2018 was a year full of travels — travels that formed us as a company and as individuals. We’ve seen various cities, cultures, and landscapes. We talked to Blockchain supporters, detractors, and makers. And we introduced TreeCoin, Paraguay, and our vision to various individuals. As a result, we earned admiration, curiosity, and respect — as well as confusion, caution, and critique.
But the positive, as well as the negative, helped us develop. In this article, we want to take you back on this journey. Be part of it — be part of the TreeCoin diary:
Oktober 24th, Dubai
“This will be the first time we step into the spotlight. It will be the first time we speak to other people about blockchain — about nature — about TreeCoin! What will they think?”
With these thoughts on our minds, we got off the plane. In front of us lay beautiful Dubai. Such a big, fast, and innovative city. Here is the place where many cultures come together. And today, all those cultures joined each other for one thing: blockchain — and everything we can do with it.
When we arrived at the World Blockchain Summit in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, we met for the first time with people who were interested in TreeCoin. Some stood at our booth asking us questions while we described the importance of a sustainable and ecological project. Others shared their views and opinions. Sometimes these were objective and sometimes they were dramatic and emotional. Especially touching, were stories from Africa and Asia. They confirmed the importance of our project and its message.
Even though the “green thought” behind the project was obvious and shared by dozens of visitors, the blockchain technology we use was new to them. Most of the common blockchain projects are about payment options, transaction rates, or exchanges. Every company tries to get in touch with reality. But when reaching out to the customers, most of them take the technical road.
And that’s what’s so different and unique about TreeCoin. Our project is real, touchable, and not set in the future. It is sustainable, relatable, and has a heart; a green heart.
Leading with these statements, we planned on making an impact. The project is based on ten years of experience in planting trees in Paraguay. It’s an existing business model, so it was great to hear things like: “This project is exactly what the blockchain technology needed!”
Sentences like that made us feel hopeful and confident as we left Dubai. In our luggage: first experience, varied reactions, and great stories. We were prepared for the next show and the exciting new faces, conversations, speeches, and people that awaited us.
Oktober 28th, Zurich
Zurich was a real highlight for the company. On one hand, the Crypto Summit was a big event, being the largest blockchain conference in Switzerland. Global influencers, top policymakers, investors, and entrepreneurs from around the world attended the event.
On the other hand, the summit was a game changer. We made several interesting contacts, but one of them was especially important. We met the Swiss ambassador of Paraguay. You can call it a fateful encounter. We spoke about our visions and a potential collaboration. Her son promised to fly with us to Paraguay on our next trip to learn more about our business and see first-hand what our mission is about.
What a lucky coincidence. This opened many doors and gave us an easy pass. Her son is someone who speaks the language perfectly and knows the regulations, the locals, and the culture of Paraguay.
More importantly, he understands the differences between South America and Europe in a way, we never could. So he is an important puzzle piece we didn’t even know we needed.
November 1st, Malta
“Wow, this is way bigger than Dubai,” we thought, as we walked through the hall and exhibited the stand at the second World Blockchain Summit. This time in Malta.
On the night before the summit started, we were invited to a charity dinner. And what a dinner it was. The highlight must have been the presentation by artificial intelligence robot Sophia, created by Dr. Ben Goerzel. Sophia is a machine with a lifelike face and the ability to react to questions fully independent and individual. Amazing what the future has in mind.
Other impressive speeches were given by the founder of the software company McAfee Associates, John McAfee, and Malta’s president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. The latter presented the possibilities and assets of blockchain with such enthusiasm and passion, that it touched everyone in the room. The crowd burst into applause after she finished her speech; a true goosebump moment!
During this blockchain summit, we saw some familiar faces. Some of the attendees passed by our stand because they had already watched our speech or talked to some of our people in Dubai. We got recognized. This meant we were doing something right.
In contrast to Dubai, our stand was fuller this time; our fanbase had grown. It posed a real challenge to our team, who tried to answer everyone. But no one felt the pressure, as we enthusiastically talked on and on about our project for hours. On both days! Understandably, we were now fueled by this warm and positive energy and were ready to board our next flight. But first, we needed some sleep!
November 9th, Amsterdam
Amsterdam showed us another aspect of the blockchain summit. It was much smaller than the events in Malta, Dubai, and even Zurich. But also more intense with the chance for longer, deeper conversations. The atmosphere was special: the summit was held in a little church in the middle of modern Amsterdam. An interesting picture, combining history and digital future under one roof.
Though there were fewer exhibitors and visitors, it was yet another summit, another speech, another chance to add to our reservoir. But it was probably nothing compared to what awaited us on our last stop…
November 28th, Singapore
“This is it. This is the event we worked towards. The biggest and most important blockchain event of the year. Will it work? Will they fall in love with us and the project?”
The flight to Singapore was nerve-racking; not because it took us over 12 hours to get there, but because we were both excited and nervous about what would await us. Naturally, we were overwhelmed after our arrival. The city is amazing! Regardless of the colorful streets, the beautiful infrastructure, and the polite people, our location at the Marina Bay Sands in the middle of Singapore’s financial district was one of a kind! So, of course, the city is the perfect setting for a blockchain event.
The Asian people are known for their open mind and enthusiasm for new technologies. It’s kind of easy to represent a blockchain-based product there. We didn’t have to explain why blockchain is a good thing, they already understood this. The talks were more intense with more details about the technology behind our blockchain. The sustainability was clear to them, but they wanted to know more about the tokens we offered and how these worked together.
In Singapore came another peculiarity: we were main sponsors! Everywhere you looked, you found the TreeCoin logo. On coffee cups, pennants, and canvas. An extraordinary feeling!
During times, our stand got nearly overrun — a very good sign. A professional advantage at this event was the availability of the conference and media rooms for interviews, business meetings, and professional conversations. An opportunity we used and appreciated a lot. At the end of the two-day event we had promises from investors, companies, and laymen who would support us and our project, be it by an investment or just their voice. It was all appreciated.
After the event, we stayed in Singapore for a while where our days and nights were filled with innovative development strategies. The short time we had between the meetings helped us to explore the beautiful city and taken in the spirit of cultural and colorful Singapore.
What an exciting two months! We have gained great experiences and made good friends during our tour. We’re definitely ready for the blockchain world.
It is now time that we begin to work on ourselves and put all the knowledge we gained during the tour into action. And we’re already looking forward to other summits. Who knows, maybe next time we’ll meet some of you guys? It would be a delight!
Originally published at https://tree-coin.io on December 17, 2018.
