**Too many people are using Steemit without voting for witnesses. This contest is my attempt to change that. Read on to find out how you can participate and get a chance to win some SBD!** DISCLAIMER: No one put me up to this. I am not a witness. I am friends with quite a few, but you don’t have to vote for the same ones I do in order to be eligible to win. This is simply my personal initiative to get more people voting for witnesses. https://media.giphy.com/media/l41YkEYrcqrPOpuIE/giphy.gif *Barack Obama has a point here. This platform isn’t perfect, but I love it. And we have a voice. Get your votes in, participate in witness chats, and make your voice heard!* ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) # Why vote? --- Steem doesn’t exist without witnesses. They keep the blockchain alive and the top 20 witnesses are the ones who make decisions about changes. If you are using Steemit, if you are investing in Steem in any way, you need to be voting for witnesses. If you don’t know anything about witnesses, read [this post](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@drakos/tips-and-guidelines-voting-for-witnesses) by @drakos to learn more. (This link is past payout, so don't upvote it, but some excellent info in there.) Also, @rhondak recently posted a fantastic article titled [Witness Voting Oversimplified](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@rhondak/witness-voting-oversimplified). (Feel free to upvote this one if it's within the 7 day payout by the time you read it. She did a great job writing it!) ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) # “How can I win SBD?” --- This is what you really want to know. I get it. But what *I want* is to see more people using their witness votes and participating in the workings of the platform. That’s why I’m dangling a prize out to motivate you. If you are already voting for witnesses, THANK YOU! You’re awesome! If you’re not voting for witnesses, do your research and get some votes in. ## CONTEST GUIDELINES: --- **1) Upvote and resteem this post.** The more this post earns, the more SBD I can give away. I will throw 10 SBD into the pot. Several others have donated, so see the current prize pool below! **2) Vote for witnesses.** Research them. Be sure you don’t vote for dead witnesses as that will disqualify you from the contest. You can check witness activity on https://steemian.info/witnesses. **3) Comment on this post and tell me about at least one witness you vote for and *why*. Thoughtful comments matter. This is how I’ll be choosing winners.** 💖 ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) ## GET 'YER BONUS POINTS HERE: --- Want an even better chance at winning? Any of the following will help (but are not required). * Attend the witness chat on the Steemit Ramble on Saturday, May 19th (details below). * Write a post about witnesses (and let me know you did). * Help other Steemians learn about witnesses and get them to vote! **If you get someone to vote who has never supported witnesses before, I’m going to take that into consideration, so talk to your friends and make sure they’re voting for witnesses.** * If you have never voted for witnesses before, and do so now because someone helped you learn about the importance of witnesses, please mention their name in your comment! ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) ### MASSIVE #GRATITUDE to the following people for donating SBD to grow the prize pool! --- * 5 SBD from @saffisara * 5 SBD from @idikuci * 5 SBD from @dreemsteem, on behalf of @welcomewagon, an initiative to help newbies learn about the platform. * 5 SBD and 10 SBD from two separate anonymous witness donors who wish to support this awareness initiative, but want to remain nameless as they are not trying to sway any outcomes. *If you want to donate, I will be updating this list as I can. Thank you to everyone who is supporting this effort to increase awareness around witness voting!* ## The PRIZE POOL is currently at 40 SBD! YAY for people learning about witnesses! ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) # Participate in the Witness Chat, Saturday May 19th, 11am EDT --- This will be the third witness forum hosted by @shadowspub on the [Steemit Ramble Discord](https://discord.gg/hzhzWxw) server. I learned a ton during the last one, and loved seeing how many witnesses showed up. There was laughter, discussion (sometimes heated), and exceptional participation by witnesses and non-witnesses alike. In the words of @sircork, “Pay attention to the witnesses who show up.” I know he’ll be en-route to the Nashville Steemit meetup that day, so I don’t know if Corky will be able to attend the witness chat, but it’s worth taking note what witnesses attend. It also gives you a direct way to hear what they’re about, and ask questions if you have them. https://media.giphy.com/media/3oz8xVl2asd4GUiYk8/giphy.gif ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) ## Who I vote for, and why. --- Below you’ll find some of the witnesses I vote for (in no particular order), and my reasons why. I’m not going to name all of them, ‘cause you can go to steemd.com/@katrina-ariel and look up my full list of votes if you want, but I believe in strongly in the ones I’m highlighting here. These are suggestions you might take into consideration if you don’t know who to vote for and are looking for good people to support, but please do your own research. Reminder: you are not required to vote for the same witnesses as me in order to be eligible to be rewarded. I just want to see that you’re making informed decisions and participating. It’s up to you to prove this in your comment. **Here are some people who I think are doing good things for the platform:** ## @enginewitty This guy is a personal friend. *I trust him.* [Our kids are buddies](https://steemit.com/thealliance/@katrina-ariel/the-tennessee-meetup-begins-much-fun-with-enginewitty-and-some-cute-kids). But the reason I vote for him as witness is because he is invested in the success of Steem and genuinely cares about people. He runs a witness server, actively builds Steemit communities including @thealliance, supports charities, and delegates to initiatives like the @welcomewagon. He adds quality content to the platform and is generously supportive in countless ways. ## @drakos Another witness who shows up with integrity and generosity, Drakos runs steemian.info, supports @the-resistance, delegates to @youarehope, and engages with me and others who are adding quality content to the Steemisphere. ## @steemcommunity This team of @abh12345 and @paulag is focused on, you guessed it: community. Truly, without community, Steemit isn’t worth much. Asher constantly impresses me with his focus on engagement, and particularly supporting newbies to the platform, as evidenced in his recent [welcome to Steemit competition](https://steemit.com/welcometosteemit/@abh12345/competition-welcometosteemit-submit-your-posts-and-link-them-below). ## @sircork This witness team is comprised of @sircork, who is the founder of @youarehope (a Steem-based charity helping people in impoverished situations) and the mastermind behind the @steemstarnetwork, and @rhondak, who is a co-founder of @thewritersblock, and also runs the animal shelter @tarc. They both work tirelessly to add value to Steemit and various communities on discord. They’re smart, funny, and outspoken, albeit in different ways. I’ll also be meeting them at the Nashville Steemit meetup next weekend, which I’m excited about! ## @patrice Patrice fights a necessary and worthy battle against spam and plagiarism on Steemit. Tune into her Trash Talk shows on the SteemStarNetwork to find out what’s new with her and her team. I find her easy to approach, and value her take on what’s happening on the platform. ## @curie This witness represents a group of curators who look for outstanding content on Steemit. They especially focus on rewarding newcomers to the platform. I’ve been fortunate enough to have several posts “Curied,” and can honestly say this helped me have confidence in Steemit. Curie is one of the reasons I’m still here. ## @ocd-witness Another curation guild, OCD looks for worthy posts to reward and resteem, bringing them more exposure. @gmuxx wrote a great post if you’re interested in [the curation process](https://steemit.com/curation/@gmuxx/ocd-curation-the-process-and-my-authoring-system). ## @followbtcnews Jeff and @crimsonclad run this server, which is in the top 20. Crimsonclad is super fun, supportive, and helpful—present in lord-knows how many discord servers. Here’s their [latest witness update](https://steemit.com/witness-update/@followbtcnews/followbtcnews-witness-update-being-a-new-top-20-project-launch-satisfaction-and-the-road-ahead). ## @guiltyparties This witness is part of #thealliance and #steemsilvergold and supports veterans on Steemit. He’s active in building community and keeping the platform safe from phishing, as well as working with Steemcleaners. Check out his latest [witness update](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@guiltyparties/guiltyparties-witness-discussion). ## @thekitchenfairy Another member of #thealliance, she’s a friend and has just gotten her witness server up. Happy to see another woman running a witness. ## @jatinhota A core member of #thealliance, this witness is a founding member of @indiaunited, and is always there to help a friend. ## @pharesim This witness is active on the platform, supporting content creators and acting from a place of integrity. ## @jackmiller This witness is approachable and interacts with community. I like this line from [his latest post on networking](https://steemit.com/community/@jackmiller/sharing-thoughts-on-communties-individuals-and-networking): “One of the things that I consider a responsibility as a Steemian is to look for what people have in common. What can help unite us as people.” YES, Jack! Yes. ## @anarcho-andrei I’ll be meeting Andrei in person at the Nashville Meetup next weekend. He’s also [one hell of a writer](https://steemit.com/steemwars/@anarcho-andrei/lain-dakota-the-hero-of-steem-wars-the-man-they-call-lain), and on my #steemwars crew in @thewritersblock. ## @timcliff This heavy-hitter has a reputation for being helpful and genuine. He showed up to the last Steemit Ramble witness chat, and I appreciated hearing his views. Hope he attends again so I can learn more from him. ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) All of these witnesses do more than what I’ve highlighted here, and I still have much to discover about them and their role as the keepers of the blockchain. However, I hope this list gives you ideas of people to vote for, or at least ideas of what to look for as you do your own research. My votes are constantly changing as I learn more. **Yes, I vote for a number of friends.** Why wouldn’t I? They’re keeping the platform alive, I know they’re good people, and I hope they’ll make it high enough up in the witness ranks to actually earn some money to feed their family. I do make sure to vote for developers/coders as well as social witnesses. Take note, every witness has invested a good amount of time and funds to get their server running and keep it that way. The top 20 witnesses are also the ones who make most of [the money](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@witnesswatch/witnesswatch-weekly-report-15-how-much-do-witnesses-make). If someone you believe in is a witness and not in the top 20, they need your vote to move up the ranks! ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) # Get Voting! --- **Go here to vote for witnesses: https://steemit.com/~witnesses** You’ll need your active key to vote for witnesses. When you’re finished voting, log out and log back in with your posting key. All of this might sound complicated the first time (it did to me), but it gets easy after a while. ;) **To vote for someone who isn’t in the top 50, you simply write their Steemit username in the box (without the @ symbol).** ![-thealliance_pagebreak.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXjQbBZCjrr94niYBqhwm1shdfu6RTEeDju5mhRtndu1z/-thealliance_pagebreak.png) ## Spread the word and comment below for your chance to win SBD! --- Resteem this, write a post, tell your friends… Get involved. I don’t have a current statistic on how many people vote for witnesses, but the percentage of people who vote vs. those who use the platform is embarrassingly low, considering the fact that **this blockchain does not exist without witnesses.** I’ll be awarding prizes after this post pays out, and after seeing who shows at the witness chat on the Steemit Ramble. I’ll also be travelling next week, so if it takes me longer to go through the comments, so be it. One way or another, I’ll choose some winners, send some SBD, and make a post about it as soon as I’m able. **I know this has been a long post, but it’s important. Thank you for reading, thank you for being here, and thank you for participating as we co-create this Steemiverse.** Peace. @katrina-ariel ![Katrina Ariel](https://s26.postimg.org/q1a4gaq3t/purple-hat-_Katrina_Ariel.jpg) *(credit: gifs above via giphy.com)* --- **Author bio:** Katrina Ariel is an old-soul rebel, musician, tree-hugging yogini, and mama bear to twins. Author of *[Yoga for Dragon Riders](http://amzn.to/1a2g3Dq)* (non-fiction) and *[Wild Horse Heart](http://amzn.to/2rDZI7Z)* (romance), she's another free-spirit swimming in the ocean of Steemit. ![dragon](https://s26.postimg.org/ep24c5rc9/dragon-banner-katrinaariel.jpg) *dragon art: Liiga Smilshkalne* --- [![Steemsugars](https://s26.postimg.org/as7w0dftl/banner_steemsugars.jpg)](https://discord.gg/D2V8nq9) [![WITNESS_enginewittyGIF.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUDVVYytrAJb98BiKrUmpc8UbBbzcmWK4NL7nidxxLmJ7/WITNESS_enginewittyGIF.gif)](https://steemit.com/~witnesses) [CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR WITNESSES](https://steemit.com/~witnesses) *Yes, I love @enginewitty. This gif ^^ is at the bottom of all my posts. Once again, you don't have to vote for him or any of my witnesses in order to win, but I am also free to show my bias in my footer. ;) Good luck! I can't wait to read your comment!* https://steemitimages.com/DQmPhRHVvD9vwsFguZ8mBGrBmXcxxY3rzZs3kMZegsXBP8o/%23thealliance%20%40katrina-ariel.png