In this informal post‑summit teaser, Niko Laamanen leads the ConsenSys Network media team—including Anita Kalerkis, Laura Oinonen, and a linguist‑styled speaker—to recap their experiences at the Malta AI & Blockchain Summit 2019. Filmed at a pool‑side after‑party, they discuss the two‑day event, highlight the high‑profile interviews they secured (Tone Vays, Adam Back, Roger Ver, Ben Goertzel, Larry Sanger, and local academics), note a missed quantum‑tech workshop, and describe the team’s division of labor (camera work, networking, writing, photography). Niko reflects on the value of government‑backed blockchain initiatives as a model for Finland, while Anita urges remote viewers to engage with questions and feedback. The team promises forthcoming multi‑format coverage—video, photo reports, and written pieces—and invites suggestions for future events.
Chapters
TranscriptAuto-generated · 7 min
Welcome to the ConsenSys Network Malta Blockchain and AI Summit coverage 2019. I'm here with the team, ConsenSys Network team, CryptoGranny, Anita Kalerkis, and Laura Oinonen, who is the linguist of the group. And we came here to do some coverage. This is already the day after the summit. You can see we are at the pool party. It's pretty awesome here. It's been a great 2 days of almost like what feels like a working holiday to me. We've met awesome people, people, many, many contacts, and we're just gonna go through here our personal experiences. So Anita, why don't you go first and let everybody know what did you experience, who did you interview, what was the best thing about the summit?
Thank you, Niko. First of all, thank you guys for participating in the event with me. I think we had amazing 2 and a half days, you would want to say. And obviously another thank you goes to Emaan and his team. As media and PR, we have been We have been VIP here all along. Oh yes. And obviously this after-party is part of that where we were invited to participate. Well, the day's been amazing. I'm so thrilled. So many people wanted to talk with us. We got all the interviews, almost all the interviews we wanted. The ones we did not get was due to a small delay of the program yesterday. You will hear, I got to ask Ben who gets to decide what Sophia the robot will wear whenever they have, you know, presentation or they're participating in any event whatsoever. I got to talk to great local people, Eman Boulis, Abdallah Kaplan, lawyer Ian Gosh, who tell about what we could do differently maybe, or some tips for Finland how to go forward with the blockchain and cryptos. And yeah, well, there were so many others. And of course, I got to get a close look of some block— sorry, Bitcoin belt and watch while Tony interview took place and so on. So this has been amazing. And I really look forward to see the material we produce here. And I can promise you guys, you will enjoy them, listening to them as much as we. So thank you from my end.
Thank you, Anita. And Laura, what do you think? What was the best, best part for you? And who did you interview? And what do you have to say for the event?
Well, it was so fun that I lost my voice, but I tried to say something. And I was really thrilled to just be here to see what's going on and all that. And what I was really interested in was that there was supposed to be a quantum tech workshop, but that did not happen, but I still got to talk with the quantum physicist of Malta University, so I'm pretty okay with the results of the weekend. And altogether, I got to talk with Ben Goertzel, the AI guy, and then Larry Sanger, the Wikipedia, or actually nowadays Everipedia guy. I got to dive into the, a bit more nerdy side, which is definitely my thing. So it was fun to find amongst all the finance side of this event, also the tech side and the nerdy side. And yeah, did I interview somebody else too? I think you did 3. Yeah. Okay. So that was it. Yeah. And yeah, I probably burned myself at some point and Altogether, it's a balanced result of the weekend. Thanks to you, Anita, for getting us here. And thank you, Niko, for having me here too as your partner, colleague.
Of course. And yeah, it's been a great pleasure working with you. The team here has been awesome. We all have our special niche and special expertise. Anita here is great with networking. She hooked us up with all the interviews. and the VIP room access and everything. It's been such a pleasure to do things. Basically what I had to do is only set up the camera and the microphones and then do some talking. And Laura here is great with the words and writing, so expect some written coverage as well, as well as still photos. That's going to be awesome. We're going to have some photo reports. For me, the event was— I only wanted to interview 3 people, Tone Vays, Adam Back, and Roger Ver. And I got all those 3 interviews and I'm super psyched to see how they turned out. I think you're gonna like it as well. For me, it's been an eye-opener of how these kind of events and this kind of scene can be run on even a governmental level, which is certainly something that we should look for in Finland as well. I certainly hope that other countries take after Malta in this enthusiasm. And sure, there's a lot of noise, but that's the way it is. Like, not every idea is great, not every idea is meant to succeed, but this is what we're trying to find here, the good ideas. And I think we found a lot of great, awesome people who share the same mindset, and I think that was the best part for me. Do you guys want to say a few final words before we let everybody see our content?
Well, the only thing I actually would want to see is that the guys back home, you all there listening and seeing us now, come along, join us. We were really wishing to have more questions from your end and maybe inquiries to who to go and what to ask and what to say. So kind of missing your support a bit more, maybe, if I may say, because that would have been nice to fulfill some, some, you know, wishes from your end. But on the other hand, this is the first time this way. Now you get to see what we managed to come up with. So next time even better and more coverage and so on. So let's take the— have the ball rolling and let's take this further with a positive attitude and good doing. So that's all I can say. We had fun.
Oh yeah, definitely. And while we do this because we love it, we think it's fun, We would not be doing it if it weren't for you guys. So please let us know what you think about all this and let us know your ideas, what you want to see, what you want to hear. And we are more than happy to oblige that.
Nothing to add. Nothing to add.
All right. It has been a pleasure. It's an absolutely awesome event. We're definitely going to make it a yearly thing. And let us know which event would you like us to cover next. And take care.
