The Boston DAO – January 2023 Meetup

A picture of a crowd of people at a web3 networking event in Boston.
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Lauren McDonagh-Pereira

Lauren McDonagh-Pereira is a photographer from Massachusetts, USA. She captures the beauty of the world around her, favoring Nikon cameras and lenses. She is drawn to shooting landscapes, wildlife, flowers, and people enjoying time together.

The Boston DAO – January 2023 Meetup

THe Boston DAO

The Boston DAO is a web3 community, founded in early 2022. 

The decentralized community exists to bring together thought leaders, investors, creatives, blockchain builders, and students interested in web3 from all around the greater Boston area. 

The Boston DAO runs a discussion group on Telegram, manages a Twitter profile, hosts monthly meetups sponsored by 186 Ventures, and hosts the web3 conference ETH Boston

In this article, I will be discussing my experience at The Boston DAO January 2023 meetup event held on January 31, 2023. 

A collage of images from The Boston DAO January 2023 Meetup

Disclaimer

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ⓒ Lauren McDonagh-Pereira Photography 2013

Before we get into it, please consider a few quick DISCLAIMERS.

  • Do your own research before investing in web3. 
  • This post represents my personal opinions and is NOT financial advice.
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THE MeetUP

The Boston DAO hosts monthly meetups for members of the local crypto community.

The events are graciously hosted by 186 Ventures (@186Ventures), a start-up venture capital firm that is committed to investing in emerging web3 companies and projects.

Each month, the Boston blockchain community is invited into the 186 Ventures offices and offered pizza, drinks, and a space to network with local web3 leaders. 

The meetups are free to attend for anyone who RSVPs. The events are announced on The Boston DAO Twitter account, and in The Boston DAO Telegram group. 

The January event had a twist. Regular guests were invited to bring a plus 1. The room was packed with people, who were eager to make connections, talk crypto, and plan for the recently announced ETH Boston

Pictured: Giuseppe Stuto, Sophie Panarese, and Julian Fialkow

This is the team behind 186 Ventures.

Giuseppe Stuto (left) is Co-Founder and Managing Partner.

Twitter: @gstuto

Sophie Panarese (center) is Operations Manager.

Twitter: @SophiePanarese

Julian Fialkow (right) is Co-Founder and Managing Partner.

Twitter: @julian_fialkow

The Boston DAO team addressed the crowd, thanked everyone for coming, and announced the group’s goals for the next few months.

Sophie drew names out of a bowl for a raffle giveaway of two The Boston DAO hats to a community member and his plus 1. 

The COMMUNITY

This was my second time attending the event. I attended in December 2022, and met a lot of great people. 

Since the mission of The Boston DAO is all about sharing our web3 skills with the community, I decided to bring my camera to the January meetup and use my NFT blog to shine a light on the crypto leaders that I met. 

In this section, I will share pictures of the January 31, 2023 event and give a bit of background on the people that I photographed.

An event photograph of 5 women at the Boston DAO
WiBlock - Web3 Nonprofit

WiBlock is a non-profit organization that was founded by students at Northeastern University.

The group is committed to providing web3 mentorship, education, and career development to womxn attending universities in the Boston area. 

Twitter: @wiblockorg

Instagram: @wiblock.x

People talking at a networking event
WiBlock members planning their next collaboration with the president of BU Blockchain.

Members of WiBlock discussed their next cross-over event with Sahir Doshi, the President of BU Blockchain

BU Blockchain is a student run group at Boston University that hosts web3 guest speakers, holds mock crypto trading competitions, collaborates with blockchain groups at other universities, and posts weekly web3 articles on Medium. 

Twitter: @bu_blockchain

Members of the Boston DAO

Alex Webbs (right) was chatting with members of The Boston DAO.

Alex is working to plan and prepare for the upcoming ETH Boston Conference. 

Twitter: @OnChainAlex

Sophie Panarese, Operations Manager at 186 ventures with two members of The Boston DAO.

Sophie Panarese has been the operations manager of 186 Ventures for 14 months. 

As an investment capital firm, they work to identify early web3 companies in need of startup funds. They are interested in the intersection of finance and blockchain technology. 

Twitter: @SophiePanarese

Vince McPhillip and Mozado

Vince McPhillip (left) is the founder of Knomad.io.

Knomad is a freelance website that plans to be the next generation of platforms like Upwork. The platform will be a multiplayer, user-owned hub for freelance workers. 

Users will be able to refer tasks to friends, and will earn cryptocurrency equity in the company for each task they complete. 

Knomad launches on Wednesday, Febuary 8th with a kick-off party in Boston. 

Twitter: @vincemcp

Mozado (right) is a recording artist, producer, and NFT musician. 

He recently sold out all 25 editions of his Sound.xyz genesis, “I Got Time Today”

Twitter: @mozadomusic

 

Mozado, Lauren McDonagh-Pereira, and Konstantine

I posed for a picture between Mozado (links and details above) and Constantine (right) 

Constantine is working with an artist who creates physical sculptures to tokenize the art on the blockchain.

I am Lauren McDonagh-Pereira (center). I am an NFT photographer and web3 blogger

Twitter: @LAMPphotography

 

Ivan and Isabelle

Isabelle Vi (right) is Secretary of BU Blockchain. 

The BU Blockchain team is working to plan and host the upcoming ETH Boston event. 

Twitter: @deadlyisabelle

 
The Boston DAO Guest and Kyle Laroche

Kyle Laroche is a writer, blogger, and web3 photographer. He hopes to use the blockchain to empower artists from developing nations. 

Twitter: @DTKB_raw

Neha, Annie, and Andy Wang

Neha Narula (left) is the Director of Digital Currency at the MIT Media Lab. 

Twitter: @neha

Annie is in charge of The Boston DAO community design. She is also an ambassador for Surge, an organization that helps onboard women to web3. 

Twitter: @glitter_boot

Andy Wang (right) works at the MIT Media Lab. 

Max Lyman (right) is CEO at Solon Labs. His company aims to use the blockchain to its fullest potential and create truly decentralized applications. 

Twitter: @Crypto__Jesus_

 

What's Next?

The Boston DAO will host a meetup in February and March. The dates and details are yet to be announced. Keep an eye on their Twitter profile if you want to attend. 

The most exciting news to come out of The Boston DAO is the return of ETH Boston. After a pandemic-induced hiatus, ETH Boston will return this April!

ETH Boston will run on Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30, 2023. The conference will take place at Boston University. Web3 community members will host panels, give talks, host workshops, and participate in a hackathon. 

If you would like to join the waitlist to get first dibs on tickets when they are released, or if you would like to apply as a speaker or a hackathon contestant, you can do so by completing this form

If you are in the Boston area, I hope you have been inspired by this post and will come out to the next event!

A man holding his fist in the air with excitement.

Thank you for reading!

Follow me on Twitter: @LAMPphotography

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MEET Lauren McDonagh-Pereira

Lauren McDonagh-Pereira is a photographer from Massachusetts, USA. She captures the beauty of the world around her, favoring Nikon cameras and lenses. She is drawn to shooting landscapes, wildlife, nature, and people authentically enjoying life.