steemit & crypto for hours. :)
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Oh it didn't stop. Virtual actually came back with us to St. Louis so when we weren't talking crypto we got into philosophy, esoteric topics, etc. We soooooo should have recorded it all. Lol
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