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YouTube (via Statista) estimates that 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute as of February 2020. |
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January 20 | 3pm EST | ZOOM |
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Come for the Yucks, Stay for the Metavent |
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3 PM Today: There’s still time to sign up for our comedy break with Big Al Giovanni, the hottest comedian on Failed to Render in AltVR, and Anna Marie Rembold, the wunderkind behind Metavent. |
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Choosing the Perfect Platform |
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Yes, you’re going to need to use a virtual events platform in 2022. Yes, we’ve indexed hundreds of them on the VEG website. But, how do you compare one platform to another? We’ve developed a worksheet to guide you through your Q&As with prospective platform
companies. To download your free copy click here. Have feedback on how to make it even more useful? Send a note to Alfred@VirtualEventsgroup.org |
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Microsoft is Candy Crushing It |
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In the “didn’t see it coming” category, Microsoft takes a turn away from its enterprise focus to acquire game developer Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion in cash. Microsoft is buying a ton of popular games including Call of Duty and Candy Crush, plus millions of subscribers. Despite Acvitivision’s scandal-ridden past as a toxic workplace, it seems Microsoft is
confident it can clean up Activision’s act at the same time it beefs up its GamePass offering.
How many Activision users did Microsoft just buy? (Statista, 2022) |
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Jewels from HopIn’s Julius Solaris |
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What are the takeaways from the in-person PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) event? HopIn’s Julius Solaris offers these takeaways. You can find the full thread on LinkedIn.
- Conversation-driven sessions. The most refreshing change of format I witnessed was a long table with attendees split into groups to collaborate and discuss. This format should be adopted more in the post-burnout era.
- In-person as staging for online. It seems many in-person events are becoming stages to create content online. Interviews, pictures, session content, every opportunity is good to differentiate content with better props.
- Figure out the hybrid business model. There is a fringe of suppliers pushing against hybrid at all costs. As a result, valuable information is tough to get hold of and planners need clarity.
- Greenwashing. Many organizations like the sustainability talk but don’t care about walking the walk.
- All-in-one platforms matter For planners that get it, having all-in-one is key. Integration seems to be the only way to scale for many that are adopting a hybrid event strategy.
- Get venue contracts right. Many people stressed how important it is to be strong in your negotiation and plan for unexpected waves. Force majeure is changing forever.
- The great resignation has taught us how much people value their time. The decision process for event attendance is going to be much more calculated moving forward. Cost, destination, distance, time away from home, programming. It’s going to be critical.
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E3: Cancellation Fatigue
E3 is losing its appetite for virtual events. The physical event was canceled in both 2020 and 2021. For 2022, the physical event has been canceled but the virtual
event may follow suit. While E3 has faltered in the transition to virtual events new competition has been birthed. Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest took a strong lead during the pandemic, pivoting quickly to fun virtual events. It’s a great example of seizing
new opportunities while more conservative event companies fail to pivot. |
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NPR StoryTelling come to Sundance
NPR, the darling of the Blunderstone crowd is coming to Sundance with their storytelling prowess. With Sundance’s decision to be a virtual event
for the second year in a row, they’re teaming up with NPR to create a virtual storytelling lodge featuring interviews and conversation. |
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Walmart Ventures into NFT Land
Based on Walmart’s new trademarks, everyone is speculating about what Walmart plans to sell in the metaverse. It appears that the big-box retailer will create its own cryptocurrency and collection of NFTs, and it may also have plans to sell virtual goods. But will they have greeters in the Walmart metaverse? Watch
the 2017 video that foreshadows the Walmart metaverse experience, greeters and all. |
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A frame from Walmart's 2017 video talking about their early VR experimentation. |
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LinkedIn’s Event Ambitions
231 %! That’s how much LinkedIn’s live events attendance has grown. The next step in growing the LinkedIn event platform is to launch an audio-only component similar
to Clubhouse. |
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Get Your NFT Degree
Learn how to create, mint, and register your own NFT for only $20, no experience required. The course is quite fun and fungible. |
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NFTs Still Red Hot
NFT startups raised a record-breaking $1.3B in Q3’21, up 329% QoQ and a staggering 7919% from the same time last year. These and other mind-numbing data nibbles can be found in CB Insights State Of Blockchain Q3’21 report. |
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February 3 | 7pm EST | ZOOM |
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We’ll discuss the events that happened, the events that didn’t happen, and what we can learn from them going forward. Hear insights from Victor Torregroza (Intel), Mary Ann Pierce (MAP Digital), Martin Porter (Sports Video Group), Anina Net (360FashionNetwork), Jim Louderback
(Vidcon), Bob Priest Heck (Freeman), and more. We can get smarter about the new normal together. |
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