Primalbase August Report
Summer sun, fun, and more than enough events for everyone!
Summer may be running out, but the activity at Primalbase has been heating up all throughout this month! Our events calendar has been rammed, with our Berlin office being the ideal location to welcome in a host of exciting Berlin Blockchain Week meetups!
Across the pond, our New York office is going from strength to strength, while a national TV channel has paid a visit to the London office.
Intrigued? Read on to find out the details.
TEAM UPDATES
Jan Semotam — General Manager
After a period of over 2.5 years of successful cooperation, Primalbase’s board and Ralph Manheim now have come to a joint agreement that it is in the best interest of the company if they part ways. We are grateful for all of Ralph’s work, accomplishments and commitment to the project. We are working together to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities and wrap up the tasks Ralph has been dealing with. Ralph will be succeeded by Jan Semotam, who will be appointed as General Manager. Ralph’s last day of work was 29/08.
We are delighted to welcome Jan Semotam to our team. Originally hailing from the Czech Republic, Jan has spent the last 16 years studying and working in the UK and the CIS region. He has a BA and MSc in Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow and has a strong background in sales, company management and business development. Significantly, he has led a cross-border team of sales managers applying new solutions, increasing the annual turnover and raising the profile of the company’s brand. Bringing a fresh pair of eyes to the table, Jan is looking forward to working with the wider Primalbase community and the network of tenants and partners to optimise business and sales performance and enhance customer service.
LOCATION UPDATES
Primalbase AMS
August was a hot month for us, with fans needing to go on at full power in the office! The Amsterdam office sits right off the pier and above the IJ River, so at least there’s always a cool breeze coming in! We continued to see streams of our community members flowing in, and water cooler chat is definitely more popular in the warm weather.
We also welcomed some new tenants into our offices, including event technology startup Airchip! We went to its CEO, Daniel van Drunen, to find out more about his innovative company:
“We’re building a mobile payment application for festivals and events that is redundant to internet failure,” he says. “We are combining IoT protocols and decentralised network theory to increase the efficiency of a visitor user journey dramatically. Features like drink pre-orders and shared wallets can help create better leisure experiences. We are departing from a combined 25 years of experience in music event production and online marketing.”
If you’re in the office be sure to say hello!
Primalbase BER
August has been a packed month, with Primalbase Berlin hosting a diverse lineup of Berlin Blockchain Week events!
On Monday 19th, we kicked off Blockchain Week, with our member Michael Bona holding a talk on how to determine if blockchain is the right technology to implement at your company. On Tuesday, a small group of developers learned how to build Ethereum solutions on Nervos Common Knowledge Base during a development workshop held by Xuejie Xiao. Wednesday saw a hugely popular deep dive into Rust in Blockchain, where several thought-leaders, including Truebit founder Jason Teutsch and CEO of Solana, Anatoly Yakovenko, shared their projects and insight. On Thursday, we hosted the Women in Blockchain Meetup, supported by Crytech, where women were invited to share any issues they are facing in their projects, and ask an expert panel for advice.
Throughout the whole of Blockchain Week we have seen such a great crowd of people from all over the world pass through our office. We want to thank everyone for paying a visit, and we hope to see you again soon!
Here are some snapshots of Berlin Blockchain Week’s events at Primalbase:
September is looking a little quieter, but we are hosting our first ‘edutainment’ life-coaching event, organised by one of our regulars, Soeren Janssen. The event is called “Life is Knocking at Your Door”, and it takes place on Thursday 26th of September. Make sure you register here for a spot to get some free life advice!
Last but not least, the extension of our opening hours went brilliantly smoothly, mainly thanks to our two new Office Assistants, Anezka and Indre, who have been doing an amazing job so far. Please give them a warm welcome if you get the chance!
Primalbase LDN
The London office has been buzzing this month with regular visits from guests booking through the member subbing function. Following a number of tours we also have some new faces on the floor, and both 4PBT offices have been booked.
Channel 5 filmed an interview in one of our lovely boardrooms for a documentary about Concorde and were very impressed with the office… watch this space for info on when it airs.
Primalbase NYC
As we continue to settle into our new space, August has brought many new faces to the New York location! After our opening on July 10th, we’ve seen an uptick in hotdesk bookings, 4 PBT holders, and tour requests for our private lease offices. We love to see our community getting involved! Andrew Levine (from Steemit) and Ron Hamenahem held two meetups this month for our community regarding ‘Breaking into Blockchain’. We’ve been happy to welcome all of our visitors, whether they’re here to spend the day working in our fabulous office, or just dropping by to check out our newest location. If you are interested in scheduling a tour or securing a hotdesk, you can do so through our website.
40 Fulton is close to finishing the lobby renovations, and now requires that all guests be registered with the security desk to gain access to our floor. Make sure you’ve booked your desk or tour ahead of time, so our operations team can register you and ensure there are no complications when you arrive.
As always, we’ve been hearing great feedback about our amenities and fast wifi here at 40 Fulton. Of course, our incredible views are getting lots of attention too! Our operations manager, Hannah, captured this lightning strike from her office window earlier this month:
Finally, we’re partnering with LunchSpread here in NYC to bring our community lunch deals in the area. Stay tuned for more information on New York deals, coming soon!
Primalbase SGP
We have decided to partner up with a dedicated real estate agent who knows exactly what our needs are, in the hope to find something that suits our needs a bit sooner. He has given us a selected short-list that suits our needs the best. Our aim is still to open before the end of the year.
PRIMALBASE COMMUNITY
Upcoming events
Ethical AI: Is it Possible?
10 September 09:00–19:30
Primalbase London
On September 10th, leading academics, developers, lawyers and government figures will come together for a day-long conference, providing a cross-disciplinary investigation of the ethical challenges around AI, what needs to be done and how it can be achieved.
This Binary District event has a superb line-up of speakers confirmed, including:
Evanna Hu, CEO and Partner of Omelas and non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council
Ilja Moisejevs, Founding Team and Head of Product at Calypso AI
Terence Mills, CEO of AI.io
Tickets are going fast, so be sure to grab yours now: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ethical-ai-is-it-possible-tickets-62344578312
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain explained for non-technicals
10 September 17:30–20:30
Primalbase Amsterdam
Led by CTO and Co-founder of Work on Blockchain, Jack Tanner, join us for an introduction to Blockchains, Bitcoin and Ethereum. The talk will cover how these technologies came about, what they can do, and the concepts to understand how they work. We will also discuss what is happening in the industry, and why it’s a great time to be involved in the Blockchain space.
Tickets are free, and going fast: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bitcoin-cryptocurrencies-and-blockchain-explained-for-non-technicals-tickets-68267952283
Tech Dives: Do blockchain and AI work together?
17 September 18:00–22:00
Primalbase London
This Binary District meetup will see leading researchers and developers from across blockchain and AI explore these two technologies potential to join forces. You’ll hear unbiased, hype-free viewpoints and gain an inside look into current blockchain and AI projects that are pushing into exciting new fields.
A diverse lineup of industry leaders are appearing, including:
Laurence Kirk, Founder of Extropy.io
David Wood, Chair of London Futurists and Board Advisor at Singularity Studio
Irene Lopez de Vallejo, Founding Team Member of Ocean Protocol
Grab your ticket here before they all go: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tech-dives-do-blockchain-and-ai-work-together-tickets-64606642206
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