So, how will I be using Steemit?

As you can most likely tell from the title, this here is my first post.

A good friend and business partner told me about this platform several months ago. Being too busy at the time I kept it in mind though never looked closer. Now I'm glad that I have. Everything I read tells me that this platform is gaining traction & it seems a sensible time to get involved.

So I suppose in this post I'll tell you a quick bit about myself and my involvement with the crypto community. An overview, perhaps, since no one wants to read for 5 minutes, only to realise there's another 20 minutes of reading to go.

I first started learning about bitcoin back in late 2012, my interest grew, I watched the bubble grow and burst in April 2013 then got caught up in the second one that year, which started in October. Over time I experimented with all the different platforms that were around, began to take part in conversations on the various forums and realised that as time went on I was becoming more and more enthralled.

I've always been a bit of an economics geek, by way of a side note.

Around October 2014 I started to wonder what I could bring to the growing industry, what I service I could provide. In January 2015 I announced to a close group of crypto friends my intention to begin a consultancy service, providing information and education ( http://www.portsmouthcrypto.co.uk ). I partnered up with a firm here in the UK, Heliopay Ltd ( http://www.heliopay.com ) to begin providing hardware solutions and merchandise. I started networking and cross promoting and over the following year and nine months business has been brilliant.

I had the pleasure of providing education sessions at CoinFestUK in Manchester this year, running several workshops providing useful information to newcomers to the digital currency space, warning them of the pitfalls of getting drawn in to incredible sounding schemes.

I've run workshops and provided consultation services for students, writers, business owners, speculators and charities.

In July this year I became a stakeholder in BitStashers ( http://www.bitstashers.com ) and took on responsibility for running social media and advertising campaigns. Together with the guys who founded BitStashers I'm preparing to launch a new service later this year (don't be surprised if that's revised to early next year!) and the future looks bright for everyone I've had the pleasure of working with.

Next month I'll be talking at GSM university in Greenwich, London, during their Fin Tech week as the guest speaker on the subject of crypto currency . Perhaps you'll all be kind enough to wish me luck. I swear, I still get a bit of stage fright before talking before crowds, even now!