I’m no stranger when it comes to attending local and international blockchain conferences. For once, I was a speaker on a blockchain summit in Malaysia last year. It was expected that these conferences are jam-packed with several speakers, panellists, organizers, media team and attendees.
Keynote speaking sessions, panel discussions, fireside chats, networking sessions and after-parties are some of the common activities that I’ve seen in various cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences and summits.
Out of all activities that I’ve mentioned, networking is what most of us are focusing on. Most of us are networking with fellow attendees than listening to keynote speeches, fireside chats, panel discussions and so on. Even if these sessions have lots of empty seats, the show still goes on as planned.
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The number of cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences worldwide keeps rising exponentially. However, everything’s changed because of the coronavirus crisis that we’re in right now.
The effect of Coronavirus in various cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences
As the Coronavirus expands to several countries worldwide, lots of cryptocurrency and blockchain events are postponed or cancelled.
Social distancing is a major issue when it comes to these jam-packed conferences. I’ve seen it first hand because of attending them several times in the Philippines and other countries. Imagine if these events continued without lockdown or enhanced community quarantine, all hell would break loose.
It was expected that the economy would go down this year due to the worldwide pandemic. Thousands of people across the globe have died, mostly in the United States, Italy, Spain and others. The airline and tourism industry continues to struggle because of travel restrictions, even when the lockdown is lifted.
As a result, speakers and attendees across the globe cannot travel by land, boat or air just to attend these cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences. I have travelled a lot since 2018 within the Philippines and a few countries to attend these conferences and network as much as I can. Not only that, almost every single one of these conferences has side events and after-parties.
Now that the world is succumbing to COVID-19, we temporarily say our goodbyes to actual conferences and summits because of mass gathering and social distancing issues.
However, it does not mean that these organizers are giving up that easily. They’ve found alternative ways to do it, and all they need is a PC, laptop or mobile device, Zoom or any webinar app and fast internet connection to make it happen.
Crypto and blockchain organizers are shifting to webinars and virtual conferences
Due to the coronavirus crisis, the organizers of various cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences are forced to make drastic changes. Since they’re losing ticket revenues due to the postponement of their events, they are shifting to web-type events (both free and paid).
I want to name a few notable cryptocurrency and blockchain conferences who are shifting towards virtual meetups:
- Virtual Blockchain Week 2020
With Cointelegraph as the official media partner, the Virtual Blockchain Week 2020 is one of the most-anticipated webinars ever. It has an all-star cast of speakers such as Roger Ver, Changpeng Zhao, Tim Draper, John McAfee, Michael Pompliano, Lea Thompson and a lot more.
You can check out Virtual Blockchain Week 2020 here. I have signed up for free admission, but they have a $97 VIP package that gives you all-access to meet and greet with the speakers.
These organizers are doing whatever it takes to find ways to raise funds while everyone is staying at home. Actually, they’re doing something great regarding the collection of funds. 50% of the ticket’s price will go to a nonprofit organization to help with the funding of fighting the COVID-19.
- Consensus 2020
The first time I’ve heard about Consensus event was in 2018. Usually, this event is only held in New York City for so many years. For me, it’s my dream to attend the Consensus event because it’s truly one of the biggest and most popular cryptocurrencies and blockchain events worldwide. However, due to not likely qualify for a US Visa, I can’t go there.
Now that New York is the hardest hit city with the most number of coronavirus cases in the United States, it’s impossible for them to continue the event. However, that won’t stop them from implementing new ways of keeping the event going despite the coronavirus crisis.
On May 11 to 13 2020, Consensus will be hosting their first-ever virtual cryptocurrency and blockchain event. For me, this is a wonderful opportunity to attend Consensus for the first time (but in a virtual way).
You can read about Consensus’ latest announcement here.
- AIBC Asia Digital 2020
I remember that the first time I’ve attended Malta AI and Blockchain Summit was last March of 2019 at Shangri-la At The Fort Taguig, a few weeks after attending the Token 2049 event in Hongkong.
The founder of Sigma and Malta AI and Blockchain Summit is no other than Eman Pulis. I have met him personally in Hongkong and Manila, but we’ve briefly talked because of so many networking stuff going on.
Originally scheduled on June 8-9 2020, the Malta AI and Blockchain Summit was postponed to May 27-28 2021. However, they have decided to host the AIBC Asia Digital 2020 webinar on the 10th of June 2020. You can sign up for free right here.
Because of these virtual conferences, it inspired me to step up and host my own virtual webinar this Saturday, April 18th of 2020. On top of that, NewsCrypto is the main sponsor of my online webinar.
Thanks to my little experience in panel sessions, I’ve stepped up my skills to become a panel moderator for the first time in my career.
Thankfully, all of the guest speakers have accepted my invitation. If you’re interested to watch my live webinar this Saturday, I will live stream it on my official Facebook page.
Is this going to be the new normal for cryptocurrency and blockchain-related events?
I believe that everything goes back to normal when a vaccine is finally released to the public. Right now, I honestly think that this is going to be the “new normal” of various crypto and blockchain organizers to host events.
For me, I don’t have any problem if all of these events are virtual. It gave me an opportunity to save money from plane tickets, hotels and other miscellaneous expenses.
Thanks to the internet, every one of us are still connected no matter how long this pandemic would end. It’s now possible to attend a cryptocurrency and blockchain conference or summit while sitting at the comfort of our homes until the virus is no more.
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