2021: The Year in Review for Dfinity Community

CoinHustle -

As 2021 comes to an end, Dfinity Community's Editor in Chief, Daniel, reflects on a year characterized by the Genesis of the Internet Computer in May and not looking back since!

First of all, I want to wish you a Happy New Year. I hope it will be prosperous for all of us as we move forward, full of hope and anticipation for what 2022 will bring. As a community, we are joined in a cause and a purpose, and all want a truly decentralized web3 platform to give back power to the people from monopolized big tech cloud.

Secondly, I’d like to remind you that we are nowhere near a year old. I joined Dfinity Community after being headhunted via the Dfinity Community Facebook group, where I suppose my passion for and belief in the project was apparent to anyone reading my posts. I was made a moderator then asked to interview with Dukakis Tejada, who told me about his vision to create the largest crypto community on the planet.

Having completed my master's in English and previous editorial experience, my role was already defined. I set about learning invaluable management skills from Dukakis, who has served as a mentor and a guide during the building process.

I am proud of what Dfinity Community has achieved since Genesis in May. We have built an incredible team and have created the number one community platform in the space. Many improvements and developments are coming to our site in 2022, along with the full launch of our NFT project, which has been immensely successful. We set out with a roadmap to achieve 50,000 followers by the end of Q4, and we are just about there, thanks to you all!

I have decided to utilize an Annual Review Template that you can find here: https://www.notion.so/Annual-Review-Template-Public-971f80b7ada34f8489fce5ad8ecd3b3e.

I will answer some of the questions from the above link to summarize the year (at last seven months at least) from the perspective of Dfinity Community/myself and/or the Internet Computer in general.

In order to move forward, we have to have the ability to look back.

You might want to try this yourself; it’s an excellent way to see how you have developed and where you intend to go in the year ahead!

Favorite things in 2021 related to the Internet Computer and Dfinity Community

· What was your favorite music playlist?

I have to give a shout-out to Mo from Canistore for this one. ‘Soon Come’ by Nathan has a nice chilled vibe to it, and he talked about it in an interview we did with the team.

I think it ties in with the feeling amongst the community that the time for the Internet Computer will soon come, so I think it’s pertinent too.

· Who was your favorite artist?

This is a good chance to talk about NFTs. In terms of pure artistic aesthetics, it’s hard to beat the work done by the brothers at ICP Art. Some of the work is breathtaking. Poked Studios also clearly has a very developed product as well. I’ve been patiently waiting for the P2E Cronics game and breeding so I can begin to earn some passive income. I stacked a lot of Gen O monsters in anticipation! Moving into 2022, the NFTs with the most utility will be the most valuable.

· What were your favorite photos?

I liked a photo I saw of some guys in front of the Taj Mahal with DFINITY t-shirts that I saw earlier today. There was also a great photo of Dukakis sporting a nice-looking shirt at the NFT conference in NYC.

· What were your favorite videos?

This would be the ICP Squad step by step NFT minting video prepared by our very own Social Media Manager, Victor (known to some of you as Migg on Discord). We plan to integrate his videos on our website in the coming year as an added feature; he’s a true professional.

· What were your favorite articles?

Berto Parga, who has taken some time out recently (and who I hope can rejoin us in 2022 if at all possible), wrote an incredible article that gained massive traction across the community full of marvelous infographics that compared the Internet Computer with other L1 blockchains. I will be looking to commission similar comparative articles in 2022.

· What was your favorite experience?

Keeping this related to DC/ IC, it’s hard to pick a singular experience, but I’ve enjoyed meeting a great group of colleagues. The Managing Editor Sunny Gar has become a close friend, and we coordinate publications and the general editorial process amongst many other things together.

It’s great that our team has a fantastic collective harmony, and during the pandemic where we are mostly indoors anyway, it’s been great to meet a new group of people with the same interests and objectives.

· What was your favorite speaking, teaching awards, or recognition?

It’s nice to occasionally be recognized for our work to promote the Internet Computer. Don’t forget that all of us started this as volunteers. I’ve had quite a few people reaching out, tagging me on Twitter, and telling me that they appreciate the work we are doing. It’s the little things like that that make it all worthwhile.

· What was your favorite first meeting?

Sunny and I had a great call with Mo from Canistore. He’s a laid-back, super-smart guy, and I enjoyed the start of what promises to be a fantastic relationship between Canistore and DC.

People

  • Who surprised you the most this year?

This was Dukakis, the founder of DC. I would never have imagined becoming the Editor-in-Chief of Dfinity Community at the start of the year, but I’ve thrown myself into it wholeheartedly. I love the overall experience, working tirelessly along with the team to grow our community. I want to thank Dukakis once again for the opportunity.

  • Who were new friends you enjoyed getting to know better?

I’ve loved getting to know the team. Dukakis and Sunny have been incredible, and I've enjoyed working with Vignesh (AKA the famous Cat Pirate) Jay, our gifted graphics designer, Berto, who contributed so much, Geoff, who works tirelessly with the utmost professionalism and Adam, who has just joined us but who already has made a tremendous impact. A massive shout out also to the energizer, Moses, the community lead, and Victor, our social media manager.

I’ve had a blast meeting so many of you from the community too. Lydia Lei deserves a special mention for her outstanding work, and I’ve loved working with so many projects that are too numerous to mention right now.

  • What friendships stand out to you the most this year?

I’ve worked extremely closely with Sunny and find him a very measured and wise person I have immense respect for. Rustin from the Infinite Charity Project deserves enormous respect and credit. He is working entirely for free to donate to animals, and his acerbic wit and sense of humor have been a welcome addition to my day, even as our workload increases to the point it’s harder to keep in touch quite as much as when we started out before he even had the idea for the charity.

Some of the projects I’ve worked with have had lovely teams. I don’t want to mention any in particular in case I miss some, and they are offended, but you know who you are if we interacted nicely over the last few months 😊

  • What compliment would you liked to have received? Given?

It would’ve been nice if someone said thanks for helping ICP reach $1000. You were a part of that. There’s always 2022.

  • What were your favorite conversations?

Rustin and I had a few hilarious conversations, the content of which is private, but he will instantly know what I’m referring to.

  • Who were the most influential people in your life last year?

As a true romantic, I have to say my wife, haha. But aside from her, certainly Dukakis and Sunny. Geoff recently joined, but he’s becoming increasingly prominent too.

General

  • Which aspect of last year was most challenging?

Building the team from scratch wasn’t easy, especially since we are volunteers.

  • Where did you invest your time last year?

I invested a considerable amount of time in DC. I plan on investing even more next year as I’ve reduced my hours lecturing.

  • Where would you have liked to invest more?

I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. Defi projects will be great to invest in if the opportunity arises. I’ve also bought some NFTs that have utility or are exquisite to look at that I believe can have long-term value or bring about a passive income.

  • What gave you the most energy this year?

I think seeing the site coming together has been an energizing experience.

  • List your 3 top wins for the year

I think Dmail Network, Infinity Swap, and for the NFTs, the Infinite Charity Project are all my winners for this year’s dApps, and I believe they all have a great future.

  • How would you characterize the year?

A year of building, forging new relationships, and self-discovery.

  • What word would you use to summarize the year?

Constructive.

  • What were your disappointments from the year?

ICP price falling from $80 to the current price. At $80, I was above my DCA, but now I’m considerably below since I initially aped into IC at $300 a coin. Ouch.

  • What questions do you keep thinking about?

How can I improve the site? How can I bring more value to our readers? What are we going to do to strengthen DC in 2022? Who will we partner with in 2022? And the final one I’m sure we all think about- When will ICP begin to pump?

  • What did you learn about yourself?

I’m adaptable. I was used to teaching more than middle management. But all things considered, I think I’ve learned my role pretty quickly.

  • What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned this year?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and patience is a virtue. Go with what you believe in and double down on it, even if things don’t immediately work out.

  • What else do you need to do or say to be complete with this year?

Happy New Year to the Internet Computer Community. Please work with us to make the Internet Computer huge in 2022!

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