1:42Kyle StofletYeah, so The Swap is essentially a multimedia company. So we cover news, we educate, we cover gaming, entertainment. So it kind of brings us into the whole mix of like events in a sense. So like, this is like what we’re trying to scale more into and getting people educated about what’s actually happening in Web3. A lot of people like to speculate and do the tokens and all that. And it’s not really why adoption should really occur. Like, it’s unsafe for a regular person to just dive into that right away or jump into it and start throwing money. Yes, you can make money. But in most cases, these people aren’t educated enough to, like, make a good decision for themselves, or, you know, it becomes a big casino.
1:42Kyle StofletSo, our focus is to show what’s fun in Web3, highlight great communities, get out there, build culture in the space. So, more people want to look into it and be like, yeah, I want to be a part of that. Like, that’s what we need in Web3, you know, or at least that’s how I see Web3 should be. And I think if we can convey that message and show people why it’s fun and get events like this where, you know, we were at the Outsider going to other places and, you know, showing people around Milwaukee, we had Esteban come in from Argentina. So, and they all got to experience Milwaukee for the first time.
1:42Kyle StofletAnd that’s a beautiful thing. So it stimulates economies, places, and that’s important. So, um, but yeah, I’ll pass it over to you. It’s -- I think it’s like just a beautiful event thing to, to get people a part of.
3:23Kamal HubbardYeah, the conference is, you know, obviously it’s a global conference. It’s co-located in 23 different, uh, places. And so I guess another question about that is, is why Milwaukee? Why did ICPCC come here to be such a pivotal part of that broadcast?
3:48Kyle StofletYeah. So, it’s funny you ask because initially we were going to be just like a panel. Like we had the production to do the studio and so on. And Blockchain Boy was initially asked to be the MC. And I think he was going to do something out in Dubai through a studio. And he ended up backing out. And, you know, Isaac and Esteban approached me to, to do the studio and the whole production and to be the emcee of the broadcast. And, you know, my whole thing is I’m from the area. I was born in Milwaukee, ended up moving up north a little bit. But Milwaukee is home to me, and it’s very close to Chicago and other great cities in the Midwest. So it’s like an easy hub point. And that’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a while is host events here because there’s great events like Summerfest and the Bucks are phenomenal right now. Brewers are great. So I think when people come in and experience that culture, they’re going to be kind of mesmerized by like, oh, Milwaukee’s a pretty beautiful city.
4:56Kamal HubbardYeah.
4:56Kyle StofletThere’s so much great architecture, great food. You know, there’s just endless possibilities of what people could fall in love with. So I think that’s important because people need to see that side of, you know, a city versus like, I don’t know, I just think like in general, just getting to experience that summers are great. Milwaukee is a great time for people to come in. I think especially the weather today was great. This morning we went for a walk around.
5:26Kamal HubbardYeah.
5:27Kyle StofletLake Michigan, and it was just beautiful. So I think more people will love that.
5:31Kamal HubbardYeah, I think I don’t ask the question of why Milwaukee, but why not Milwaukee? And all the things that you spoke of in terms of what the city has to offer, I think that’s the real question. Why not Milwaukee? And I’m not trying to promote Milwaukee over any other city, but What makes it different from so many other cities is in a lot of ways what makes it great. And just my time kind of coming in and out to visit, they got a lot of really great things. Among everything is just the people, great people here. And that’s one of the things I enjoy most. And so I think that’s been a great thing. So now that you’re moving away from the conference, What’s going to be next for the Swap in terms of organizing the next event?
6:27Kyle StofletYeah, absolutely. So we have this wonderful studio here now that we can utilize and do like more networking and cocktail events, maybe throw up some like little galleries and stuff for people to experience the art within blockchain, whether it’s ICP or Ordinals. You know, we want to make sure that people are getting the culture when they come and learn about blockchain, because it is kind of like an untapped market here. And not like selling it like that, but just getting people educated, foot in the door, learn from people that are, you know, really passionate about it, and network and learn the possibilities of how they could maybe use this to benefit their businesses, their daily lives, and so on.
7:13Kamal HubbardSo, and how would you describe the overall you know, Web3 scene or crypto scene in Milwaukee?
7:22Kyle StofletYeah. So there was, we had quite a bit of people in here. Like it wasn’t like super massive, but we definitely had a group of people in. There was Carl in here who we both interviewed earlier. Ian was also in here and Jesse Williams has been a longtime friend here. We, we were all builders in, in, you know, the Milwaukee area and we’re you know, kind of learning how to best grow events here in Milwaukee together. And I know Ian previously did NFT MKE, and Carl and Ian are part of ETH Chicago. So we’re trying to figure out how to best build the presence of blockchain in Milwaukee. And I think as we keep doing more networking events, we’ll kind of do like little panel segments and let people kind of come in and explore. If they like it, they like it. We’re not gonna, you know, push certain topics. It’s either like it or you don’t. You’re interested or you’re not, right?
8:25Kamal HubbardYeah.
8:25Kyle StofletSo, but yeah, I think overall, like, we’re just very passionate about giving people the opportunity to learn.
