Attending DCentralCon in Miami opened my eyes to the trending and current discussions in the space of Web3. I was able to meet and connect with leaders in the industry, such as founders of Web3 communities and companies. I learned about new topics in the space that I hadn’t had proper knowledge about before, such as DAOs, micropayments, and the phygital fashion aspect of the industry. I was able to get contact information for some leaders in the industry, and I hope to be able to keep those connections to help find jobs and develop my career in the future.

I didn’t expect the sheer amount of new knowledge that I would acquire through attending the panel talks during the conference. Seeing these leaders in the Web3 community being so open to speaking with someone like me who is not as well-versed in the space showed me that this community is worth looking more into. Specific topics that I didn’t know before were the ideas of DAOs and how they could be used in the real world, different strategies to speak with brands about incorporating Web3 technology into their already existing brands, and how Web3 can be most easily adopted by the masses in the future.

I plan to use this newfound knowledge for two different things: first, it serves as the basis of my Honors thesis project, which is regarding how the media industry can utilize Web3 to solve industry issues. Second, I hope to be able to work in Web3 as a career in the future, whether it be creatively or in marketing, and this experience allowed me to make the connections necessary to learn more about opportunities.

It was overall an extremely beneficial and eye-opening experience. I was able to learn way more than I had expected about Web3, and I was able to see why this space is growing and has the potential to become something bigger in the future.