📔@enginewitty

Originally published on 24 November 2019

Welcome to @steembasicincome's nineteenth member interview!

To provide more interaction within Steem Basic Income (SBI), we are continuing our interviews with prominent members of SBI! We hope to bring a greater sense of community, get to know our members, and gain a better understanding of why Steemians are choosing to be a part of SBI.

Writer Intro: @wesphilbin

Greetings, again fellow Steemians, I am @wesphilbin. This will be my ninth interview for the Steem Basic Income group. I have interviewed the following Steemians: @eturnerx @ecoinstant @jonnyla08 @rishi556 @tattoodjay @mariannewest @solominer @r2cornell @freedompoint @shadowspub

Subject Intro: @enginewitty

@wesphilbin: I have been off the radar as it were... dealing with my Multiple Sclerosis flare-ups, as well as some nasty upper respiratory issues, so do apologize for the lack of amplifying the awesome of our Steem Basic Income members. I am sure this gentleman needs no introduction, but to be fair, let's do that... shall we?

@wesphilbin: From his Steem page: "Witness on the chain, to maintain the mainframe... better learn the name, I play like a chess game..." You may know him as @enginewitty, or maybe "Witty aka 'X40L1N'"... either way, he is a Witness on the Blockchain, and has been on said Blockchain since May of 2017. Let's dive in, and learn about Witty...

@wesphilbin: Would you mind telling our readers, a little about yourself... what brought you to the blockchain?

@enginewitty: Above all, I'm Dad to several. That's been my primary 'job' for the last 20 years and I don't see that changing before I die! HA! As for finding my self here, on Steem, that's an interesting little tidbit. I was involved and fairly successful with an MLM company called Empower Network. Being a writer by trade, it just fit really well. I was looking to expand my own marketing base as I was having some decent success on a few blogs like Tumblr, and I came across Steemit.

I'd already been familiar with cryptocurrency, being an early adopter of Bitcoin, so I didn't pay much attention to that aspect. I signed up and didn't even touch it for almost 3 or 4 months. Then as I was watching a few alts on Coin Market Cap, I saw STEEM being stable so figured I would check into it. Turns out, I was already here! So, what brought me here and why I'm still here - two different avenues now.

@wesphilbin: I'm curious... what was the reason you decided to become a Witness?

@enginewitty: Why did I become a Witness? I don't like red tape, and I see a lot of that. I think with the proper leadership, this Blockchain has the capacity to literally change the world as we know it. Right now, it's infested with greed - which is part of the reason the price of STEEM hasn't risen back up to a lovable level.

"The SBI model is one of the few that is truly sustainable by actually giving to receive - and you know how I am about that!"

@enginewitty

@wesphilbin: I think I first met you at the Pimp Your Post Thursday, with @shadowspub... this MLM company... Empower Network, can you share more with our readers about this... are you still there?

@enginewitty: EN - Empower Network. We did probably the biggest prebuild for an MLM triangle Facebook had ever seen at the time. This was before they were ghosting people's posts and an ad you paid for was actually seen. We called it the Beast. In all honesty, I was never really in it for the marketing and building aspect as I was so much that I was finally getting paid something for writing a little here and there. Like virtually all Network Marketing companies - it started to get stale and I had to move on.

@wesphilbin: I know the ghosting posts is a real thing, as well as Shadow Banning. Sorry to hear it didn't work out. So are you still involved with Tumblr? Or just strictly "Steem" related avenues?

@enginewitty: LOL no, haven't made a post on there since I joined Steem, pretty much. Every now and then I 'share' some content over there and push an article over that way but - it's probably been a year since I last did that. I pretty much threw everything else out the window and created a whole new foothold on Steem. I mean, people on Facebook are like, "What the fuck is Bitcoin?"... and since that was one of the larger 'recruiting' pools, I didn't see any point trying to push an agenda and creating time to again 'be ghosted'. You know Facebook has a strict policy against other cryptocurrencies, right? Pansies.

That doesn't mean I don't make it known. My profile picture over there is me wearing a Steem T-Shirt. I updated all my LinkedIn info to reflect my Steem relation and have a few accounts on Twitter that honor the Blockchain. I believe @jackmiller has it set up on our budding website thealliance.io where it auto-tweets an article someone writes. So we have a cross platform presence, I just don't think the general populace has accepted cryptocurrency yet. Hell, there's people who still ride horses, cook over an open flame and write letters.

@wesphilbin: There are many that still don't know about cryptocurrency, my friend. Or, if they do... scared of it perhaps. I'm curious; where did you first learn about SBI?

@enginewitty: It was @mariannewest that first introduced me to it. I really didn't pay much attention and believe I was one of the first 40 or 50 to be sponsored. She just said I'm gonna sponsor you and thank me later. Then at The Block Party, I got to meet her and we had a live video conference with @josephsavage and it was awesome.

@wesphilbin: Oh yes!! I remember @mariannewest talking about this when I interviewed her... what a wonderful person she is! Slightly jealous you got to meet not only @mariannewest, but also @josephsavage; definitely two people that bring positive energy to the Blockchain. With the continued growth of the thealliance.io , are you utilizing SBI in any contests or challenges? I'd love for our readers who might not know of The Alliance to have the chance to learn what you are doing for the Blockchain, as well as the many other communities...

@enginewitty: The website is still in its youth and I have to give a heavy thanks to @sayee and @latino.romano for being so consistent with steady content flow. Also a big thank you to @jackmiller for keeping tabs on it.

As for contests? Every couple weeks I'll drop a question in one of my posts for people to comment a certain thing and hand out SBI for it. Think the last one was your favorite bug 😋 I also throw some out from time to time for other contests. A couple weeks ago I threw some into one held by @innerblocks over there with @freedompoint and @freedomtowrite. I also pick a random Sunday each month to throw SBI out to people that come to our family meetings. I don't publicize it because like with my own blog, I want people to actually read it or be there and stumble on it. With the meetings, I don't want them to think I'm paying them to be there but rather, a thank you for coming this time.

I used to loudly profess all the things I delegate to or support, but actions speak, ya know? One of our main focuses right now in the fam, is retention. Those that want to be here on chain. We ask a commitment and in return, commit to them. Win, win. We don't force you to write or make comments, but we appreciate it. If a person chooses to do a thing, it gets noticed. Simple as that

"Right now, we have a #spreadlovenotwar campaign we started with a former bidbot. With the help of @contrabourdon, we turned it into a curation account and have a small whitelist of allies that can activate it on chain. Pretty neat, actually. We tend to focus on undervalued posts and great content. We just made it possible for the account to resteem anything we vote on so whoever reads this and wants to see the kinds of things our curators are looking at, follow @alliedforces 💪 "

@wesphilbin: You know, I think it's wonderful that you are setting such a positive example. Interacting with so many members and communities... I have to ask; considering all this "New Steem" mindset, do you feel what you are providing via SBI units is still a positive addition? I certainly do, but I am curious of your thoughts. In the same context, do you feel more pressure representing SBI while holding the responsibility of being a Witness?

@enginewitty: #newsteem, pssh. It's the same blockchain man! And did you know the rewards have been 50/50 before? I have chameleon properties though, or maybe ninja, so it's easy to adapt to changes for me. I don't always agree or like them, but I find a way. As for SBI being a positive addition? Hecks ya! People can't BOT their posts anymore so they need that little extra boost. The SBI model is one of the few that is truly sustainable by actually giving to receive - and you know how I am about that! As for being a Witness in reference to SBI? I hold no accountability to to any organization other than my own family here that I've been cultivating and nurturing.

Sure, I love other ones. For example, I am a frequent visitor to the shows in The Ramble that @shadowspub puts on. When I remember, I try to check out the @freewritehouse and @heyhaveyamet peoples. I mingle with the Veterans and my Pirate stakkers, gamers, musicians, you name it. The only responsibility I feel is to everyone that wants to see this Blockchain still onboarding new users in 20 years. That's why I became a Witness. The potential here is unmatched by any other chain and I really care about it, even though I'm no master coder or developer. What we build now, our kids will see. I want to give them a castle

@wesphilbin: Oh yes... I see you everywhere, my friend! I remember when I first heard of The Alliance... I was always looking to see how things went, and learned about everything you stood for; family, friends, positive content on the Blockchain; it is appreciated... before I let you get back to Witnessing (is that a word?) I am curious of your thoughts on STEEM, Steem, SBI moving forward...

@enginewitty: Moving forward, I see a bright future for those that remain here on chain and stick out this #newsteem nonsense. It never changed, it's the same Steem I joined over 2 years ago except, there's a few different protocols now. If I was a consensus Witness, I would have voted against several things, but it is what it is and this marathon is far from over. How about you Wes, you gonna run with me?

Yes, my friend... I will be right beside you...

Interview Conclusion

I hope you have enjoyed this interview with @enginewitty ... if you'd like to see what other topics Witty believes in, why not catch his next Words With Witty at @shadowspub's The Ramble... lot's of good people there, who support the Steem Basic Income initiative!!

Click image and sign with Steemconnect to give @enginewitty your Witness vote.

Nineteen total interviews for the @steembasicincome Group... and my eleventh to date, as a writer for the SBI Group... With each Steemian I interview, I see a similar vibe my friends... sharing the positive effects of promoting community, a greater sense of why these Steemians are choosing to participate in the Steem Basic Income initiative... for not only themselves and their interaction on the block-chain, but also sharing the understanding of engagement, by sponsoring others. I thank you for sticking around, and reading yet another interview highlighting a prominant user involved in the Steem Basic Income initiative. Appreciate your continued support, involvement, and community interaction.