One Gate: The real protagonist is behind the stage.

"As the wind sneaks into the night, it moistens things quietly and silently."

In just 7 days, I completed 8 speeches (plus 3 DJ performances!) across 3 cities (Bali Coinfest, Tokyo WebX, Hong Kong Bitcoin Asia), but this is not about me. This is a thank you to the behind-the-scenes team at Gate, who are the real stars, but rarely stand in the spotlight.

Let's start with the most obvious team: Event Team. They often need to start preparing these events months in advance, and often before one event is wrapped up, they have to immediately dive into the next one. They must ensure that every guest and speaker arrives on time and that everything happens at the right time and place. Some colleagues stay backstage or at the reception from morning until night, never getting to see the event they personally organized. They are the true warriors.

Then there is the photography team. They carry cameras, stabilizers, tripods, and spare batteries, shuttling through the scorching heat in places like Vietnam, Bali, and Tokyo, just to capture the best shots. And that’s only half of the job. They also have to complete post-production on site immediately, releasing the latest footage to social media as soon as possible. While others are finishing their work, they are just getting started.

When it comes to social media, our content and social media team also need to post updates in real-time across all platforms; the PR team must convey the key points and highlights to the media as quickly as possible. Every minute they spend at the event is almost a race against time.

Don't forget, there's also the Compliance and Legal Team that is racing against time. Every speech, every tweet, every video, and every piece of merchandise actually needs to be reviewed by them one by one to ensure that the content is appropriate and won't get us, the ones out there hustling, into trouble.

The design team has been working around the clock on new merchandise and booth visuals after the brand upgrade. People always like to compare our booth design with other exchanges (and of course, we are almost always the most eye-catching unit). Their finished products directly impact the external perception of Gate, and the improvement in brand image this year is obvious to all.

Then there are the local teams in each region, responsible for all on-the-ground affairs during the event: translation, booth creation, surrounding transportation and storage, logistics, and coordination. In addition, they also need to meet a large number of local partners and contacts during the event. This is their home turf, and they always go all out to help the team solve any problems.

Of course, there are also all the frontline business teams facing the customers: Gate Labs, Gate Ventures, Gate Pay, Gate Travel, the institutional team, VIP team, OTC team, KOL team, affiliate team, and even the human resources team. All the achievements are the result of their hard work both in front of and behind the scenes. They are constantly on the move, serving clients including project parties, LPs, business parties, market makers, hedge funds, KOLs, and so on. They must continuously contact, host, and ensure that every interaction with Gate exceeds everyone's expectations.

There are also strategic and development teams who not only have to handle partners and suppliers on-site during the event but also need to hold meetings with different teams around the world to ensure that business in other regions does not come to a halt because of one event. After all, the world does not stop for an event in a particular region.

At every event, we always have new colleagues joining us. We often look forward to them getting into the groove right away, which puts a lot of pressure on them, but after all, that’s the pace of Web3. Some say they rely on me to help them adapt, but that’s not the case. To put it bluntly, we actually rely on the new energy they bring to make the whole team stronger, better, and bigger.

This is just the on-site team. There is also a large marketing and operations team providing remote support behind the scenes. They work overtime to ensure smooth operations backstage. When events are held across time zones, they also have to stay up late or wake up early to coordinate.

All these efforts are ultimately built on the foundation of our technology and product team. They ensure that the platform operates non-stop 24/7/365. It's important to know that if the platform goes down, everything on-site becomes meaningless. Their silent contributions are often the easiest to overlook.

Last but certainly not least, is our boss, our founder and CEO Dr. Han. To be honest, he might be the hardest-working CEO I've ever worked with. Many people think that events are a walk in the park for CEOs, but that's far from the truth. If you've seen Dr. Han's schedule at events, you would know it's packed with back-to-back meetings, meeting one person after another. Even without a scheduled agenda, he will personally show up to engage in conversations. He is always on the front lines, listening, communicating, and leading.

I am sure I have missed quite a few names and teams, but the meaning is clear: although I am the spokesperson, the truly loud voice comes from the efforts of the entire team. One Gate is not just a slogan, but a fact. Together, we are greater than the sum of our parts.

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