The NEAR sponsored BlockSplit conference is a resounding success
A worldwide Web3 audience flocks to the Mediterranean coast
BlockSplit3, an international blockchain conference took place in Split this week. The staggeringly successful third edition of the conference demonstrated the potential development of the Web3 industry in the region. Featuring workshops, panels, meetups, parties, and networking corners where the massive audience of the event got together to discuss the opportunities and prospects of building a decentralized and sustainable ecosystem, for a week, Split and the conference became the Web3 epicenter of Europe, and the World.
The NEAR Foundation and its local Balkans representative, NEAR Balkans Hub, displayed a showman’s presence over the three days of the event, bolstering and growing the enthusiastic community and proving, once again that NEAR is here to change the status quo.
The First Day
The NEAR team hit the ground running on Day 1 of BlockSplit, after the workshops, with a crowded meetup, counting almost 150 fired-up participants. Attendees listened to and interacted with the presentations on the NEAR protocol, delivered by special NEAR foundation guests: Grace Torellas, Head of Regional Hubs, and Nicky Chalabi, NEAR Ecosystem representative, as well as our own NEAR Balkans experts: General Manager of the NEAR Balkans Hub, Ida Pandur and Chief of Innovation of Shard Labs, Jakov Buratović.
The meetup was a genuine networking hub as local entrepreneurs and regional players coalesced their ideas with the mission of the NEAR foundation to bring a new perspective to a redefined, decentralized entrepreneurial scene in the Balkans.
The atmosphere was truly on fire, as it was a hot summer day, as well as from the buzzing crowd’s vibe and eagerness to network. The complimentary drinks and food only elevated the vibrant meetup energy which lasted for a couple of more hours after the presentation part.
At a press conference, Ida emphasized the significance of the presence of NEAR in the region as the first significant blockchain protocol to set up a hub in the Balkans.
‘‘We want to position the Balkans as the place filled with innovation and exceptional talents.’’
Ida Pandur, GM
Prominent Croatian and regional media representatives were present to document the meetup and interact with the speakers. In addition, Jutarnji, the leading print media outlet in Croatia, reported on the event through a summary and perspective blog that translated the determination of the NEAR team to build a more inclusive Web3 community in the Balkans.
Two Balkans success stories building on NEAR protocol, Endemic and ElectroCoin, actively participated in the meetup, presenting and discussing their journey to apply and win the NEAR grants that helped them establish their infrastructure in the region and develop products around the Web3 revolution.
Check out the full photo gallery & video at the bottom of the article to feel the NEARby meetup vibe! 🙂
The Second Day
The warm winds of the Mediterranean filled the sails of the conference’s second day. The large NEAR booth was placed in the center of the BlockSplit expo area, on Split’s main square, and attracted a large wave of interested Web3 enthusiasts and experienced NEARians who came to meet the team and, pick up some special swag.
Additionally, a friendly competition took place where NEAR experts and beginners got to test their knowledge through a 12-question fiery quiz for the chance to win a plethora of diverse NEARdrops. The audience also had a line-up of experts to answer their inquiries featuring specialists in Web3 Marketing, Business Development, Technical landscape, and legal aspects of blockchain from the NEAR foundation.
HERE you can see a summary of how it went down at the expo, featuring our NEAR Balkans representative.
Besides the booth presence, our NEAR experts and partners showcased their points of view on the conference itself with engaging presentations such as Sharding the shard labs – a path towards full decentralization by Edi Sinovčić, Shard Labs CEO.
The Last Day
Electrocoin and Endemic representatives were also present in the booth to give more tailored descriptions of applying for NEAR grants and the journey of building a Web3 project in the region.
NEAR merch was dropping on the excited NEARians who also received $NEAR tokens in their wallets following a tutorial process with the NEAR ambassadors.
The entire BlockSplit conference indeed turned out to be a great success, as our NEAR Balkans Senior Advisor, partner from Borderless Tech Association, and one of the conference organizers, Luka Sučić, gave a closing speech to wrap the whole thing up.
At the end of the day, the cool breeze of the beaches tenderized the atmosphere, and the team got to hang out with the community.
When all the impressions settled down, we realized just how much of an impact we made, and how strong of a mark we left. Numerous start-ups are in the pipeline, ready to apply for NEAR grants, and many students applied to the NEAR Balkans Summership program, simply an army of newly acquired NEAR community members. We can safely say that the BlockSplit partnership proved to be the perfect launchpad for the NEAR Balkans Hub and all of its activities.
Thank you, each and every single one of you, who engaged with us, and thank you to our beautiful partners who made it happen.
The NEAR Balkans Hub is now truly geared to further increase its presence in the Balkans Web3 scene and establish a solid framework for its community to transition to NEAR.
We can’t wait to see you at our next NEAR Balkans event!
HERE you can check out a cut version of the meetup video stream.
NEARby Split meetup full photo gallery
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Stay in the loop!
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