Thanks to Leigh Ann Varney for reminding us that this photo of me near Positano, Italy, makes a great poster for the Virtual Events Group (VEG).

Our mission at the Virtual Events Group is twofold. The first is to serve our members and attendees with a guide to the tools, platforms, and services that help you create better events, both in person and virtually. The second is our thriving consultancy, one that gives our members a chance to play in our various sandboxes. Now that in-person events are back in full swing, we’ve been taking many of the lessons learned from the pandemic and coupling them with our years of experience in creating killer events. The end product gives storied events a much-needed tech-forward facelift.

At Cosmoprof we brought a taste of high tech including AI, AR, VR, and spatial computing to the world of beauty. The speakers at the High Tech Beauty session included (left to right), Robin Raskin, Founder of the Virtual Events Group, Raffaella Gregoris, CEO and Founder of Bakel, Val Vacante, VP of Innovation at Dentsu, Rachel Weiss, VP of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at L’Oreal, Dina Fierro, Digital Innovation, web3 Strategy, and Metaverse Experiences at Shiseido Americas. 

The Times of London and Madame Figaro both reported on the emphasis on beauty personalization. To illustrate tech’s role in beauty, VEG compiled this mood-setting video. And, while beauty might seem a bit frivolous to some, we pointed out that beauty tech offers a shot at more sustainable products, with fewer product returns, and more customer engagement. Will you be putting lipstick on your avatar? You bet. 

In less than two weeks (April 14-17) we’re launching the Creator Lab at NAB Show in Las Vegas. What makes us different from other creator-focused experiences? We have a razor-sharp focus on tactics and practices. We’ll have 30+ sessions including folks like Chris Laxamana, the producer of the Adam Carolla show, and Mr. Beast’s President, Marc Hustvedt. Other presenters represent TikTok, LG, Blackmagic Design, and more. Plus announcements and workshops from the Creators Guild of America, Opus Clip, Vimeo, and others. For more info, check out the full program, read what TubeFilter has to say about the show, or watch our show preview on YouTube. Register using the code CL15 for complimentary admission. 

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations, has organized AI for Good, a spectacular 2-day program in Geneva (May 30 and 31). With more than 80 sessions, AI for Good addresses how AI can work as a problem solver across many industries such as medicine, education, sustainability and smart city planning.

VEG will be there with Felix Zeltner from Remote Daily, to produce a series of live podcasts that will bring you highlights from the AI for Good community. You’ll be able to watch on the VEG channel as well as the AI for Good LinkedIn Page. Spend your Memorial Day weekend with us. 

On June 18 we’ll be at Augmented World Expo in lovely Long Beach, California, showcasing how VR is becoming a meaningful companion for seniors. Whether it’s companionship, pain management, physical therapy, or improved cognition, seniors use VR to broaden their worlds. Ted Werth of Mynd Immersive, Rick Robinson of AARP, creators of VR headsets, and others will discuss how seniors are embracing virtual worlds. We’re offering a 20% discount to VEG members to attend with the code 24VEGD. 

What Would Einstein Think?
Salesforce reportedly paid more than $20 million to license Albert Einstein’s image to promote its AI efforts. I guess, it’s all relative, right?

LinkedIn Does Short Form 
Imagine using a short form video to produce your resume or hawk your business? LinkedIn is experimenting with a "TikTok for professionals" focusing on news, learning, and creator content. Austin Null is following the progress closely on his LinkedIn page. Using video in a B2B environment like LinkedIn seems like a damn good idea. 

It's Ryan's World
Chris Williams, founder and CEO of pocket.watch, a digital studio that creates content for kids and families, says that “it’s the creator economy that’s poised for 100% growth and not big media.” He should know. One of pocket.watch’s major talents is  Ryan Kaji. Starting his career as an adorable kid who opened toys on YouTube, Ryan is now the central figure in a franchise that’s just signed a movie deal for Ryan's World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure. Moral of the story? Parents are still trying to figure out whether their kids’ obsessions are harmful or career-building. For a deeper look at the creator economy read Goldman Sachs’ projections. 

Image credit: pocket.watch and others

MicroEvents to Watch
They’re not SXSW or CES, but they don’t want to be. New events like Slush, an event for startups held in Helsinki, and NoCode Summit in Paris had only a few thousand attendees but they were the right attendees. There’s a growing place in the events world for smaller, more targeted events.