Nym Presence at Talent Land 2025
Talent Land Mexico is one of the country’s biggest gatherings for innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. Every year, it transforms the city of Guadalajara into a hub of creativity, drawing over 30,000 participants for four energetic days. Last year, Nym made its presence known with a large stand. This year, from April 21 to 24, we returned in a new way—selected to join the Startup Garden, a vibrant zone reserved for emerging startups. Even better, our spot came free of charge, giving us a unique opportunity to connect and grow within a thriving ecosystem.
This year, getting a dedicated stand came with a hefty price tag—and by the time we looked into it, all the speaker slots were already taken. Not wanting to miss out, we started looking for other ways in. After some back-and-forth, we were offered a spot in the Startup Garden, a space designed for early-stage projects. As a bonus, we received speaker bracelets, which gave us access to special networking events and the chance to connect with other startups and companies throughout the week.
We had hoped to rally the local Nym community for Talent Land, inviting members from across Mexico to join us at the event. But as the dates approached, no one was able to make it. So, I turned to a few close friends and asked if they’d be willing to help out. They showed up without hesitation, and together we covered our three assigned days—April 21, 22, and 23. We had a modest budget of $460 USD, originally planned for t-shirts and caps, but after searching high and low, we couldn’t find any DTG (Direct-to-Garment) printers in time. We pivoted, putting the funds toward caps, stickers, and a bold booth banner that made sure people knew exactly where to find us.
Purpose & Goals
Our main goal in participating was to connect with potential node operators, introduce Nym to college students, and network with entrepreneurs and companies. We focused on three specific objectives:
We have three goals:
- Launch a Nym Squad in Guadalajara.
- Meet business owners interested in integrating Nym’s VPN into their services.
- Raise awareness about surveillance capitalism among students, developers, and the general public—and how Nym’s technology can help counter it.
Key Moments
Another memorable encounter was with a participant who leads a Web3 gaming community. He stopped by our stand and shared a challenge his members—mostly based in Venezuela—were facing: they couldn’t access the games due to regional restrictions. He was on the lookout for a VPN solution he could recommend. We introduced him to NymVPN, walked him through how it works, how anyone can operate a node, and explained the pricing. By the end of our conversation, he was genuinely excited and asked for a referral code to share with his community.
One visitor, a cybersecurity professional from a major company, stopped by our stand and immediately recognized Nym from the previous Talent Land. We struck up a conversation, and his enthusiasm quickly shone through. Before long, he was helping us explain Nym to curious attendees. His name was Ed—a genuinely great guy—whose energy and support became a huge boost for us throughout the rest of the event. (He is in the previous image helping me explain)
A similar moment unfolded when another attendee named Irwin, who runs a crypto community and had attended events like ETH 5 de Mayo, spotted us as we hurried back to our stand. He recognized the Nym logo on our caps and immediately called out, asking where we had gotten them. We explained that we were representing Nym at our stand—and, seeing his excitement, we handed him a cap of his own.
On the final day of the event, we ran a small activity to spark conversations about digital privacy. We offered Nym caps to anyone who answered three simple questions: Why is privacy important? How do you protect your privacy and security online? And do you know what a VPN is? The responses were thoughtful, sometimes surprising, and always honest. Each participant who shared their perspective walked away with a cap—and, hopefully, a deeper curiosity about privacy in the digital age.
Throughout the event, many incredible people stopped by our stand—most of them computer science students, eager to learn and explore. We took the time to explain how tech enthusiasts like them could get involved: by joining the Nym Squad League (NSL), volunteering to run nodes, and becoming part of the vibrant Nym community. Every conversation felt like planting a seed for something bigger.
Finally, here’s a look at the amazing team that helped bring Nym to life at Talent Land:
Contributions
- Throughout the event, we connected directly with at least 70 people—each conversation captured in the photos we took along the way (even more with just quick talks). Every interaction was a chance to share Nym’s vision, answer questions, and spark new curiosity about privacy and decentralized technology.
- Reach 9 computer science students who are interested in become a node operator and fight against surveillance.
- Around 5 people came to the stand because recognized Nym from the last Talend Land 2024
Insights and Lessons
- Next time, we should adapt our flyers to Spanish—many attendees weren’t comfortable with English.
- We missed an opportunity to grow our community by not asking participants who received caps to follow us on social media.
- It’s important to order merchandise much earlier, especially since the days leading up to the event fell during holiday breaks.
- Finding local companies that offer DTG (Direct-to-Garment) t-shirt printing was more difficult than expected.
Expenses
We were assigned a budget of $460 USD to produce event merchandise, originally planned for:
- 20 T-shirts ($185 USD)
- 20 caps ($175 USD)
- Stickers ($100 USD)
However, after struggling to find a supplier that offered DTG (Direct-to-Garment) printing, we adjusted our plan and focused on caps, stickers, and a booth banner. Our final expenses were:
- 1m x 1m Stickers sheet: $633 mxn ($31.65 USD)
- 30 Caps: $2950 mxn ($147.5 USD)
- 1.5m x 1.5m Banner: 150 mxn ($7.5 USD)
- Materials (scissors, tape, water, candies): $203.85 mxn ($10.19 USD)
- Transport: $660 mxn, ($33 USD)
In total, we spent 4596.85 MXN ($229.80 USD), using only 49.9% of the assigned budget.
All April grant & achievement rewards for April have been sent and your contribution made it to the list! See the transactions