It was the first event I ever organized. I had been to other meetups before but was never the one in charge. But since there simply was no other Monero meetup going on in Frankfurt - or elsewhere in Germany for that matter - the decision was either you do it yourself or don't complain.
The decision was made and following an announcement on Twitter (or X), Vik from Cake Wallet reached out and offered to sponsor food and a giveaway. It seemed like the pieces were just falling into place. No going back now.
After more planning than I had originally expected, the time had come and we opened the doors in Offenbach for the first meetup.
A pleasant surprise was that some people had traveled three hours and more to participate. It highlights the demand for having in-person gatherings to talk about Monero. Over all, 20-something people showed up and were greeted with pizzas and cold beverages.
Conversations were easy and much context was already shared. For once, Androids flashed with a non-Google OS (Graphene, Calyx or Lineage) were the majority in the room. There were also tons of stickers and other merchandise, since I was not the only one who brought some of their MoneroKon stash.
If you want to watch the talk, check it out here.
The feedback was very positive and I was glad that most of the audience already had some prior crypto exposure. Right after the Q&A session, we already had lively discussion - that's exactly what the Monero meetup Offenbach should be like!
The event would not have been as awesome as it was without the support of our sponsors. The location of the Sensory-Minds office was perfect for a casual hangout, as was the technology to show and record the presentation.
And one of the highlights of the evening was the 1 XMR giveaway sponsored by Cake Wallet. The initial winner was even so kind as to split the reward and so we could raffle again.
A personal highlight of mine was having an interactive session for wallet initialization. With paperwallet cutouts from monero.how and some Tough Wallys.
We stayed longer than expected, engaging in smaller conversations. The spirit was very lively and so I would say the first meetup was a great success!
So... Another event must follow, right? My goal right now is to host a meetup like this one every quarter. So the next one would be sometime between January and April.
For all those, who are looking for another Monero meetup: You don't have to wait long!
There will be a Monero meetup in Munich on the 25th of November - check it out on meetup.com!
Is this the rise of the German Monero community?
"Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!"