Day one of the first official Steemfest began as more than one hundred of us gathered in the lobby of the Volkshotel to make our way to the canal boats. Finally, it was a chance for us to cast off from our virtual islands and put a face to the user names.

Floating down the canals of Amsterdam into the older parts of the city was mind-blowing. Most of the buildings we passed by predated America by over a hundred years. There was detail in every square foot of the building’s facades and bicycles as far as the eye could see.

Traveling to the Tobacco Theatre via canal boat was the perfect way to capture the feel of this amazing and picturesque city.

On the boat my wife and I met @ned, he was very gracious and we had a short conversation about Steemit. It was nice to finally have a chance to thank him personally for this platform that he and his team have created and all of the dreams that are coming true as a result of their vision.

The Tobacco Theater is steeped in history. Originally the building was a tobacco auction house.

The master of ceremonies, @roelandp opened up Day 1 of Steemfest with a short introduction and an interesting history lesson about his beloved city. He donned a suit covered in tulips and explained that the Dutch sparked the very first speculative economic bubble in the 1637, called tulip mania. Roeland said that at the peak of the bubble you could purchase a house with a single tulip bulb. This guy did such a tremendous job with every detail of Steemfest. I can’t even begin to fathom the amount of work and hours he’s put in these last few months. The meticulous attention to detail was apparent as the event coalesced on this first day.

@neilstrauss took the stage at shortly after 11:00 and he shared some indispensable tips for writers, many of which I’m implementing immediately. I wish I would’ve had a moment to talk to him but his attention was in demand.

My talk began at 11:45, immediately after Neil spoke. I had the honor of reading the first episode of Alarm Clock Dawn to a room of about 150 Steemians. Luckily the cough medicine worked and I was able to keep my voice throughout.

After a light lunch and chats with lots of other users my wife and I joined @fairytalelife for a tour of Centrum, the older part of the city.

We heard that tickets were available to tour the Anne Frank House at 3:30pm but unfortunately when we got there we discovered the line was too long.

The great thing was we experienced many parts of the city that we otherwise wouldn’t have.

This was a day one of a one of the best weekends of my life. I met so many interesting, intelligent, and creative people that I wish it could've lasted longer but time marches on.For those of you who couldn’t make it in person let me tell you this, the backbone of any platform is the people and those I met this weekend, as well as their innovative ideas, make me very excited for what is to come. Stay tuned for a post about day two of Steemfest coming soon. I need to get some shut eye and catch an early flight back to the U.S. Good night all.