🇨🇦 ETH Toronto Prep 🇨🇦
Well, the big day is almost here! I have been helping plan and organize hackathons over the past ten years, but this one is different. I am joining from the hacker side and couldn’t be more excited. When I entered web3 last August, I wasn't prepared for the leap from web2 conferences to the labyrinth of mazes one enters on the road to web3 enlightenment.
It has been a year full of new frens, experiences, and tech terminology. Not sure what Toronto will bring, but I look forward to all the adventures that unfold on my hacker journey. The ETH Toronto Hackathon is happening during The Blockchain Futurist Conference - Canada's largest Blockchain conference. When working in FinTech, I did not see as close of an alignment between the developer conferences and mainstream events. Whereas in web3, a new global trend has emerged combining crypto conferences, VIP networking events, ETH hackathons, and partner hacker houses. The joint week-long networking events catapult growth connecting early projects to advisors and funding. Bridging the startup developer ecosystem to traditional finance and VCs through extravagant events has become a classic web3 hat trick for networking success.
I am thrilled to partner with Untraceable Events and kick off our global community partnership through The Detroit Blockchain Center.
What’s The Detroit Blockchain Center? ⛓
The Detroit Blockchain Center (DBC) is an official 501c3 member-run organization focused on education and community building. Adam Zientarski & Nate Talbot co-founded the organization back in 2018. I was working at Yodlee as a Senior API FinTech Jedi focused on ecosystem expansion through events in new FinTech markets. Being from Michigan, I was ecstatic to learn we had a growing blockchain hub and events to sponsor. The stars aligned for me to support and judge their first Blockchain Pitchfest in 2019, alongside other local industry leaders such as Jason Raznick of Benzinga.
The Detroit Blockchain Center Mission 💡
To coordinate and promote the education, adoption, and growth of the Blockchain ecosystem throughout Metro-Detroit, and provide resources to entrepreneurs and startups through access to education, financial resources, and business development services.
DBC & ETH Toronto Community Partnership 🤝
Since the Pitchest event in 2019, I have taken a more active role in the group, joining the board in 2020 and helping with the membership/ecosystem infrastructure expansion. I was introduced to Mahyar and Natasha from Untraceable Events and we discussed having The Detroit Blockchain Center and Detroit Ledger Tech join as a community partner. The community partnership included free tickets, and discount code which made the trip possible for our team to head to Canada. I am super stoked as the trip to ETH Toronto is our non-profits’ first global collab, and we look forward to planning with our Canadian web3 frens.
When first exploring our plans for group travel to Toronto - Nate and I looked into getting a party bus to take us from Detroit to Toronto. Growing up in the Metro-Detroit suburbs we had rented a party bus more than once for friends’ 19th and 20th birthdays from Detroit to Windsor. Alas, I was extremely disappointed to learn that it’s “not a thing” anymore after COVID-19. Welp, back to the DBC drawing board, Nate (DBC Co-founder) and I had a planes, trains, and automobiles brainstorm…. how could we curate the best community experience traveling as a group from Detroit to Toronto? Luckily for us, Adam already had ideas in motion for the Detroit Ledger Tech and Facings team to take the train and found a badass Airbnb in Toronto.
This hackathon is one of many fun web3 milestones in my journey. While I am joining the hackathon solo to explore the user experience, I am heading on this quest with a safety net of frens from the Detroit Blockchain community. I have visited hacker houses in the past, but I am thrilled to stay at the Detroit Ledger Tech / Facings team’s badass Airbnb and our first Detroit Community Hacker House! ❤️
Detroit to ETH Toronto Travel Plan 🚂
Our group is meeting at 7:00 AM in Detroit to carpool across the border tomorrow. We are allowing for at least an hour to get through customs and park at the train station to catch the 8:43 AM train from Windsor to Toronto. (AND hoping for time to hit Tim Hortons before the train too!) Let’s dig into the preparation needed to cross the Canadian border from Michigan.
Border Crossing Preparation 📝
I have included an overview of my border prep process but it is best to check Canada’s tourism website for the most up-to-date rules/information before travel.
🇨🇦 Download the ArriveCAN App to upload all documents needed to enter Canada
🇺🇸 Bring a Passport or Enhanced Drivers License for MI and select state residents*
🧪 Carry Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination Card
🏡 Emailed Airbnb pdf for Proof of residence in Canada
🎟 Downloaded ETH Toronto & The Blockchain Futurist Eventbrite Tickets
****Residents from Washington State, Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan, New York, or Vermont **can travel to Canada without a Passport if they have an Enhanced Drivers License.
Hackathon Pre-Event Resources 🔐
Hackathon Registration (MANDATORY for all hackers): August 8th from 4-6 PM
Location: Rebel Entertainment ComplexAddress: 11 Polson St; Toronto, ON M5A 1A4
Hackathon Prep Package: Know Before You Go Hacker Package
Daily Schedule: Hackathon Schedule
Prizes: Hackathon Bounties
Resources & Project Submissions: Dora Hacks Resource Page
Event App: Download EventMobi ( search futurist22)
Crypto Week Events: Canada Crypto Week
💻 Hackathon Prep: NFT Minting Challenge 🖼
Well, after a Pure Michigan summer on the water with family and friends - I am heading to ETH Toronto on a quest for knowledge. In prep for the hackathon, I decided to expand my knowledge and explore outside the blockchain protocols I previously supported. I used to love reading choose your own adventure books and decided upon an “NFT Choose Your Blockchain Minting Adventure” as my first mission before the hackathon.
Most of my frens know I love the possibilities in web3 but that I lean towards Solana NFT projects. Well, there is a story behind why…My first experience creating NFTs was with the Holaplex platform at the Solana SXSW Hackerhouse. Holaplex provided all the art materials and assistance to mint the finished paintings. Working with the holaplex team on site was a blast. Their platform is intuitive and straightforward to use for multi-medium art. I began experimenting with minting my photography, paintings, and old drawings. My original goal was to mint NFTs across different blockchain platforms to learn the process from start to finish, but if I am honest, I primarily use Holaplex on Solana.
The image below is a doodle from one of our local Detroit bars from our DBC Board Meetings. I always draw our meeting notes…but this time, I wanted to mint on a new chain. I pinged one of our founders at the DBC and asked if he would teach the NFT process with WAX at our next Bitcoin & Beer meetup. I took a picture of the drawing, played with it in photoshop, and exported the file, ready for our Bitcoin & Beer meetup to learn a new NFT platform.
Not only did he teach me, but we had a squad from the Bitcoin & Beer meetup join for the lesson. He helped us set up our WAX wallet, provided a code to fund our WAX wallet, and walked the crew through the process to mint an NFT mint on AtomicHub. Afterward, he even took the time to walk me through the attributes for my dbcdoodles22 collection. 🤩
I remember the days of being the only female at local blockchain meetups, but happy to share that things are changing. We are building a diverse community to promote Blockchain education through events and lower the barrier to entry for all. Adam taught us all the importance of proper education in web3 and that anyone can mint NFTs!
In closing, I prepare to step out of my comfort zone and document the entire process. From hackathon registration solo, finding a team, and everything in between until the final presentations. I still love my Solana projects but look forward to exploring other platforms at the hackathon this week.
Henry Ford said it best... “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.”
If this is your first web3 conference - check out my ETH Denver Journey for networking tips and tricks, from setting up your mobile Metamask wallet for digital swag to how to maximize your telegram interactions.