Well, it seems this is the thing to do lately right? Make a post saying what we think Steemit Inc. should be doing? Point fingers and state what we think they should have done better, say they should have listened to us? Well, I get that.. I get the frustration.. but quite frankly, pointing fingers is a waste of time.

I feel no need to chase Ned around responding to all his comments hoping for his attention, I feel no need to make an immature post that does nothing but piss people off... I say it like it is and don't give two shits about votes..(notice the payout)...

So, I am going to do it a bit differently...

For those who are showing up here (probably because you were tagged.. yeah, sorry about that), and are wondering who the heck this girl is making a post about Steem, well I will help you out... I am no one. I am not a developer, I am not a high stake account holder.. hell I had never even looked into crypto before joining here and I can barely use my phone.. let alone build an app that the world would come here to use.

I represent the normal people in a way... I am communities, curation... you know.. those people we built this platform for in the first place?

While it was very nicely pointed out by @lordbutterfly in his recent post.. apparently us community leaders are not holding up our end of the bargain.. we are just playing kindergarten games. But, as he pointed out to me as well, I'm not really a community leader. It's actually a good point, I am not the face of a community.. out sweet talking whales to try to get support... nah, I don't do that.

What I am is a Community Builder, working daily behind the scenes to try to make this place and its core users as strong as we can be.. to be ready for the masses. To take new users under our wings and make sure they stay here, not just disappear as soon as they arrive. Not everyone is here to do big things.. some just come here to hangout, and use those apps that individuals are working so hard on. You know, be the customers to all the cool stuff we are trying to develop. We need content consumers and customers after all.

Communities are the core, and when we are ready to show the world what Steem is.. we have an army of passionate and committed customers to show them the way.

The people, the ones that when they come together are unstoppable.. the ones that will jump into action when needed to help Steem achieve big things. Just like was seen when we needed to rally to be listed on Netcoins.

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Communities Are Only One Piece Of The Puzzle Though

The truth is, community leaders are doing what they are suppose to be doing.. they are building the communities.

We each have a place here, a job, a skill.. something we are good at. We all cant be good at everything right? Community builders shouldn't be making apps.. just as app builders shouldn't be curating.. they just aren't good at it. *(I would give examples, but I am trying to keep this positive :)

What we need to do is use everyone and their skills to make this place what it truly can be

We need to stop bickering over stupid stuff and work towards the common goal. We need to gather the best of the best and discuss how we work together to make this platform great. While @Ned and Steemit Inc have been carrying most of the weight since the beginning... It's not really their job, its ours.

We have all the talent we need...

Some of the best developers; @roadscape, @stoodkev, @jesta, @Therealwolf, @abit, @timcliff, @inertia, @hightouch among others

Curation groups that know where the talent is; @Curie, @c-squared, @ocd etc

Amazing front ends; @steempress, @steempeak, @steeve among many others

@oracle-d and @starkerz have the big ideas and investors ready to work with our communities to make this place profitable.

We have real businesses like @steemmonsters by @aggroed and @yabapmatt pulling the community together to actually make something profitable, that will bring in customers.

We have the passionate high stake users here who just want to see this place be successful, and show this in their daily actions... even though sometimes they lack a certain finesse ;D @Berniesanders, @Themarkymark, @fulltimegeek, etc

We already have everything we need

Now, @ned.. I don't expect you to do everything... but we have been reliant on you too long for you to just walk away completely... you are still the CEO of this company and I need you to help lead us.. help these individuals among many, many others come together to build a platform that is truly decentralized... one that we can show to the world and make ready for the masses.

I don't know Ned, never even spoken with him... but I know he's a human so he cant be perfect, not quite sure why you all expect him to be. I did however get to speak with @birdinc and @andrarchy a decent amount while at Steemfest and if he has half the love and passion for this place as they do.. then we will be just fine.

So What Do I Suggest?

Well one thing I am good at is connecting people. It's what I do, I didn't realize it is what I am good at until recently.. but its true, I can see things from the outside, see the potential and connect those that need to be connected. I also have this ability to speak my mind in an intelligent and respectful way.. oh yeah.. and recently I have been pretty good at conflict resolution on this platform. So maybe we just need a kindergarten teacher to bring us together?? I would be happy to!

We need a round table... a meeting.. of the best of each area of Steem to sit down and brainstorm. We need to stop bitching at each other over the internet and actually do something. We need to stop working in our own corners to complete this puzzle because quite frankly we don't have all the pieces we need... we each have a part of the puzzle. So, lets bring all our puzzle pieces together.. our skills, the best of the best and get the damn job done.

Steemfest was wonderful.. but the best part of it was the conversations that happened, the roundtables, the late night talks in bars, the people who are actually doing stuff around here sitting down to talk about how to work together to improve it. We don't need the glitz and glam.. we need to have a serious talk.

Let's Brainstorm

@crowdmind is working to bring the people together, to work together to achieve many goals here. What many might not know is behind crowdmind is a company that sees the value in Steem... and they want to be apart of it, but they also see that we have some things we need to work on first.

They have offered to host a Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia at their location.

I went and visited with them there after Steemfest and heard some of their ideas, they want to be apart of this and want bring quite the resume with them. They already work with many companies that are investing in social media and see the potential of a crypto based, decentralized platform. They want to not only give us a place to discuss, build and do big things.. but when we are ready, they want to help us reach the masses. Did I mention they specialize in marketing?

They have also offered local outreach in the area.. onboarding or introducing new users to steem or a certain dApp or user interface, then running focus groups where they would give a detailed analysis that will help us improve as a whole.

Now, all this was discussed before the recent events and I had agreed to help them plan a conference. But I think right now is the perfect time to focus on coming together, as a community to pull our skills together and make Steem what we know it can be.

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Why Serbia?

well, it really doesn't have to be there, but its a centralized location in Europe.. where many developers are. It's extremely inexpensive and is actually more cost effective for someone like myself (from the United States) to travel to then actually another location in the US... which is insane, but its true. And.. they want us there.


Maybe it's not the right time for a conference in Serbia... maybe someone else has another idea? The point is that this is an opportunity to do something big, to work together. Because we all bring something special to the table, we all have a piece of the puzzle.. but it doesn't help us reach our goals to keep them to ourselves.

We all want the same thing, to see Steem be successful. It's about time we started working together to make it happen.

So, I'm asking for a meeting... let's talk.. lets grow.. lets build this place. Let me help connect you all, just meet me there and I will do the rest.

Who's In?

Much Love and Steem On,

Justine
_{Your token Kindergarten Teacher and connector of the people}