BlackPool x LisCon

For those of you that are unaware, Lisbon, Portugal, was recently transformed into a bustling hub of events for all us apes to meet, learn, interact and incubate each other's eggs (IYKYK).

We selected a troop of some of our finest contributors and sent them directly into the fray to host some events, make new connections and report back their findings.

Luckily we also sent a backup team to supervise the first.

What follows is a mission report for BlackPool Community eyes only. Reader discretion is advised.

Touchdown and DeFi For Your Grandma

Most troops began their mission on Tuesday, 19th. Uniting at base camp, equipping their uniforms and immediately heading out to the first location on their hit list.

DeFi For Your Grandma was an informative talk on the benefits of making DeFi more accessible, allowing people to spend less time trying to figure out how and what to invest in, and more time reaping the benefits of DeFi.

We joined speakers from SimpleFi, Stake DAO, Celo, Polygon and Angle Protocol for an open discussion in one of the most heavily oxygenated coworking spaces in Lisboa, Second Home. While this event was not hosted by BlackPool, it proved to be an excellent start to the mission. Hearing so many like-minded apes debating and discussing the best ways to make DeFi more accessible to the world was incredibly empowering and exciting, the perfect way to get fired up for a full week of meeting people from all across the universe and networking like there was no tomorrow.

The full "DeFi For Your Grandma" panel can be found here:

LisCon Day One

The first day of LisCon kicked off in style, taking over an enormous section of the LX Factory in Lisbon and filling the massive venue with speakers, stalls, degens, climbing walls and more promotional t-shirts than a person could reasonably fit into their carry-on luggage.

To catch up on some of the talks that were given, you can watch the video below:

Day one also marked the beginning of the great LisCon Sca(n)venger Hunt, where participants were encouraged to follow a series of cryptic clues, leading them to different locations in the Lisbon metaverse where they could claim unique NFT prizes. After a bumpy start the competition quickly picked up pace as participants around the city began snatching up ARtefacts at a rapid rate.

As the day moved on and the main conference talks died down, we joined forces with the Stake DAO herd and headed over to their event, 'CeFi meets Defi'. An animated discussion of the pros and cons of the two ecosystems and if there can ever be a point where the two work together in harmony. Spoiler alert, no. They cannot. DeFi 4 ever.

As the talk concluded and the night began to draw in, there was one thing on the troops mind. The ever mysterious rekt team were hosting a soirée at a downtown speakeasy, and we were damned if we were missing it. The apes arrived at Cafe Klandestino and were met with 'An Unknown Party' the likes of which we had never seen.

LisCon Day Two

The second day of the main event dawned and the BlackPool apes spent some more time roaming the alleys of the LX factory and the streets of Lisbon in order to take a few pics of the Sca(n)venger hunt and connect with more like-minded folk at the conference.

Among the many frens that were met along the way, we were particularly happy to see the likes of AAVE, Gnosis, Witnet, Cometh, and .arianee, all networking like crazy and spreading their message to the masses with smiling faces.

In the true BlackPool spirit of "Everywhere is an office" we set up camp while waiting for lunch and made sure the jungle was still intact. This was no holiday after all, a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears went into this excursion. And with that in mind, we decided to reward ourselves with what one ape described as:

The fanciest party I will ever be ejected from
- Bxst23

WAGMI party

The WAGMI party was the official LisCon after party, organised by our friends at StakeDAO, (assisted by Centrifuge, Near and Chainsafe) and it took place at the incredibly elegant SUD Lisboa.

The event itself was suitably decadent with dance routines and open air bars, but one of the main thrills of the evening was the live tattoo demonstrations being performed by our friends at Ethernaal.

In a stunning display of degen commitment, one of the troop received the highest of honours, the tattoo of the MetaZoa.

BrunchPool

With blurry vision and happy hearts, we woke the next day and headed out to the world famous BrunchPool.

Our traditional BrunchPool, taking place right after the conference ends, is always a great way to wind things up in style with a small group of our friends and this time we took them for a nice little cruise on the Tagus river!

One of the ways to attend the BrunchPool was to find all of the 7 ARtefact during the LisCon Sca(n)venger hunt and we were pleased to welcome Inès onboard after she managed to successfully do so.

Real World NFT Panel

Coming back from the morning’s boat-powered BrunchPool, we quickly and dangerously (Electric scooters are killing machines…) moved on to our next event, the Real World NFT Panel.

Perhaps one of the most promising topics surrounding NFTs is their utility in the real world. We discussed the matter at length with Centrifuge, Enepthys, Ethernaal, ORWL and .arianee. You can watch the full replay here:

Non Fungible Auction

Another traditional conference event that BlackPool loves to organise is the Non Fungible Auction, where we auction NFTs IRL. This time we were joined again by amazing partners and the proceeds of the sales went to several charities. The event raised 36.15 ETH in total for charity and a full write up of the event can be found here, or if you want to relive the whole event, you can watch it in full below.

Day Three - Workspace on a boat

The conference may have concluded, but the post - conference events were still going strong. We kicked off day three with yet more boating, this time just the core team. And we set out to sea aboard our communal workspace.

We spent the day working on a boat. That’s it, that’s the news.

Wine tasting

Due to Stake Capitals’ unique topology and its position near the regions finest mining infrastructures, it's delicate combination of minerals creates pronounced round, full, creamy flavours that may present as nutty or yeasty, like a warm brioche.
Enjoyed by local miners and farmers alike, this easy drinking red pairs beautifully with a wide range of digital assets.

The evening was spent in style at a very fine and elegant wine tasting, organised by Stake Capital. Just look at these classy boys:

We found nice wines, good friends and chatted in a bit more detail with a new recruit. 👀

Raave

What would be an Ethereum conference without a rAAVE my friends? The second edition of the fanciest crypto party in the ecosystem did not disappoint: organised in Estufa Fria, the location was breath-taking.

Theme: jungle chic. Delicious canapes, daring cocktails and great music all night long. Until 4am, our Troops danced and socialised with old and new friends, what a memorable night!

The rAAVE also marked the end of the Sca(n)venger hunt! If you participated, make sure to link your eth address to your OVR account and keep an eye out for announcements and airdrops 👀

That wraps it up for this year’s LisCon. As usual, it wasn’t the boats, the drinks or the food that made our trip legendary, it’s the community of builders and degens that we got to spend our time with!

Until next time Lisbon.