Title - midipoet: represent Monero at The Atlanta Blockchain Conference 2019

What - Mike Tidwell messaged me on Instagram (i know, sue me) about a week ago. He said that he had seen my talk at CryptoFinance and had liked what i had to say in the panel, and also during my talk. He said that he would like me to come and talk at TabConf this year.

Who - I hope a few more know me by now, but if not, hello! here is a little blurb. I have been in and around the community for a few years; slowly getting more involved as time goes on. Most of my recent interaction with the community has been through a current Information Systems research project being conducted at University College Cork, Ireland. I gave a talk on the project at DefCon 2018. The research is on Privacy and Blockchain Technology, with a specific focus on analysing varying perspectives of privacy within specific social groups in the blockchain space; Monero being the main one. At DefCon I was also charged with creating the DefCon CryptoPuzzle, which i did in conjunction with The Monera. My latest claim to Monero fame is that i did a talk at CryptoFinance Oslo, which for the most part was well received. Other than that, i would say i am just a community member and a privacy advocate. I am also a Dr (not a real one); completing my PhD in distributed music systems before shifting over to Information Systems and Financial Technology (don’t ask!). I am really just trying to stay away from the real world as long as possible.

Why - Really, simply because i was nicely invited. I am not sure if its completely needed to have two Monero representatives at the one event. Rehrar is more than capable of handling duties over there, but it would also be nice to touch base with him, and generally have a strong presence at the conference. For the most part, i am one that calls bullshit on a lot of the blockchain hype, and while i don’t think this is exactly that type of conference, it is one where i think some decent work can be done on communicating the seriousness of the Monero cause. Two heads are nearly always better than one in this regard, in my opinion. It will also give me some more practice to hone my Monero talks, which i hope are well received and a benefit to the community. I will attempt to do my best again at communicating some fundamental aspects of the Monero ideology.

The Proposal and Milestones - As the conference is covering conference entry and hotel, all i am asking is flights and food. It's not really about the money for me - as it wasn’t for Oslo. Having said that, i got completely screwed by the XMR market for my FFS to Oslo. I think i budgeted for €100 a XMR at FFS request time, and ended up cashing out at about €40 per XMR. You live and learn! So this time, i am putting in a FFS request early, with a slightly different payout structure.

I will ask for one payout to cover the flight booking (which will be done as soon as the first payout threshold is met), and one payout on return which will cover food expenses.

Obviously the earlier one books tickets, the cheaper the ticket will be.

I am also putting in a little extra to ensure i don’t get stung by the market as i hope for the FFS to fill (as we all know price is not that stable at the moment).

If the market moves the other way (i.e in my favour), i will return the difference to either the general donation fund, or to outstanding FFS requests (but will take advice from the community on this).

I will be there for the whole conference, flying in the day before and leaving the day after.

Expiration - February 10th 2019.

Funding details (in EURO) -

Hotel: covered

Conference: covered

Flight: €700 (as at 18/12/2018* FLIGHT BOOKED 9/1/2019 @ €700 - KLM airline -

I am putting €1000 as i know it will go up by the time i book this, or the market for XMR will move down. As i said, if the ticket price doesn’t go up, or the market moves in my favour, i will return the difference to the general fund, or an outstanding FFS. I am also open to better suggestions on this. The surplus is no longer required. Hopefully the market does not move drastically between me receiving first payout and paying off the flight bill!

Food: €150 (to be paid on return)

Based on an approximate XMR price of €40 euro per XMR, this equates to 17.5 XMR (Flight) + 4 XMR (Food)

Total Cost: 21 rounded down from 21.5

edit: someone has commented that maybe it is unnecessary to fly a Monero speaker transatlantic for the sake of a conference. For the most part i agree. If people agree with that stance, please let me know and i will sort out someone taking my place.

edit2: changed food costs as per comments over in Reddit.

edit3: changed the XMR value, as per today's average rate, with a bit in spare. Hopefully the market doesn't change drastically. There was also no great disagreement from anybody with respect to flying someone from Europe to Atlanta. So i will leave it up to the community to see if this gets filled. If it doesn't, i will do my best to find someone to fill in for me, or if i can't i will decline the invite.

edit4: as i had reached a certain xmr value - and the market had moved in my favour, i went ahead to try and find cheapest tickets available. I managed to get some for €700, which are now booked. Confirmed my attendance with Mike Tidwell, and have adjusted requirements in this FFS. Want to say thank you to all those that have contributed. I will leave up the FFS, as i said i would get the final payout on return.