 So I think we'll just kick it off here now We've got a number of people in the session and we have a half an hour here. So Let me go ahead and just kick it off by introducing everyone that we have for this great panel discussion today and so I'd like to introduce you to David Boswell and David joined us from hyper ledger. He's the director of the ecosystem We have Jodi Panipali and And she is with DTCC and she's working on the distributed ledger's technology there We have Alfonso Govella from hyper ledger Latino America And we have Jim Mason From the Brock who's the blockchain practice leader from Paramount and the sky web team So thanks everyone for joining today, and we're gonna have an exciting discussion today about really, you know Welcome to the new normal. We've all seen what happened I think that, you know, that was a discussion by Brian at the very beginning of the global forum about, you know How things have changed over the last 15 months Since we last gathered in person in Phoenix or the hyper ledger global forum And I know that was the last in-person conference for me, and I'm sure it was for a lot of you But I think that this team on here has really done a great job of embracing the digital transformation that we've been kind of forced into here and What I want to do today is just kind of talk about some of the wins that we've had from the cutover to the new normal and You know how that transition has affected both us and the hyper ledger community in general So at this point, maybe I'll kick it off with David and David You know you've really been the champion for leading the hyper ledger meet-up community and Really been the tip of the spear and we appreciate all your wonderful help So maybe can you let us know what you think? You've seen as far as the transition during this last 15 months here Well, I mean I'll have to thank everybody, you know So we are a community and you know the what happens in a community is what people choose to do So, you know this was you know I think everybody who is an organizer who opted in to try to figure out what a virtual meet-up strategy Looks like because that's certainly not what we all signed up for when we started meet-up groups So, you know, it's been a year almost a year and a half of Experimenting and seeing what works and what hasn't and then you know I think my role is to have that holistic view and if something worked well for one meet-up group You know try to share it out with others So, you know anything that I'm going to share is all based on just seeing what As there has done and then me trying to you know amplify that so thank you to everybody who's you know Tried things out in your own meet-up group And then you know helped roll that out to others But you know, I think this has really been the silver lining of the whole Experience for the last year and a half, you know moving to virtual meet-ups has had some really unexpected pluses a couple of challenges and Things that have been difficult, but you know, it has really been great in a lot of ways I think it's fostered a lot of a regional collaboration that wasn't possible in the past You know, for example, I had tried to encourage, you know different meet-up groups to work But when you have a physical, you know, Jim before we started talked about, you know Even within a city commuting can be a challenge if you're in a big city like Boston or Los Angeles It's even hard to get across but you know and be an event in person But if you're talking regionally if you're in Bogota and somebody else's in Mexico City How do you collaborate and on an in-person event? But the virtual event, you know gets around that and so, you know I've just been really encouraged to see the regional collaboration happening, you know before the pandemic We only had one regional chapter now we have six, you know That's something that's really come out of this experience and then, you know We've run virtual meet-ups in 13 different languages. I was adding it up just recently, you know Since the pandemic started so that's 13 different, you know, you know Language groups that have come together and chosen to work together, you know And that's not based on location. It's based on language with so it just allows a whole different Set of collaboration opportunities. So I've been really excited about that. So Okay, perfect Jim I'm just kind of going across in order I see on the screen here What have you seen as some of the biggest challenges from the transition from your in-person meet-ups in Boston to Now the virtual meet-ups that you've been very successful with So The challenges I think it sounds crazy are smaller for me with the virtual meet-ups For a variety of reasons and I think as I said earlier I think the challenge may be that Boston might be unique I understand lots of cities have what I call commuting issues and challenges But we literally had no good location. So, you know, somebody who wanted to attend my meet-up that was Physically maybe 20 miles away would be stuck with a three-hour commute In Boston to get there no matter where I picked a lot of the attendees would be Looking at an hour and a half, you know, they're in that kind of the thing as a drive And when we went to the virtual meet-up model that helped everything and I had actually tried virtual meet-ups You know on my own sort of and found that Half the attendees were showing up at my physical location and half were coming in virtually And we tried to uh, I didn't have the same technology we do today with Zoom So when I was in a virtual meet-up, it was more of just a broadcast kind of the thing of the meeting You couldn't actively participate if you were remote like you could if you were on site But the model and the technology we're using now is so much better um, I don't see those handicaps and It'll be interesting to see if we can go back in Boston to physical meetings Because of the fact that we don't have a single location in a sense that sponsored us So we used to have to go around from one in a sense sponsored to another for me the the big tragedy of You know the meet-up thing ending physically was when we had the shutdown of the pandemic Was the fact I had a big one scheduled at Harvard and they literally had to pull the plug at the last minute with the shutdown So, um, you know glad that's open over now and everything's open up here But um, it looks like the virtual meet-up will probably be for us a big thing and back to David's point I think the concept although I can see improvements needed I think the concept is what I call the regional model is tremendous I think that brings a lot more content to meet up members in my case in Boston When they can get content from your your group in Denver Jody's group and Dallas and so on when we bring those groups together And say oh look, we're having all these sessions then in a sense all the members in my group benefit from that greatly So that's a huge way from this thing perfect And then Jody from your perspective, how has Dallas changed? I know we had talked some about Speaker recruitment was a challenge for you in Dallas But maybe give me your thoughts around how things look different now From where they look before and what's going to happen going forward So I second a lot of what Jim has mentioned although Procuring of physical location in Dallas was never a challenge for us given Texas has you know, no space issues but Most of the projects, you know more than three years ago were Happening in the labs and the companies it was it was not that hyper ledger wasn't being implemented a whole lot But all the projects that were happening in the labs They were not very comfortable coming out and sharing their lab initiatives So securing speakers and securing prop, you know the presentation of the projects was a bit of a challenge and I may add another challenge personally what I have seen has been a win is a Female participation because we used to have the in person Meetups after the business hours Um during the in person meetups. I've seen very Barely three to five percent Sometimes even one percent, you know, I've been the only female in the room many times But now I'm beginning to see the last one year more female participation. So to me that's a huge win I think we are broadening our horizon. We are the outreach With respect to regional participation Has gained more adoption And in fact, we are also getting requested from austin and houston the other texas cities to to continue hosting this even post Pandemic in a high-flix fashion So as to not lose that connection between Dallas meetups and you know, the other cities meetups Yeah, that's perfect and I do know, you know, if you listen to brian's discussion or even david's treats from eccentric's discussion You know making sure that we have that diversity and inclusion in hyper ledger is really a core You know precept of it And i'm glad to hear that, you know, this engagement has improved for you And I think whatever we can do to foster that going forward is really what we should focus on for sure absolutely And uh, alfonso great to have you join us today And the latino-american chapter is really taken off and you know, your help and support for the community is greatly appreciated So why don't you tell us a little bit about, you know, some of the challenges you faced and some of the wins you've gotten from this transition Well, uh, thank you. Thank you john for the invitation and the rest of you for Well Allow me to be here In this in this conversation. Um, I agree with with what all all of you Dave jim Jody have have said For latino-america it I would say it gave us strength Okay, our our meetup groups were small And it took a lot of effort not only to find the locations, which was the case in many that where I started But also even in mexico city But also the fact of finding out themes speakers So the fact that we could do it virtually As yoti said it really broadened our horizons But horizons were brought in in different levels geographically Because now we could have two meetups together Okay Thematically Because what we couldn't find a speaker in one area there might be this that theme in another area And after working This way, uh, we brought in also networking Which is very important for for latino-america because we share a culture But we are fragmented over a huge region Okay, so the fact that we can share interests and be together in a simpler um I know not as nice as as being One to one together But it increased networking a lot So, um We've had not only new friends, but we've had new teams For new projects being formed Okay, and Something very interesting is it it brought My feet spain It was not included because apple was called latin america not ibero america Okay, but we share the language. I mean we have the language because of them Okay, so, uh We now we go from, you know, something in argentina to chile to colombia To to madrid in spain to mexico city So it it's really broadening horizons in geography and themes and in human networking perfect The thing i want to go back to with david is just talking about how the community has evolved from his perspective And i know david we've talked some about, you know, some of the chapters that were really active when, uh There were in-person meet-ups have kind of gone dormant And i'm wondering if any new chapters have really sprung up. I think, you know, the latin american chapters really come to life And it's been a great collaborator But what is your perspective on kind of? You know, are there communities that are more vibrant now because of the virtual meet-ups? And how's that kind of changed? Yeah, with without question. It's things certainly have shifted and here i'm going to drop a link in the chat We're referencing these regional chapters So i just want people to be able to find them if they're not already familiar with them We have a page on the hyperledger wiki the list the different chapters You know, there are currently six With the most recent having just created been created in japan So yeah, things definitely shifted, you know, there were groups that were very active You know, i'm based in the bay area, for example, and we had a very active in-person A meet-up culture we were meeting almost every other month and that really ground to a halt with the pandemic So, you know, it and it has not been one of the more active virtual I think we've only run one virtual event through san francisco meet-up itself So it definitely, you know things that were active are not and things that, you know Hadn't been active have really jumped into the virtual mix. So it's definitely Changed things around But you know, I think overall, you know the the meet-up community as a whole is just as active as ever If I remember the details correctly I was doing some Analysis so the year before the pandemic we ran almost a meet-up a day So it was very active community But ever since then we've run, you know every week There's almost never a week where we don't have at least one if not several virtual meet-ups So the community as a whole, you know has really embraced the whole idea of virtual And and dove in although any one individual meet-up group may have been, you know more or less active during that transition Okay, the one thing I'll say that I also want to get everyone's opinion on is the networking side of meet-ups So, you know as we've transitioned from in person to virtual You know, that's definitely been a culture of change for me because Usually at our meet-ups in Denver, we've been very much about the networking side in addition to the speakers And so, you know, I've tried a few things with David like air meet We tried one time to try and foster networking And zoom has actually improved their networking functionality to drive that But maybe I'll start with Jim and let me know your thoughts around how the networking piece of meet-ups has changed since the transition So you're right. That's a big difference for me with the virtual and it is a challenge. There's no question of that Um, I've belonged to multiple of the groups not just the hyperledger meet-up group So I wouldn't compare the hyperledger meet physical meet-ups. We had We're not what I call the ultimate model for networking. I belong to a different group called me mug, which Probably was a phenomenal model for networking so strong. In fact Yeah People would religiously show up for the meetings Just for the networking More than the speaker in most cases They occasionally, you know Occasionally find a speaker that drew an audience But for the most part it was really more of a networking kind of a thing. They have a meal They'd have You know, I'll call it networking before the speaker Then you'd have a speaker then they'd have networking after the speaker kind of thing And so it was a very rich kind of a network model And it is true that that's a bit of a challenge and I certainly haven't solved it in the boston meet-up at this point Or in the public sector wiki Meetups that we do as well for hyperledger, but I have thought about it I thought of opening up a gym's bar in zoom And inviting everybody into something along those lines, but to have a casual You know, whatever 15 minutes before you get organized and kickoff your meeting We really haven't done that but it is worth trying out I will say that In boston a couple of the meet-ups did well that way and some of the other block boston had done an excellent job of building A quote the networking part as a major major focus not just the speakers So there's some major conferences much like hyperledger when we have the physical conference We have tremendous networking opportunities there You know different than how I've organized the meet-ups, but I certainly look for other people to give me better ideas on that as well Yeah, so let's uh have jody let us know her thoughts around How the networking piece has really changed in dallas so, um I have honestly the transition to uh the post-covid, um, you know the virtual meet-ups um has More connected more people brought more people together because texas um, you know the the Scale at which, you know the startups were budding is equally distributed x-laws austin houston and dallas So when we were doing dallas in person meet-ups, we were only Getting an opportunity to collaborate amongst the dallas business community specifically focused on dlt projects or you know, um In some form or the other, you know is dlt is incorporated into their day job But having the virtual Meet-up the the networking expanded over into the other cities, which You know in in my if you ask me personally, I think it has only has an added advantage to us. So I I may be personally skewed in this but I would say that We are benefiting more over virtual and in fact Um over the past a few months in fact during the last year when we once we switched to virtual I've also been requested by multiple folks to continue post-covid Even when dallas resumes in person to see would you please continue this in some form of a high flex model And not go completely in person because we don't want to lose that connection with the dallas community So to my point, I think we have just expanded our connections It hasn't limited us by any chance, but again, like I said, you know, it's it's personally to me from What I have heard from my community or from my neighboring communities is is is my point It may be different for different cities, right? Yeah, and I think that's perfect jody and I agree with you a hundred percent. I think that Prior to covet I think that dember was a little bit more siloed As far as you know hosting our events and being focused on our own community But now I feel like when we've had this, you know change There's definitely a lot more cross collaboration regionally Between all the different meet-up groups and I think that that's really helped the community And I think that what I want to do is make sure that we continue to foster that cross community collaboration going forward Even as we transition back into more of a in-person and I know david mentioned in the chat here hybrid model But let's get alfonso's take on the networking side here real quick To make sure that we see how that's affected the latin american american chapter well, uh, claudio sevillos who is from the argentina Co-founder of hyper legend latin america just wrote in in the chat And he says it helped us to get the chapter Up and running for sure So without this Condition, okay It would have been a big big effort with probably little little result We have not explored yet Okay, the potential of networking Around this this technology what I found is that Showing the list of of participants Helps getting direct contacts in the chat Okay, so that is that that has been used um We follow a strategy some some of the other Uh co-founders have have defined for for linkedin, okay, and that has really Exploded for instance my network Okay, but that has happened For persons Then we went to have something for the chapter So we we got the chapter in linkedin Okay, and so we are just beginning to to explore How to network through this new tools And and social media I think there's plenty of work to to be done there But again, I coincide with all of you it it has to do with broadening The network effect Perfect I just want to add real quick build on a fun zone He's talking about new new tools and I totally agree that that I think you know it will be what it's happened You know we've we've certainly struggled with recreating the in-person networking so far, but I I remain optimistic I would encourage everybody here to try gather town for example I think that's a much more interesting networking experience that we've played around with for global forum and it is available now You know it's It seems like that could you know we'll need to test it But I think it could you know really recreate The networking in-person experience virtually in a way that people actually enjoy You know we've tried the zoom breakout rooms. We've tried air meet none of those Really did You know a great job, but I think there'll be some really interesting innovations that will I think you know Be worth trying so just to give a plug try out gather town this week If you haven't had a chance and see what you think and share share your thoughts Perfect. Yeah, David, you know, I'm always about being the tip of the spear So we got some new tool for us to try. I'm always glad to jump in there first and gather Gather town is fun. Yeah Okay, good. So the thing I want to talk about now is just You know looking forward here. We're getting into the reopening now and I want to know just how each one of you feel about Looking at doing maybe some portion of your meetups in person and some portion virtually Or what is your perspective around time trying to tie the two communities together For a specific meetup and I guess I'll start with Jim on your thoughts On how this looks going forward as we reopen now Well, my challenge again comes back to the school meetups. We never Even if I had a sponsor that stood up and said, hey, you can use my facility fidelity has a downtown facility As an example, they gave it to us. It would help, but I could never get big attendance You know the only model I think can work Going forward for us because of the commute problems is that we would honestly need to do Mix virtual with An actual physical meetup. That's the best we could do If we had a sponsor location, which we don't so I'll I'll take another look and see Again, we'll have sponsors offer like Microsoft is in Cambridge IBM is in Cambridge Fidelity's downtown Boston, but none of those are locations that are going to really draw anybody to make those kind of commutes So even if we get them, we probably won't use them I certainly am going to follow up on ideas that all of you have had Around trying to build a stronger networking component to it And I will go back to that other group That I had mentioned that I belong to that is very good on networking and what they did is they actually planned Networking specific events not like we're going to have 20 minutes and whatever They actually had activities organized kind of the thing and That tended to work out pretty well and I'm interested in seeing if I can do that So they would have little breakout groups and we I think we might be able to do that in zoom with the breakout meeting rooms And you know kind of that there's a way to try to organize that so I'm looking forward to Seeing if something like that might work a little bit better So in a sense members can meet members share ideas easier that way than just hear a presentation Okay, perfect Uh, Jodi, what are your thoughts around how you're going to look at this going forward as You know reopening and you know being able to do some in person or What is your plan going forward here? Well, it'll definitely be in um Collaboration with the community. Um, I think it's a good time to start throwing out some surveys and To see what the community feels like because you know, we are more regionally connected For the for now and we have grown our community as I said and And we have only benefited from the virtual Meetups more So I'm going to reach out to my community and see what my community proposes But at the same time, you know as humans we Um, we enjoy meeting people in person. You know, that's that's that's a human tendency, right? So I think going forward it may be some sort of a hybrid model, but at the same time I would You know do my best not to lose that connection with my extended community that we have built relations over the past few years so We'll figure it out. Just like we figured coming into the pandemic, you know, how do we Transform I think it will be an evolution process Perfect. Nope. I get it and I like that extended community Philosophy jody and I think that's exactly what we've encountered here and we need to continue to foster that So Alfonso, uh, let us know your thoughts around the transition back to the you know in person again and how that'll affect your community Well, I think that you know the hybrid can be go can go having persons meeting Virtual meetings, but also something that that we explored is why don't we present In the presentations go through soon or through A computer so in that way Whomever can be reached? Would be or it would be record In a simple way. So we have people meeting and networking We could even show them in the room. Okay, but the presentation itself Always is recorded and broadcasted. So the presentation is always virtual We call that the ranchero the ranchero style Okay, it's it's very simple. It's just you know, use your computer and make a ranchero Hybrid Yeah, that's perfect Alfonso. I know you brought up the ranchero philosophy before And it's something we should definitely continue to promote So, uh, at this point, I think we're getting close to the very end David, you know, we're all about growing the meetup community for hyper ledger If there's anything that you'd like to share to really, you know, anyone attending this session get involved I think that would be helpful Yeah, thanks for that. Um, I mean as we've been saying this is an evolution and we welcome any input thoughts ideas questions comments, you know From anybody here on the call. I just dropped a link to the meetup organizer mailing list. It's an open List that even if you're not a meetup organizer, you can still post to so I think if you're interested in this conversation and want to continue the discussion Why don't you please join us there and uh, if you want to get involved with meetups, you know That's a great place to you know Subscribe introduce yourself ask questions raise your hand and you know, we'll all be there and can you know talk with you more there Okay, well, thanks to all of our wonderful panelists and everyone for joining us today And I hope you have a great rest of the global forum. Take care. Thank you Thank you