Thx kevin for the writeup. I especially totally align with you in regards to point 2..
And about point 1: About the SteemFest issue... Yeah it was a bummer some people cancelled last minute... especially people supposed to give a talk. However it also felt to me like a "true" festival where there are always some cancellations... The other part, people being sponsored for coming and then not going and not returning the money... that is just bad. Karma will catch up most probs.
Just a notification / explanation for the community would be nice.. afterall I think some people decided to go to the fest based on the speaker lineups. Anyway, just gettin this out of my chest :)