Author - Ben Yurcisin
As I walked past the London Eye and Big Ben on my way to the first ever NFT London conference, I was filled with excitement to see what the web3 scene was all about on this side of the pond, only having experienced the ecosystem in the US myself.
I entered the massive and beautiful venue Queen Elizabeth II Centre to a smooth check-in process and 6 floors of stages, food, networking and collaboration with my favorite tech community out there. Given that NFT London was created by the same team behind NFT NYC, the setup was quite similar with panel discussions and keynote talks throughout the day about everything ranging from web3 gaming, to NFT marketing and community building, to NFT rewards and digital identities, and so much more – with a large portion of the speakers actually based out of the UK and sharing the innovative projects being built in this region.
The first panel I checked out was called “Brand Marketing with NFTs: The Next Generation of Engagement” which was a very intriguing conversation around how big brands – and small alike – should be leveraging NFTs effectively to enhance their brand and actually take the time to listen to those in the space before taking the leap themselves. There was also the notion of “burn Discord with fire” (Ella @bright_lightart) which I think is a common sentiment felt in the space at this point with many feeling Discord fatigue from the bear market. The panelists spoke about how new platforms and tech will emerge over the next 6 months and beyond, and businesses need to stay on top of the fast progression of the space if they want to WAGMI (we’re all gonna make it). The conversation concluded with an interesting perspective that brands should stop focusing on selling NFTs – and instead should focus on selling their actual product and leveraging NFTs as a reward and incentivization structure for their community.
Afterwards I had a chance to speak with Evil (@evilplaninc) about his super innovative and exciting (and secret) web3 e-sports game coming out soon – Secret Fight Club.
On the panel “NFT and Games in 2022: What’s Next in this Industry”, Evil talked about how they’re leveraging a DAO ecosystem (decentralized autonomous organization) to build out different teams that can essentially strategize and configure an AI fighter, and then compete against other teams where the winners get rewarded in crypto and other incentives through prize pools and traditional monetization mechanisms. What I think is especially awesome about this is that you don’t necessarily need to be a gamer to get involved – it’s more about coming together as a community and then watching – rather than actually playing – the fights based on your team’s strategy. Another sentiment from this chat was that for your P2E (play to earn) games to truly stick with your audience, the focus needs to be on the actual user experience and game play, not the tokenized rewards. Otherwise, your community will just bounce around to the games that offer the highest rewards, rather than being genuinely loyal to your brand.
The last chat I enjoyed of the day was a keynote speech from a friend of mine and NYC native – Brian Stollery of W3bStock. In his chat “Enhancing and Incentivizing Live Music and Entertainment IRL through NFTs”, Brian broke down how NFTs are supporting artists in a multitude of ways and allowing them to truly capitalize on their creations. Between NFTs as event tickets, to music NFTs where artists get to maintain IP rights to their songs, to fan clubs and ticket scalping prevention, the power of web3 goes well beyond traditional artists and empowers musicians in many ways. There was even mention of the endless possibilities presented by this space, such as a holographic rap battle between Biggie Smalls and Kendrick Lamar in Bryant park (please call me when that day comes cause I will be there). W3bstock is bringing together artists in web3 by creating IRL experiences for musicians to perform, showcase their art and collaborate on awesome projects all while entertaining lucky attendees and building out their fanbase. They had their initial event in NYC and are hosting W3bStock London as an official satellite event for NFT London – unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it on this trip but am certain that it was epic and truly brought the energy and fun that Brian is known for creating!
And as always – satellite events are my favorite part of the whole experience and really enable the “degen” community to come to life. We even hosted an activation with the Nexus Voyagers Network where we are on a mission to bring together NFT creators from around the world to spark the Resurgence of the space through the power of the global network – and that global network effect was absolutely felt in London at our little shindig.
That’s what I like to call NFTs after dark.
A new friend of mine event found and gifted me and old copy of Oliver’s Twist from 1925 at our event – now I was feeling the historical vibes of the UK!
The vast mix of conversations and topics covered at NFT London just goes to show that the NFT space scales well beyond art, and we are still in the early stages of these use cases. So don’t be mistaken by the bear market we’re currently in, because the builders are still out there creating and making magic happen – that will inevitably pop off when the market returns.
It turns out the web3 presence in London is pretty solid after all, and it even gave me an excuse to travel back to one of my favorite cities. So I’m certainly a fan of NFT London!
And let's not forget the food too! Iconic fish and ships - english style:
Between the awesome conversations, energy, innovation, connections and more through these IRL events, I’m constantly reminded why the NFT space has the most awesome community of any that I’ve been a part of. I’m regularly meeting cool people who are pushing the barriers and innovating the future of the space, and I can’t wait to see how this space develops as we enter mass adoption and show the public what the power of NFTs truly can be.
Until next time London – cheerio mates!
About the Author:
Ben Yurcisin - ParlayMe Tech Reporter -
I am a serial entrepreneur with a background in engineering and a passion for creating community through fun and value-packed events. As founder of BeYu Labs - a web3 startup focused on empowering web3 entrepreneurship through connections and events - I aim to explore the unique opportunities and potential presented by the rise of NFT culture and future of the internet as we know it. I spend my free time playing guitar, skateboarding, traveling and researching overpriced JPEGs. Join the Discord: bit.ly/beyulabsdiscord