Cleveland.com is reporting that Destination Cleveland CEO David Gilbert announced — at Cleveland.com HQ, of all places — that dates for an inaugural blockchain conference in Cleveland have been set.
The dates for "Solutions" are Dec 1 - 4, said Gilbert, to a room full of 80 people. That means organizers will have to invite and confirm speakers, dream up a program, and coordinate logistics (including funding) in four short months.
There is no doubt whatsoever, though, evidently, that the conference will "attract thousands of coders, public officials and business leaders to the Huntington Convention Center."
Perhaps it will! Perhaps it won't!
Luxury car mogul Bernie Moreno is the driving force behind Cleveland's "Blockland Initiative." He wants the region to be, to quote Cleveland.com, a "national epicenter for all things blockchain," the online ledger system famously used in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that local leaders envision having manifold civic applications.
The nonprofit that may or may not be exploring those applications, the Unify Project, was a key selling point in Cleveland's Amazon HQ2 bid.
Gilbert and local tech entrepreneur Steven Santamaria seem to be out in front on this. They hope to have "Solutions" speakers lined up by Aug. 6 and save-the-dates in the mail by Aug. 15.