On the 13th of May our team, consisting of Evgeniy Stepanov and me, William Lyall, set out for the blockchain conference in Doha, in the Arabian nation of Qatar. After a five hour flight on which we met members of various different companies, we arrived in Doha, the capital of a country which, due to a Saudi-led diplomatic embargo, is now practically only reachable by air.

Our first impression of this country was one of great wealth and technological advancement. We travelled to the Sheraton Hotel located at the end of the Corniche in Doha. The hotel is lavish and decorated in a regal Arabian Style, and is a modern example of Islamic revival architecture.

After checking in we met with the conference organisers and had a briefing, before joining them for dinner at a beachside shisha bar in the grounds of the nearby Hilton Hotel. As we sat surrounded by Arab sheikhs in their long white robes and veiled Arab women from this oil rich kingdom, we came to understand that this exotic and mysterious land holds unfathomable wealth and offers much potential for any ICO. Indeed, in this land the citizens are so wealthy from oil and gas revenues, that none of them can be seen doing any kind of manual or service jobs (these roles are filled by guest workers), rather the locals are involved only in more prestigious white collar jobs if they even work at all. Our task was clear: communicate to these wealthy and discerning Qatari investors the value of our project, and help them to understand its immense potential for growth and our sincere belief that our ecosystem is the future of Esports, and that EMI tokens are the currency of that future.

After a long night of preparations and tailoring of of presentation to fit the local market, we joined the five other project teams in the conference room and began to greet and network with attendees. Among those present were cryptocurrency enthusiasts, experts, professors, local captains of industry, and wealthy Qatari investors. In general we found that many attendees were not particularly familiar with the world of Esports, and we needed to educate them about the market and the immense and growing potential that it has which is not being exploited by marketing companies.

Over the course of the day we spoke to many expats and locals about the project and received much interest. A common thread was that many people don’t understand much about Esports, but that once we communicated to them the potential, they immediately became excited about the project.

Our presentation was the last of the six and we received a good response and got lots of inquiries afterwards. The next day, Evgeniy and I attended a meeting at the Qatar Financial Centre, where we learned about the exciting possibilities for businesses in Qatar and the growth of the market. Qatar is truly an unexplored market for ICOs.

Overall our visit to Qatar was stimulating and eye opening. We experienced a new business culture, had a glimpse of unique opportunities, and pitched our product to a new and highly engaged audience.