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NEWSLETTER 169
 
VIRTUAL EVENTS GROUP
 

My kids are in their teens, and they recognize far more creators than traditional actors.

—Cory Treffiletti writing in Media Online

 
 
 
 
 
FEBRUARY 29 | 3PM EDT | ZOOM
 
Our Next Reality
 
In honor of Alvin Graylin and Louis Rosenberg, our guests at the upcoming VEG MeetUp on Feb 29th, Reality In Jeopardy. Watch them duke it out for the big bucks and then settle in to discuss their soon-to-be-released book, Our Next Reality. Plus, it’s Leap Day. It’s a once in every four years MeetUp date.
 
RSVP NOW!
 
 
Featured Story
 
What Happens When We Don’t Wait in Line? 
 
 
 
“Waiting in lines to pick up your badges at an event is so much fun," said no one ever. But waiting in lines echoes back to simpler times. People met their true loves in them. Lines spawned an industry of line-waiters, some of the earliest gig economy members.


When I think of lines I always look to the masters of line management: the Disney Parks. Even before getting all high-teched up, Disney cleverly relied on combinations of in-line entertainment, monitors with views of the ride to get your endorphins going, and curving lines so you were always overhearing a new conversation. More than Ford, Disney turned lines into behavioral science. 


Skipping the line became a source of revenue. For those unable to fork over between $400 and $900 a day for the elite VIP tour, there are enough other Disney line enhancement choices to make your brain hurt. There were Fast Pass days (now retired) and Magic Bands (based on RFID). The latest include Disney Genie, a free line-manager app that basically tells you where to go when, though you will spend a fair amount of your day with nose-in-app. For an extra daily fee (under $50) there’s a mind-bogglingly complicated series of options including Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. Top it off with Digital Photo Passes that act as your built-in paparazzi at certain locations.

 
 
Disney’s early commitment to tech-based solutions is being deployed by others, especially at conferences and events. Waitwhile is a virtual queuing platform that lets you wander around until they’re ready for you. Event management companies such as MAP Digital introduced fast badging, differentiating themselves by addressing their clients' biggest peeves. Cvent’s OnArrival is used widely for quick check-ins. Zenus AI has an interesting solution using facial recognition and AI to speed up event badging. And CLEAR (yes, the ones you love to hate in the airports) are now doing check-ins for major arenas and stadiums including Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Companies like Evolv Technology are speeding up the bag check process with AI screenings. And SpotMyPhotos is a great Disney-esque service for providing private real-time photos (with branding) at your event.
 
 
 
Benjamin Button, Meet AI
 
True confessions. I’m all about finding the Dorian Grey anti-aging AI app. I found lots of apps that do a decent job of slowing the aging process, but few that were very good at doing a little anti-aging. Is it algorithmically easier to age than anti-age or is it that a younger generation is more aging-curious?

Age Swap, available on iOS, can age or de-age your photos to your liking. It’ll even do groups (great for reunions).
 
 
 
YouCam lets you wonder about gender reversal. Image credit: YouCam
 
 
FaceApp let me become a teen or an old woman but nothing in between. Here’s my teen self according to FaceApp (left image), which has something to do with what I actually looked like as a teen (right image). Image credit: Robin and FaceApp

TikTok and Instagram also let you de-age with a single filter.
 
 
A couple of things to note. It’s astounding that most of this aging/antiaging happens on your phone. Small screens are great for applying a quick effect or filter but terrible for fine-tuning and reshaping. For the moment, PhotoShop on a desktop still reigns supreme. But maybe only for the moment.
 
 
WEEKLY
 
Scuttlebutt
Readables and Watchables
 
 
 

A Tell-All About Tech

Kara Swisher is the Tom Wolfe of tech journalism. She’s spent a lifetime creating a narrative about the “tech bros” of Silicon Valley that has become widely acknowledged. They’re smug, overeducated, mostly white males, who move fast and break things with little regard for anything but tomorrow’s valuation. In her new opus titled Burn Book she has painted a narrative that’s Bonfire of the Vanities meets the Silicon Valley. Her book and excerpts like this one in New York Magazine tell the story of a young reporter (Kara) who knew that predicting tech would change the world, for the better or not. What I love about Swisher is the media agnosticism. She’s comfortable writing a book, hosting a podcast, or writing a Tweet (on X) pointed enough to make Mark Zuckerberg sweat. 

 
 
Kara Swisher’s Burn Book recounts the rise of the bro culture with a cautionary tale to be vigilant about tech-creep.
 
 

Destinations

Doha, Qatar, is eating the events businesses’ lunch, looking a lot like the next shiny/shiny. Dubai has already cemented its place as a leading conference destination with conferences such as GITEX continuing to grow. What these two sovereign states have that others lack is lockstep support from the government and the business entities. The Qatar Incentive Scheme assists with everything from fast visas to working with event organizations. 

 

Next week, the Web Summit meets for the first time in Doha. The headliner is Trevor Noah and Qatar Airlines offers Web Summit attendees a 15% flight discount.


 
 
Image credit: Web Summit Qatar
 

Silicon Valley Video Summit

Last month our team helped produce the Silicon Valley Video Summit, a day in the heart of the Valley to look at how video production has become the lingua franca of corporate life. We put the spotlight on technical directors and event producers from companies including Microsoft, Facebook, Adobe and Google. 

 
 

Adobe MAX Does DeSantis

Adobe’s annual creativity conference for its users was a regular fixture in LA until a few days ago, when it was announced that the 2024 event was heading east to Miami, Florida. According to Business Insider (paywall), hundreds of Adobe employees are protesting the move to “unwoke” Florida. Just how sensitive to politics should event planners be?

 
 
 
APRIL 13-17 | LAS VEGAS
 
Upcoming Event
 
We've been having so much fun building the #CreatorLab with the NAB Show team. Join us as we explore the boundless opportunities in the Creator Economy with industry leaders Robin Raskin and Jim Louderback.
 
 
 
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Robin Raskin | Founder
917.215.3160 | robin@virtualeventsgroup.org

Gigi Raskin | Sales/Marketing

917.608.7542 | gigi@virtualeventsgroup.org