This weekend I attended my second steem-meetup (Steemfest2 being the first) together with members of the @steemSTEM community. It was incredible to see community members travelling from all over Europe, the US, Canada and Columbia to join the event. A great testimony to the uniqueness of the event as well as the strength of the community.

However, it may not have been that surprising considering that the meetup took place in what you might consider the Mecca of Physics: The Large Hadron Collider!

![20180209_174239.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQCAa7qusyFhKW69RvPYCmSibZpowXnfU5aeACH5ZWxgJ/20180209_174239.jpg)
_Me in front of the CMS 100 meter below the surface inside the Large Hadron Collider. Proudly wearing my epic name badge made by @suesa_

The meetup itself took place this Friday, although most participants also joined an evening dinner on Thursday upon arrival. It was a cool chance to speak with so many of the @steemSTEM community members who I've come to know so well in the ~8 months that I have been on steemit.

I promised in [my previous post](https://steemit.com/steemstem/@fredrikaa/steepshot-arriving-at-cern-with-steemste-2018-02-09-10-03-12) that I would soon be sharing a lot of pictures from the event, so here they are!

## Meeting up at CERN

![20180209_112638.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTvG6LBP54o8wo7s7gUHeo5WorEXAC26jsed9KiZkbTxn/20180209_112638.jpg)
_Me and my one and only SteemPress co-founder @howo in front of the CERN public exhibition building_

![20180209_114314.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNu5qtRdkRcjbRwvGcMSj1Xyk5MQaccmD4r7H2v82GEsd/20180209_114314.jpg)
_Overview of the Large Hadron Collider tunnels at the CERN public exhibition_

As you may know, the Large Hadron Collider is a 27-kilometre long tunnel going in one large circle beneath Switzerland and France as you can see in the picture above. 

![28080207_10156031815851550_422537338_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeJkfeK7vC6QFyotyp643qiTRXZWJDBSRyw1uvBtbejTd/28080207_10156031815851550_422537338_o.jpg)
_Illustration of two particles colliding within the CERN exhibition_

The exhibition was quite interesting containing everything from a measuring device of cosmic rays, to cool graphics illustrating how the collider works.

But nobody got on their planes to cross the Atlantic just to learn some particle physics! (sorry @lemouth), the real business was 100 meters below the ground!

## Visiting the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS)

![20180209_152242.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVEWURVJzioyucm8ivyJrkbKkj8kAN1S4Uh2rjatoWFck/20180209_152242.jpg)
_steemSTEM meetup participants arriving at the CMS facilities at CERN_

![20180209_171641.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXvBS8oCCjbBFVWPCDvX4FYZ9YvvBT6j7Qw9eQtRQGHgX/20180209_171641.jpg)
_Our guide explains our group what we are about to see once further inside. Notice the STEEM badge on the arm of one participant ;)_

![28081383_10156031793501550_1883790208_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUghRfGJosCcSmoaSbob7gptVMK45czz3vgs1a6RDDSZg/28081383_10156031793501550_1883790208_o.jpg)
_Me and my friend @aurel.proorocu who I knew before we got into crypto about the same time in front of the CMS_

![20180209_175241.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVaKD5GkNoatBXGvbNKbgytmYdAP9S3LiTtYTesz4VDoo/20180209_175241.jpg)
_Close-up picture of the CMS, or the "onion" as @lemouth dubbed it in his presentation_

It was an impressive sight to say the least. Although we were mostly busy taking pictures together, I managed to find some time to just reflect on the sheer magnitude of this giant human creation. It is hard not to be impressed when you understand that these magnets are about 100 000 times stronger than the magnetic field of our planet and that it can accelerate particles up to more than 99.99999% the speed of light.

Similar to the feeling I get when I look at what we are achieving in space, I am proud to be part of a species that choose to collaborate on such a scale to deepen its knowledge of how the Universe works. It is beautiful in more than just one way.

## Seeing Geneva
As if a day at the LHC with the @steemSTEM community wasn’t cool enough, myself, @howo, @aurel.proorocu and @ana.luiza decided to spend the rest of the weekend together sharing an Airbnb.

This was my first time in Switerland, and seeing Geneva was high up on my list of travel destinations!

![28033686_10156031810996550_1416138266_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmS1zNyreHpd1BFmtq5s6wvFkq5tFeKCdLhVXsvcXEhiL9/28033686_10156031810996550_1416138266_o.jpg)
_Me in front of Lake Geneva, the view of the clear water, the fountain, the city and the mountains in the background was quite something!_

It was also a lot of fun hanging out with such a fun bunch coming together from all over the place. I really hope to do this a lot more often as it is such a fresh breadth of air in the middle of your daily life.

![28033221_10156031846351550_1599048406_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmfR2WFXt5eia9RMpHAzbgdo1vnJ2rux88HQih441gkPDf/28033221_10156031846351550_1599048406_o.jpg)
_@howo, @fredrikaa, @aurel.proorocu and @galotta in an intense game of perudo, a dice game introduced to us by @howo_

![27999460_10156031846356550_992016989_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQhPn3xbPBdxtrMPAcrzyWYKhi3UHCYzkQJcMJdxcRJkK/27999460_10156031846356550_992016989_o.jpg)
_Me, @howo and @aurel.proorocu hanging out on Sunday after leaving the apartment._

## Steemit, the world’s first social media?

The meetup has reminded me yet again of an important selling point for STEEM, (one which I also discussed in [my post after attending steemfest2](https://steemit.com/steemfest/@fredrikaa/steemfest-reflections-1-there-are-no-strangers-on-steemit-only-friends-you-ve-never-met-before)).Which is that steemit is the only social media (that I am using anyway) where I actually make new friends. Other platforms might be good at proving a platform for existing friends to stay in touch, but how often do they make you engage and meet with new people?

I leave Geneva with a bunch of new relationships and with stronger bonds to many of the people I’ve been frequently speaking with on steemit.chat or Discord in the past months. In a time where many consider mainstream social media sites to be “anti-social”, I do increasingly find my time here to be well spent.

![27999678_10156031811606550_1202856358_o.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUaYMQnM7ooCF1BQPuWZCat9zAY4oNsfMon77BzFNiudG/27999678_10156031811606550_1202856358_o.jpg)
_Taking the train back to Paris with @howo, probably our most productive hours working with SteemPress so far!_

Thank you to all steemSTEMers who attended the meetup for making it so special! Thank you to the whole @steemstem team for building this community in the first place. Thank you to everyone who supports @steemstem which help us organise events like this (@liberosist, @fyrstikken / @booster and @reggaemuffin in particular this time) and last, but most of all, thank you @lemouth for taking the time to organise this event and give us all such an incredible opportunity!!

https://steemitimages.com/DQmU7Xv1NnXmSE1MAYNN1eM6R5Xs2Cdtczp9DpaopmzopGE/rocket.gif
If you want to get involved with this awesome community yourself then make sure to follow @steemSTEM and join the steemSTEM channel on steemit.chat or Discord to engage with other scientists on steemit!

As always, take care and steem on!