Covalent Events 2022 Recap
You know what is not a pandemic-proof profession?
Event management.
My career went on an indefinite hiatus at the start of 2020. And as frightening as that was, I remained hopeful that our pivot to virtual events was just a temporary solution. I joined the Covalent team as their Event Manager in September 2021. At this time, event uncertainty still loomed over us like a dark cloud. I was cautiously optimistic while developing a plan for 2022. Needless to say, in-person events made their way back this year. In full force.
Covalent was a sponsor of eight large-scale conferences across North America and Europe. We also hosted two side events in the US before the bear market hit hard.
In 2022, we certainly made up for lost event time:
Cities that particularly stood out from an event planners perspective were:
Denver
Barcelona
Palm Beach
New York
Bangalore
Here's why:
Covalent in Denver
To say we kicked off a year of events with a bang is an understatement. ETHDenver was back - #IRL! And it was electric.
Thousands of developers and web3 enthusiasts left a thick haze around the exhibit hall, which felt overwhelming at times. Fortunately the VIP Lounge was steps away from our booth, a space where we could momentarily seek solace in the midst of absolute chaos.
We bonded over roadside rapid covid tests and crossed our fingers for negative results. It was an experience like no other.
At ETHDenver, we also hosted our first side event and invited partners, friends and our web3 family to an evening soirée. And what better way to honour the Mile High City than to include a Covalent branded Oxygen Bar?
The cherry on top was that this was the first time we were meeting many of our partners in person.
Covalent in Barcelona
With the borders opening up for international travel, we flew the team out to Spain and were sponsors at the Avalanche Summit hackathon in March.
Key takeaways included:
Meeting the Avalanche team in person (particularly members who have been there from the beginning).
Meeting customers we never even knew existed.
The reintegration of IRL events has demonstrated the value of face-to-face meetings. While we tried desperately to mimic this over Zoom during the height of the pandemic, we found that true “water cooler” moments could not be replicated online.
Covalent in Palm Beach
As travel restrictions began to lift further, a common barrier we faced was timely passport and visa renewals. This little hiccup became my personal reality right before Permissionless.
Covalent and Cronos joined forces to co-host the most Palm Beach-eque side event we could think of – centered around drinks and golf. Our “Block Par-Tee” event featured a golf simulator and a surprising abundance of sunshine during a stormy week.
While I could not enjoy the event in-person, I lived vicariously through the on-site team who made me feel included every step of the way.
Covalent in New York City
“Bear Market Baby” was born during a random 8 am pitch session at Covalent. It was said in passing, giggled its way into the chat, before being seriously discussed at a Design meeting.
Bear Market Baby quickly became the face of our New York events: NFT NYC, ETH NYC and Mainnet.
The campaign brought light to the dark uncertainty of the market.
After all, Covalent was born during a previous bear market. And as seasoned bear market survivors, we felt it was our duty to let the web3 world know – it’s going to be okay.
Covalent in Bangalore
Our final ETH Global sponsorship of the year was ETHIndia. Held in India’s tech capital, Bengaluru, the event attracted a massive crowd of developers and web3 enthusiasts for one last hoorah in 2022.
While most of the Covalent team is stationed in Canada, many of our team members work remotely from India. ETHIndia was an opportunity for our team abroad to get together and represent Covalent at an action-packed hackathon. We were also sponsors at Polygon Connect that same week.
Our team particularly enjoyed connecting with Data Alchemists to hear first-hand positive feedback about Increment.
