Breaking new ground with the first-ever Livepeer Community Summit

Those who have met co-founder and CEO Doug Petkanics know he’s not given to exaggeration. So when he calls April 20th one of the highlights of his career, that says something.

So what made April 20th so incredible?

Only the first-ever Livepeer Community Summit. It was a chance to gather Livepeer core contributors, community members, and web3 thought leaders in an environment conducive to collaboration and a productive exchange of ideas.

Doug has long wanted to hold such a summit, and the core team has been searching the calendar — and the planet — for just the right time and place.

Then an ideal opportunity presented itself: the Ethereum Foundation announced Devconnect, a week-long gathering of web3 experts in historic Amsterdam from April 18th-25th (coinciding with ETHAmsterdam on the 22nd-24th).

Devconnect is the ultimate celebration of decentralization. The organizing concept, under which thought leaders in different domains created and hosted events rather than being shackled to a centrally dictated itinerary, spoke strongly to Livepeer’s ethos.

A focus on innovation, inspiration, and independent thinking made Devconnect a perfect backdrop for the inaugural meeting of Livepeer developers, creators, and enthusiasts. The beautiful Droog event space was booked, and the stage was set.

But while all the ingredients were there, we weren’t prepared for the scale of the impact.

Doug’s tweet the following day said it all: “Entrepreneurship is an ultramarathon with a lot of grinding and few moments of celebration along the way. But yesterday was one of the highlights of a 14-year entrepreneurial journey.”

Like other attendees, he was blown away by the energy generated by 90 community members, 30 Livepeer core team members, plus key players from other projects.

For some members of the community, the summit gave them their first chance to meet in person after years of collaboration. And participants, including on the livestream, had the opportunity to snag the perfect souvenir: an exclusive Livepeer Community Summit 2022 proof of attendance protocol (POAP) to commemorate the event!

Once everyone had grabbed their summit-branded gear, the community settled in for a shared viewing of the Livepeer commercial. The work of Livepeer community creator Authority_Null, this cleverly curated romp through the antecedents of modern-day video streaming set the scene perfectly for Doug’s conference opener: “Livepeer Vision — Beyond Transcoding.” This combo of reflections on Livepeer’s achievements so far and glimpses of future direction was welcomed enthusiastically by attendees.

Livepeer co-founder and CTO Eric Tang stayed future-focused in his keynote, “The Web3 Video Product Vision”, announcing a host of exciting new Livepeer developments to come.

The rest of the morning sessions were given over to the topic of Community:

• Livepeer Orchestrator Titan-Node hosted an engaging panel on The Orchestrator Experience.
• Community members Chris Hobcraft and Nico led a pair of lively and informative discussions: The Power of Live and Liquid Staking and Tenderize.
• Livepeer Inc. head of marketing Meredith Tretiak shared her insights into the growing field of Decentralized Marketing.
• During lunch, a breakout session led by Livepeer co-founder Yondon Fu addressed multiple topics related to web3 native video and decentralized broadcasting.

After the salad and quiche were dispatched, the conference divided into two tracks: Build and Learn.

In the Build track, attendees dug into toolkits and use cases:

• MistServer Vice President of Engineering Jaron Viëtor shared how MistServer Powers Video Innovation with a sophisticated and flexible video toolkit.
• An exciting demonstration came next as Livepeer Inc. product manager Paige Glowacky and video engineer Victor Elias staged a live premiere of Livepeer’s NFT Video Minting SDK!
• Francesco George Renzi talked about Superfluid and the powerful coupling of web3 video and programmable money, Konstantin Tkachuk discussed IPFS and Filecoin, and Shannon Wells, Eric Tang, Christina Beltraminiv, and Bradley Freeman peered into the future of web3 social protocols.

Meanwhile, over in the Learn track:

• Doug Petkanics and Titan-Node held a group discussion on the subject of Livepeer Economics.
• Livepeer Head of Community and Governance Shannon Wells and Senior Product Manager Hunter Hillman held a design thinking workshop on the past, present, and future of Decentralized Governance.

Huge thanks go to all guest contributors, and to everyone who attended the summit, whether IRL or via the livestream.

With more than 300 POAPS claimed by in-person and livestream attendees, we’re thrilled that the first Livepeer summit was a day to remember for everyone sharing the journey toward full web3 empowerment.

Catch more talks from the Livepeer Summit on our YouTube Channel.

Until we meet again!