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Sheryl Sandbergâs Complicated Legacy. For every woman whoâs leaned in, backed out, or inched forward, Sandbergâs story is a fascinating study in contrasts. Read about it in my Technomy column. |
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June 8 | 4:00pm EDT | Zoom |
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Last chance to sign up for our Town Hall on Digital Data |
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Join us Today: Donât forget to join us this afternoon as we look at the importance of getting the right data from your digital events. |
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Summer Fest in the Metaverse |
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Mark June 16th on your calendars when weâll take you to the land of NewSky XR. On the heels of receiving a platinum Hermes Award, NewSky just announced that it also won the Telly Awards. |
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Events are Back; See How Theyâve Changed |
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Itâs fascinating to look across recent live events and see how theyâve evolved after a locked down world. Here are reports from Augmented World Expo, Licensing Expo, IMEX and E3 as they return to the new normal.
E3: What Replaces Live Events, A Cautionary Tale
Despite the fact that E3 is not happening this June, the gaming industry retained its rhythm of announcements. Maybe itâs temporal imprinting?
Protocol Media calls it âNot-E3â but reports that the schedule of press conferences from major game vendors reminds us that weâve been trained on seasonality. To quote Protocol, âgaming companies stopped needing
E3 a long time ago.â The story reports that âthe annual game conference has been antiquated for quite some time, and game companies have become much more savvy.â Direct presentations, geographically scattered events, virtual events, fan based events, and other experiences give these companies more options than the traditional exhibition route. Also note that a
relative newcomer (2020), Summer Game Fest, is scheduled for June 9th. Greg Keighley, the show's creator, maintains that the Summer Game Fest
has a different vibe than E3. He invites attendees to co-stream and spread the game news with him. Lesson learned? If thereâs a void, it will be filled. |
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IMEX
The 2022 IMEX show In Frankfurt, after a two-year hiatus, reported 9,000 attendees, including close to 3,000 buyers, along with 2,300 exhibiting companies. Since itâs a show for event producers, the event industry is rejoicing over the
turnout. But the new realities of the events marketâinflation, supply chain, labor shortages, and an emphasis on sustainability and diversityâwere up for discussion and will challenge the events industry to adapt. Some strong themes at the show included the importance of high quality production for virtual events, long-term reskilling and staff development, and the
fact that attendeesâ and sponsorsâ commitments to the show have become much more last minute. |
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Licensing Expo
The Licensing Expo is having a moment because licensing is going to play an increasingly important role in the evolution of Web 3.0. Sharon Weisman, a member of the VEG Board of Advisors, reported from Vegas that thereâs what she calls licensing-in and licensing-out. The first is brand/art that starts in digital form (say a piece of NFT artwork). The latter is when you take an IP and extend it beyond its core.
Sharon also mentioned that âthere wasnât a whole lot of NFT talk at the show since it is still an industry mostly driven by mass retailers and volume buyers. Despite the lack of direct emphasis on NFT creation, every single toy company is discussing a âdigital firstâ strategy. Every company from McFarland to Mattel is figuring out how to establish a new revenue stream
in Web3. Most of them are building in-house platforms to sell their NFTs.â
âOn the show floor, Brand Central represented an independent bunch of Bored Ape Owners (these are owners of Bored Apps, not backed by Yuga Labs). Calling themselves âThe Boredâ they were looking for
licensing opportunitiesâ |
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Bored of Directors, a private group of ape-owners, showed up at the licensing show to explore how to extend their IP. Image credit: Brand Central |
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At this moment, Weisman says that âthe easiest entry point for IP into the metaverse seems to be Roblox.â Eventually she expects these games to be trumped by actual cryptoverses and the blockchain. Virtual Brand Group won an award at the show for its Forever21(the retail store)/Barbie/Roblox arrangement. Consumers can buy the Barbie capsule collection of fashion as
real life clothing, or as clothing for their avatars. Theyâll also sell accessories.
Finally, Weisman notes that a lot of toy companies are going to offer much cheaper NFTs, understanding that the true fans arenât crypto whales. Look for NFTs as low as $25 for a McFarland NFT. Collectible NFTs without utility are aimed at a small, but passionate group, not the mainstream. |
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Image credit: Brand Central |
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Davos World Economic Forum
Despite the idealistic rhetoric about crypto being an alternative to centralized banking, the big story to emerge from the Davos World Economic Forum is that crypto-heads were at Davos in full force. You might say that Davos was crypto bombed. WEF attendees were bombarded with signs advertising stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto brokerage Bitcoin Suisse as they got off their planes in Zurich or trains in Davos. Kristin Smith, Executive Director of The Blockchain Association, appeared on a number of panels and reported that âthe overall tone around crypto was positive and encouraging. Thereâs a growing crowd that now sees the staying power of crypto
integrating into our financial systems and our economy.â But even as she applauds their efforts, others believe that Davoâs relevance as an event might be waning. |
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Caption: MagicLeapâs new glasses. Credit: Robin Raskin, selfie |
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Have you been to a live event or a great virtual event recently? Send us your observations. |
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Riding a Bike Backward
Watching this video from Smarter Every Day about how to learn to ride a backward bike reminds me of whatâs transpiring in the events business. We are unlearning and relearning everything we know about events. Can you ride a bicycle with backwards steering?
Touchless Activiations
QR codes, RFIDs, beacons and touchless registration are teching-up every part of the live event experience
with new ways to connect. Health and safety combined with the labor shortage are the driving factors.
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