CSCON[0] By the Numbers

Authored by Stu Peters

Since it's very beginning ChainSafe has been a community-focused organization. In fact, it was at an Ethereum Developers Meetup that some of the founders originally met. Since then we have felt an obligation to cultivate and contribute to the community that has been so welcoming and generous to us. So, when one of our team members came up with the idea that eventually led to CSCON[0], the only thing we were left to wonder was: why did it take us so long to do this?

The answer to that question lies in the fact that 2020 was a year filled with chaos, upheaval and uncertainty; the fact of the matter is that these conditions almost always create significant opportunity. The fact that 2020 had been such an unusual year, especially unusual for any event that requires a large gathering of people in the same space, has allowed for unprecedented opportunities for people who are yearning for this type of connection and willing to bring it about in less tested, unconventional ways. Enter CSCON[0]!

Since very few of us at ChainSafe have expertise in event planning, we had to disproportionately rely on one individual, who we would quickly come to refer to as our fearless leader. Dustin very quickly took the leadership role after he made the suggestion that we have a virtual event, and would be our beacon all the way to the finish line of Day 3. Day 3?!?! Yes, a group of folks with significantly more ambition than experience agreed to not only plan a conference, fraught with all of the potential issues of a live event, but planned to do so virtually just so we could have all of the potential technical issues to contend with also.

All of that aside, we marched forward under the guidance of our fearless leader and were able to put together a world-class speaker schedule. Not only would the speaker schedule be world-class for any conference specializing in a specific ecosystem, we were able to put together a speaking schedule whose primary commonality was it's technical diversity. We were so proud to have so many of the projects and technologies that we have such immense respect for, all represented at the same event. After all, we had 3 days, so why not go as big as possible, right?

CSCON[0] By The Numbers

From our perspective CSCON[0] was a resounding success. Let's briefly take a look at the metrics we used to measure that success.

45 speakers representing 19 organizations

For us, this metric is paramount. As mentioned above, our primary objective was to bring together folks from across the many different ecosystems and technologies that we work so closely with. In this goal we were phenomenally successful, and that created an experience with a broad perspective and virtually none of the tribalism that has become common in technology and especially blockchain focused events.

We are incredibly grateful to have had the following organizations participate in CSCON[0]:

• Ampleforth

• Ava Labs

• Celo

• Centrifuge

• Connext

• ConsenSys

• ConsenSys Labs

• Edgeware

• Ethereum Foundation

• ETC Labs

• Fenbushi Capital

• Hypersphere Ventures

• Informal Systems

• Interchain Foundation

• Parity Technologies

• Protocol Labs

• Tendermint

• Web3 Foundation

Thank you again to each and every one of the speakers that took the time to speak at CSCON[0]. The conference could not have existed without you, and we are truly grateful to have had you be a part of this inaugural event!

312 unique attendees and 702 views in 3 days

These numbers were very exciting for us. The fact that we had more than 300 attendees is well beyond the expectations we had going into the event. For a first time event to draw a crowd this size, especially given the budget to which we limited ourselves is very encouraging. Also, the fact that at least some of the attendees made more than one trip back to the conference lets us know that we are providing content that community members feel is valuable.

Thanks so much to everyone who attended the event and made time to watch the talks!

Our social media channels got a boost!

Our (admittedly) modest social media following outside of twitter got a big boost from the event. While this was by no means a primary objective of hosting the event, it is definitely a pleasant side effect. Which also provides a nice segue to the final metric: the amazing amount of quality content we were able to capture for future distribution.

20+ hours of content

While we did have an expectation for this metric, the quality of the content is something that we are truly proud of. Delivering content presented by some of the top innovators in the industry is no small feat, and in that CSCON[0] did not disappoint.

We are currently polishing all of the content so that we can distribute it to our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpm0lKkxhEKWutbPt1hOgRg) shortly. In the meantime feel free to check out the original live streamed versions of the talks on our YouTube channel. We will be making announcements on our Twitter about the content when it is available, so please follow us there and you can expect to hear from us when it's ready for your viewing pleasure!

Thanks again for everyone who participated in CSCON[0]. We are so proud to be a part of these communities and be able to give back in the same ways that we have received so much love and support over the years. We couldn't have done any of this without you, and we are looking forward to making CSCON an annual tradition!

Another big thank you to all of the hardworking members of ChainSafe's Party Planning Committee (Dustin, Cindy, Polina, Ryan and Aidan) who worked tirelessly to put the event together and made sure everything went so smoothly.