The Dash team maintained a dominant presence at the Libertopia as the top sponsor with several talks and dozens of new wallets set up.

Funded by a treasury proposal earlier this year, Dash was the top sponsor at the Libertopia festival in San Diego, an event geared at the libertarian and alternative movement focused less on politics and more on free living practices. Dash claimed several speaking slots and set up dozens of wallets for new users, including setting up several local businesses to take Dash for payments.

According to Libertopia organizer Sky Conway, Dash made a significant impression on the festival:

“We were so honored and grateful that Dash was our Premiere Sponsor at Libertopia 2018. The entire Festival was a buzz with Dash! From Ben Swann to the entire Dash team, they presented thoughtful and energetic talks. Clearly the future of crypto is Dash and we would be proud to continue to our alliance to help spread Dash and freedom across the world!”

The Dash team included Allan Demarest and Joël Valenzuela co-organizing the sponsorship and ground team and Danny Sessom of the Crypto Show providing logistical support, with Chuck Williams and Chris Adam from the Core team and Ben Swann with the Truth in Media team also representing. Numerous Dash volunteers were also present and quite active, including Amanda B. Johnson and Pete Eyre.

Three talks and a panel, including the keynote by Ben Swann

The Dash team had a major speaking presence at the event, with speaking slots by Ben Swann, Chuck Williams, and Joël Valenzuela, as well as a Dash panel. In particular, the keynote by Ben Swann captivated the crowd by telling the power of independent media and how Dash makes censorship resistance a reality in this field, including the story of how this has impacted Swann’s project in particular.

Most notable was the Dash panel with Williams, Valenzuela, and Johnson talking about the present and future of Dash, all the exciting things coming up, and fielding audience questions. The audience was relatively full and engaged considering the 9am start time, and emcee Jeffrey Tucker wrote about the experience the next day for the American Institute for Economic Research.

Dash is solidly capturing the liberty and alternative media world

In particular, Dash has grabbed the interest of the alternative media world thanks to Swann’s partnership. Since his initial sponsorship took effect this year, key alternative media players We Are Change, Adam Kokesh, and the Free Thought Project have all secured Dash sponsorships, with many more privately expressing interest. During the alternative media panel at Libertopia, every single speaker mentioned the ability to secure independent funding thanks to Dash, either in their own work or hypothetically.

According to Dash team co-organizer Allan Demarest, Dash added a hopeful energy to the conference:

“Liberty events are always fun. But as a Dash advocate they’re so much better. The conversations about freedom are so positive and inspiring now. It was fantastic to feel such a positive reception to Dash at Libertopia.”

Five new DiscoverDash locations claimed, 55 new wallets set up, 14 t-shirts sold

In addition to presenting, the Dash team also set up 55 attendees with new wallets and their first $20 worth of Dash. Of those, 14 went on to buy a Dash t-shirt, with the Anypay point-of-sale system used to simulate a real merchant experience.

Finally, with key help from Sessom and Edge Secure CEO Paul Puey, secured five new Dash-accepting listings in the San Diego area, to be listed on DiscoverDash: two businesses (one with two locations) and two ATMs.