The Endless Summer of Tile Cat｜Lao Hu: The Summer of Tile Cat Shouldn’t Be the End

Author｜Flytoufu

Typesetting｜Wingo

In a blink of an eye, the summer of the tile cat is already a year ago. The fresh memories of everyone walking between the Cangshan Mountain and the Erhai Lake in Dali, and chatting while drinking in the evening, have never gone far.

After the fermentation of time, the summer of tile cats has become a legend. People tell stories of anticipated plans coming to a screeching halt, and web3 frenzy erupting across the city. God knows how many bottles of beer were killed, how many skewers were drunk, and how many DAOs were established in those few days. At that time, Dali had neither the ravages of foreign epidemics nor the strict control of other parts of the country, and the cool summer was just right. At that time, web3 bid farewell to the hustle and bustle of the bull market, and began to think from the long-term and the source, and it was the right time. The right time, the right place, and the harmony of people have contributed to a magical chemical reaction.

It's like a dream, after waking up from the dream, it's too late to sum up, everyone has gone away. A few days ago, I reopened the notion page I co-created at that time, and the group chat records, and the familiar passion came to my heart. Thanks to the support of our community , Uncommons (formerly GreenPill CN) , we decided to salvage memories of the summer of the tile cats.

On this anniversary, we will invite about ten core participants or witnesses to relive that time and leave the first draft for the future writing of web3 development history . If the blockchain has created a technical means to resist the erosion of time and cannot tamper with the ledger, we also believe that the uneven and polymorphic distributed dictation from different perspectives is the prerequisite for the preservation of real history. Among the invited narrators, some are the initial conceivers, some are the organizers of the meeting, some donate money, some donate people, some have their career trajectory changed by the summer of tile cats, and some have found love in Dali.

Looking back a year later, we can better see the true location of the summer of tile cats. We will also discuss its long-term impact on the construction of Chinese web3. Perhaps, the establishment of a certain DAO in the future can be traced back to the enlightenment of Wamao for community co-creation; the cooperation of a certain project can be traced back to the friendship formed by playing Frisbee by the Erhai Lake; the germination of a certain encryption idea may come from the dense forest of Cangshan Mountain Of course, Dali, the city of the future, has not only become the entrance to the Metaverse (picking mushrooms together!), but also opened a new window of opportunity for the development of Chinese web3.

At the most basic level, we hope that in the long bear market, we can relive that period of passion and let everyone find the courage to move on.

The summer of tile cats has come to an end. The summer of tile cats is not over.

——flytoufu

Interviewer F: flytoufu. Uncommons community member

Interviewee H: Nicholas Hu, a member of the Uncommons community, and one of the original initiators of the Summer of Tile Cats.

F: Lao Hu should have participated in the earliest planning, right? Can you talk about how you met with other members and the whole process of conception.

H: Around the end of June and the beginning of July, Dasong and I saw that 706 wanted to hold a web3 meeting in Dali. After reading the minutes of the meeting, we found that it was in a slow state. There were probably ren\Yao Xiang and others participating. Dasong and I made an appointment with them alone for a conference call. After we judged, we actually felt that this matter was worth doing.

About 10 days after the meeting, Dasong, Sponge and I went directly to Dali, and the implementation was quite fast. During this process, we also met some people from the relevant communities, and happened to meet Bai Yu and Tang Han from SeeDAO. They are going to finish this time in Dali, and after 2 months, they will go to the United States to study. After going offline, the progress was actually very fast. We held work meetings one after another, and we quickly entered the state.

F: Why did you think it was necessary to hold such a web3 conference at that time, and then why did you choose Dali?

H: From 20 years to 21 years and 22 years, over two years, China's integration with the international community has obviously weakened due to the epidemic policy. And the atmosphere of public communication, not only web3, has been greatly reduced. Originally, Wanxiang organized the International Blockchain Week once a year, usually held in Shanghai, but it was canceled later, possibly due to policy reasons. So in fact, the entire industry has this kind of appeal, which has accumulated for several years.

Coupled with the 519 policy issued in 21 years, this industry can be understood as a forbidden area in China, but many people think that there is room for positive exploration in this matter.

In this atmosphere, everyone consciously chose a small town on the fringes to do this, instead of going north, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen. Because the goal of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen is too big, it is easily affected by industry policies and epidemic control, making this matter even more uncontrollable.

F: How will it be organized next?

H: I am a fan of web3 and a practitioner. In fact, in the first week of the discussion, I felt that this thing could be done . Because you know that when something happens, it has something to do with your right time, place and people. The reason is very simple, that is, everyone has a strong appeal for this matter, and at that time many web3 practitioners are about to leave, and they have been holding back for a long time on whether to go to sea, and they have ideas.

I personally once thought that it would be easier for him to succeed if this matter is done overseas. But I felt at the time that it would be a pity if there was no one in China. It can be done in a way that conforms to the national policy, and there is no need to be rigid. If you talk about the matter itself seriously, I don't think it will encounter the country's principled issues.

In fact, this judgment is also correct. In 706, there were a few enthusiasts, and there were some in Dali itself. After several weekly meetings, many people participated one after another. When we held the first week of the weekly meeting, there were nearly 20 people from the first few meetings to the planning group meeting later. They felt that this matter was valuable and were attracted to do it. Soon, we met some local or The builders who came from other places to participate in the discussion were very enthusiastic about this matter, such as Yang Xi, Fiona, Dongyi, Lijiang, Daniel, xiaoli, Xia Xiaokai, Crow, mxx, Garfield, Link, etc. who were in Dali at the time. And you, you were also in Dali at the time. For example, Dinghui and Seedao from the DAO camp, pablo from the NFT camp, and larri, Anna, and GreenPill CN communities from the desoc camp, and some leaders have emerged one after another. Although the efficiency of the organization is not high, as long as such a manager appears, there is a guarantor for the bottom line. Ticket sales started in early August, and within a week, 1,000 tickets were sold out.

As for volunteers, I see that there are hundreds of people in the records, and each volunteer can bring in three participants. This method of community initiation has played a flywheel effect. Afterwards, I made a summary of this method of starting operations, and I will use this method when I start other communities later. I am very confident in this method, and community activities should be done in this way.

F: I remember that your donation is a very important start-up capital, which strengthened everyone's confidence to continue this matter?

H: Yes, at the beginning, we donated 10,000 US dollars in the name of GreenPill CN. Everyone has a budget. If the scale of the event is based on more than 1,000 people, how much will it cost? It can be sold for 500,000, and there is a gap of 500,000 that may require some donations or sponsors. 10,000 US dollars means that everyone has a basic confidence that this activity can be done.

F: No. 16 was called to an emergency stop. What was your first thought?

H: I received a call from Ren saying that this matter has been suspended and cannot be continued, and then it may be forced to decentralize. My first reaction was a little bit of anger, including Dasong. They put a lot of energy into the conference affairs on the spot. I remember that everyone almost cried that day. This matter was too difficult to accept. As a result of everyone’s long-term work, all the equipment has to be prepared again, and some other local cultural programs have been canceled. At that time, it was planned to have music, stalls, and market culture, all of which were cut off. dropped, so it is very unfair to the organizers.

F: After the official start, what activities did you participate in, and how did you feel?

H: I organized the desoc camp together with GreenPill CN and a few friends. If you add PlanckerDAO, there should be ten people involved in the formation of the desoc camp. It happened that we temporarily rented a house for two months as the host venue. On the second day, we chose a good venue called Wenwenlou.

Many community members who joined later told me that they were in the desoc camp and found that they liked the topics discussed very much, including Twone, Arvin, pablo, yihan and several others. On the first day of the desoc camp, it is estimated that there may be more than a hundred people, and the entire yard is full. At about 4:00 p.m., the police came to evict. Maybe it was the landlord or some other reason. They were reported, so it ended early. It was successfully completed in the literature building the next day.

I still miss that atmosphere. In Dali, it often rains in the morning or afternoon, and the climate becomes very pleasant. August is the graduation season for students, and the mobility is still very strong. I am not sure what kind of people I meet. Some of these people are particularly fond of web3, some are dubious, and some are touched by this concept. May be understood in depth in the future. Since then, I have not been exposed to similar occasions. There are so many young people in their 20s from different backgrounds. During the organization process, they constantly touch or get to know each other. A large number of people who don’t know each other gradually get to know each other. Appreciate, and some even became lovers.

F: Who are the couples?

H: Many pairs, such as XX and XX, XXX and XXX. The atmosphere is actually pretty good. I remember one time when I sent Oliz off to study in the United States, about six or seven of us walked on the streets of the ancient city until 4:30 in the morning. At that time, there were very few people, and then everyone disappeared, with the background sound of footsteps on the stone road, chatting while walking.

F: We held an offline meeting of GreenPill CN early in the morning of the second day after we finished, which was also a very important milestone for the community at that time. Can you tell us why you decided to hold such a meeting, and what role does it play in the development of the entire community?

H: At that time in Dali we were also doing face-to-face interviews. In fact, it was the first time I met K, and some members of other communities, including Carol, also came, and it was also the first time I met. We drank tea around a stone table on Cangshan Mountain and discussed DAO. That scene can still come to mind. At that time, GreenPill developed very fast in a few months, and began to form a small construction team with relatively close cooperation from a relatively loose state.

F: After the summer of Wamao, everyone has gone their separate ways. It has been a year now, and you have also observed the construction of the entire Chinese web3. Can you tell us about your observation and experience over the past year? Do you think that the summer of the tile cat has any significant impact on the construction of web3 in the Chinese-speaking area?

H: Its value lies in the fact that it generated a lot of discussions. At a time when it was not easy for everyone to discuss blockchain and web3 publicly offline, it attracted a large number of onlookers. These onlookers may be a seed in the future . The relatively better way has sowed the seeds and turned thousands of people into better builders.

In fact, I think it's a pity that the summer of Watts Cat is that his value is ignored in the English community or in the international community. This has something to do with our communication channels and the language of communication. The entire blockchain industry is a global industry, and the Chinese-speaking area is only a subset of it. I think we must consciously let the English community see such things happen, and spread them to relevant objects in an organized way. I think this has something to do with decentralized organizations, and it’s not doing well.

From the perspective of results, we observe what kind of projects, what kind of community and what kind of public goods have been done in the blockchain industry. Looking at the past year from this perspective, the Summer of Wattcat has not Not a single result was notable. According to my observation, in this year, from the perspective of products, projects, and communities, the Chinese area has not developed significantly.

F: This evaluation is relatively pessimistic.

H: It’s not just the summer of Watmao. From the perspective of web3’s Chinese soil and web2.0’s transition to web3, its development speed is relatively slow at present, and it’s not optimistic.

F: It may also be because it is a bear market, so everyone is in a dormant state.

H: This is a reason, the whole world may be in a dormant state. In this year, we can see new products, some small projects, seeDAO community builders are still increasing, and the atmosphere of 706 discussing web3 has been enhanced. The new projects of Chinese entrepreneurial teams are few and far between this year, such as Zeng Jiajun in the AA field, Chu Shumo and Leo Fan in the ZK field, etc., and some projects related to these fields are popping up. In terms of the community, LxDAO is a new community of conscientious developers this year. Antalpha HackerHouse is also a new developer's public goods. The summer of tile cats is a good seed, but this seed may have a process of growing up.

F: Do you think 10 years later, if you look back, you think it is possible that it will be in the development of web3 in China or the Chinese-speaking area. What is its historical positioning?

H: I personally hope that the Summer of Watts Cats should become an annual gathering, rather than a one-off event. In this way, we can continue to sow seeds and let builders emerge. web3 is not only a great hope for the blockchain industry itself, but also for the digital future. Efforts should be made to encourage an annual occurrence.

F: Can you tell me why you didn't plan to do it again this year?

H: It's still very hard. If I really want to do a good job, I estimate that I personally have to spend more than 15 days. I am a little hesitant whether I am willing to devote such a large amount of time to work on this matter. It is hoped that someone will be organized on rotation every year.

The atmosphere of Watmao Summer is very different from the Hong Kong web3 summit and the Singapore token2049 conference in developed capitalist cities and countries. Many people complain that the currency speculation atmosphere and financial atmosphere in Hong Kong and Singapore are too strong.

The summer of tile cats can complement them. I think it is very necessary to continue. I personally don’t have the determination to spend a month or so, but it’s okay for me to spend a week. Continue to donate funds There is no problem.

Do you still remember the stories of the summer of tile cats?

About Uncommons

Uncommons is a public sphere where a collective of Commons Builders explores Crypto Thoughts together.

Uncommons is a non-profit community organized by a group of Web3 enthusiasts, social builders and Internet citizens dedicated to the construction of public goods, formerly known as GreenPill Chinese Community.

Telegram: https://t.me/theuncommons

Notion: https://uncommons.notion.site