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Old-timers rejoice. Will Wright (The Sims) and Lauren Elliot (Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?) are working together to build simulation games in Web 3.0. A dynamic duo. |
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| Mark Your Calendar for Sept 15 |
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Exhibitions 3.0 and
NFT Cautionary Tales |
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It’s like that cliff dive. You know you want to do it, but buying an NFT can be really dangerous. At the Sept. 15th Virtual Events Group meeting, our guest Mike Hassard, partner at Tor Ekeland, a law firm specializing in all things NFT and crypto, will
teach us how to keep out of trouble (and not pay ridiculous gas fees). If you can’t wait for Mike, read this Mashable piece on how to NFT safety. We’ll also get an update
from Denzil Rankine on his framework for Exhibitions 3.0 and talk to Steven Colucci, a respected artist, about his journey to NFT hinterlands. Extra Credit:
Prepare for Denzil’s AMA session by reading AMR International’s white paper on Exhibitions 3.0. Prizes for getting the answers right on the spot quiz. |
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Nothing like polling your audience to find out if you're steering the ship correctly. Back in August, we surveyed our members to find out what they believe are the biggest challenges facing events heading into Q4 and beyond.
Biggest Pain Point for Events
The majority of members want to reach new clients and customers: |
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Over 50% of respondents felt that they needed to know more about tools and platforms. These results overshadowed other answers like “need more research”, “understanding live/virtual events” and "training the salesforce" on how to reach a digital customer.
VEG members can still participate in the survey until Sept 30th. We’ll report back. |
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| Work It: Network, Learning, and Problem Solving |
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Based on survey results and member interviews, we’re diving into working groups, where small groups of members interested in deeper-dive topics can meet and share their insights. To register for a working group, visit the Community Board's Home Page. The right-hand column
lists our working groups:
Just click on the Add to Calendar Button on the page and we’ll see you there. Feel free to drop us a line with any questions you'd like to see addressed. September means it’s time to roll up our sleeves. |
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| Will Anyone Show at Your Metaverse Event? |
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Wandering around the metaverse in search of my destination reminds me of a great hall of mirrors. So close to my destination and then TWHACK… nothing but a big lump on my head. |
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| David Cash’s avatar at Decentraland’s Art Week 2022. |
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MEH: Decentraland’s ArtWeek 2022
First of all, who holds an event the last week in August? The promos for this 4-day gala event were really enticing. Exhibitions were curated by David Cash in the art/fashion area of Decentraland. Thematically, the event was called "The World is Made of Code." It took place in Decentraland’s Art and Fashion District. The centerpiece of the four-floor exhibit featured
everything from 3D sculptures and video works by industry leaders including Krista Kim, and Lady Gaga's creative Director Nicola Formichetti to major gallery presences by Artnet, Sotheby's, and others. Rarible, OpenSea, Spatial — the list of participants showcasing unique art read like a who’s who.
But here’s the thing. I checked Insta, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for any mentions of the experience …. Nada. I put out notes to thousands of colleagues via social media asking them if any had attended. Zilch. And a Google search for news turned up lots of pre-show fanfare but nothing to indicate that anyone showed up for the party. I’ve got queries out to Sam
Hamilton and his team at the Decentraland Foundation. And I’m speaking with David Cash tomorrow (will keep you posted). But it’s the old “if a tree falls in the forest” thing. If there’s an art event in the metaverse, will anyone see it? |
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| Lots of a priori talk about the upcoming Decentraland Art Week.
Image credit: Decentraland |
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Pheh
Next up is Digital Fashion Week NY, part of the Metaverse Fashion Council, which I’m ranking as a possible winner. Again, just getting there is confusing because there are many different events held over the course of a few days. |
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| Image credit: Metaverse Fashion Council |
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But I like what I see because it’s got some purposeful design and cohesion. The mission is to introduce the beauty of digital fashion, and most of the events are sponsored by the Metaverse Fashion Council. The Fashion Council uses Must, a B2B metaverse, as its platform.You attend runway shows, expos, panels and exhibits as your avatar. Clare Tattersall, a longtime colleague and founder of Digital Fashion Week NYC has had a lot of experience creating digital fashion shows, and it shows! A handy guide to exhibitors makes the space feel curated. |
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| Image credit: Metaverse Fashion Council |
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| Visual cues like color schemes and schedules are less of a hodge-podge than Decentraland’s events. So maybe a decentralized event has a few things to learn from traditional centralization? |
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| Floor Plans as a Sales Tool |
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| With intriguing names (and shapes) like the Connections Lounge, Showtime, Between Two, and Money Tree Park, I’m giving Money20/20 the thumbs up for using the show floor as a sales tool. It’s an interactive menu that doubles as a great coffee table mosaic. The only thing that drives me nuts about the show is that 2020 is so over! |
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| Money2020 Reimagine the Showfloor Image credit: Money20/20 |
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| Only the Good Die Young, The Others Rightsize |
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As the pandemic becomes an endemic way of life, the ailing patients are virtual event platforms. It’s a rightsizing bloodbath. Since Q1 2022: Bizzabo has reduced its headcount by 30 percent; Hopin has laid off about 40 percent of its staff; Gather laid off more than 30 percent of its staff; and Hubilo downsized by 12 percent.
It wasn’t too long ago that these companies grew on the hockey stick trajectory, attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital. Hopin, alone, brought in more than $1 billion to become the fastest-growing European startup ever, according to global startup tracker Dealroom.
I had a boss who always told me to save in the “fat” times and plan for the “lean”. Planners will continue to use virtual events platforms, but they’ll choose the ones that are easiest to integrate with their live event strategy. Corbin Ball, CMP, CSP, DES, is a longtime
meeting-technology consultant and principal of Corbin Ball & Co. He tells MeetingsNet that while “all the major event-registration companies substantially built out their virtual and
hybrid events product lines during the pandemic, hundreds of new companies emerged too, and it is likely that many of those startups will be acquired or simply not be around in the next couple of years.
As for Hopin, Bizzabo, and Hubilo, their downsizing decisions reflect the market’s reduced demand for virtual events, but since they are more well established they will likely survive. "Generally," Ball adds, “the established in-person event-management companies that expanded their virtual and hybrid offerings will be the safest choices. Beyond those, planners should research each company’s funding history and ask about new product developments to see the trajectory of a firm’s financial stability”. |
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Dumb Tech Tip of the Week
There’s an entire encyclopedia of graphic file formats. Every now and again (especially if you sometimes use “way back” images) you’re going to try to open an
image only to have your computer chime in to tell you that the file type isn’t supported. When this happens you need to convert the file to a more modern, more supported image format. To do that, you can try one of these 9 free
graphics file format converters. And my related pro-tip is this. IrfanView is a very handy program to have on any system where you’re often working with graphics. |
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Virtual Career Events
These set-out-your-shingle, no-frills events were fashionable long before the pandemic. Virtual is a great way to cast a wide net for talent at the same time you’re spreading the word about your brand. Dice reminds us why. (I just wish colleges would teach their grads video-interviewing 101. Some of those job candidates haven’t gotten beyond the messy dorm room and nose hair camera shots.) |
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Motion Capture for Morons
I got all goofy and played around with Plask this week. It’s a seriously powerful but easy to use motion capture tool that can transform your video (all you need is a webcam) into a super-cool animation. It’s free to try out on a few short
clips. Then they turn on the meter. And while it’s simple to use there are tons of advanced features that let you take on the pros. |
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MeetYoo Focuses on the Small Changes that Yield Big Results
VEG member MeetYoo writes in to let us know about an upcoming event that focuses on how to Create a Huge Impact for your Audience with Small Changes | Live Q&A with Desiree
Dolecki, CMP, Director of Conferences and Events at AME | Wednesday, September 14, 9 AM PDT / 12 PM EDT |
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| Keep us in the know about your upcoming events! |
| September Calendar of Events |
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- Sept 8: Techonomy’s “Meet Me in Metaverse” session powered by NewSky XR. Invitations are available upon request.
- Sept 12-15: Working Group Week. Make your mark on the industry.
- Sept. 15: Denzil Rankine, Steven Colucci and Mike Hassard VEG Meeting
- Sept 21: Beauty 4.0: How Digital is Transforming the World of Beauty
- Sept 22: Observer’s “Why the Metaverse Means Business” powered by rooom. Invitations are available upon request.
- Sept 22: Digital Engagement Summit sponsored by Engagez
- Oct 12: We’ll have a booth at IMEX this year to show off some of our most successful members and show the world of destinations and events how to think digitally. If you’ll be attending let us know and we’ll “tawk.”
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