NFTs & Online Events: Real or Virtual Event Hype?
Have you heard of NFTs? The acronym has been everywhere lately, but do non-fungible tokens have a role to play in virtual events? With so much expansion in the virtual event space over the last few months, it’s no surprise that these one-off digital assets could have big implications for online events. From ticketing to gamification, to unique conference swag, there are plenty of areas where creative event organizers can apply NFTs to their virtual events. Event platform NOWHERE is even developing a unique “digital gallery” space to showcase NFTs.
It’s crazy to think that one year ago, very few people had any idea what an NFT was. Now, they’re being embedded in events. NFTs are just one example that demonstrates how dynamic this industry is, and how much more possibility we have as organizers to deliver even more incredible experiences.
What will be the next “big thing” to come to online events? I’ve been following the news, and here are the things that you won’t want to miss this week:
#EventTech:
- Copenhagen’s virtual events platform Tame raises €4.6 million in seed round [Tech.eu] Eventtech platform Tame is doing things a bit differently. By focusing on marketers and enterprises, they’re looking past big events and conferences onto an entirely new market.
- Messe Munchen partners with Grip for virtual events [Exhibition World] Virtual fairs are not slowing down as the pandemic continues, and Messe Munchen selects Grip for their upcoming fairs.
- vFairs Announces New Product Integrations to Accelerate Virtual Event Engagement and Offer a More Immersive User Experience [PR Newswire] Eventtech vFairs launches new integrations with Slido, ReStream, SynchWorlds, Interprefy and others– catching up with other leading platforms.
- Streamly harnesses AWS to put audiences in director’s chair [AV Magazine] Streamly allows organizers to easily synchronize and aggregate multiple HD camera feeds for video processing on demand.
- ON24 says the future of events isn’t on the ground – it’s digital-first. Here’s its innovation strategy for virtual and hybrid events [Diginomica] Eventtech ON24 showcases their digital-first hybrid engagement model, to enhance their experience at online events, translating into more leads and sales.
- EventsCase Launches All-new Knowledge Base for Event Profs [Event Tech Live] Eventtech platform EventsCase creates a knowledge platform for event organizers looking to create their own virtual experiences.
How to do it:
- The Transformation of Virtual Events [Business2Community] Some ways to transform your events and make them more effective– including more options across more days, and short sessions to serve a wider audience.
- A Definitive Guide to Hosting Online Events [Entrepreneur] Top tips for marketers when it comes to bringing online events into your marketing strategy.
- Four Ways to Use Interactive Content to Succeed at Virtual Tradeshows [Marketing Profs] Virtual product presentations and demos can bring your tradeshow appearance to the next level. Engage your audience!
- Überblick: CDN & Event-Plattformen [Event Partner] What is a content delivery network and how to choose the right one for you?
- Modern Event Marketing [Cvent] Handy guide for marketers on how to view events as an “asset not an expense” when it comes to improving event marketing ROI
- Made to measure: why event measurement is essential [MIT] Why measurement is one of the most important parts of an eventprof’s toolkit.
Don’t Miss It:
- Major organisers join Explori’s new virtual event data standard, VSef [Exhibition News] Event analytics firm Explori has launched a new open-source data standard for events, with the assistance of a few incredible partners. The goal is to help make data insights across events more standardized and useful for analysis.
- Virtual Events Will Last Beyond the Pandemic – Here’s How to Make the Most of Them [Tradeshow News] Grip CEO Tim Groot shares his top tips on why he believes the pandemic won’t slow the growth of online events.
- The Future of Conferences Is Hybrid [CMSWire] A case for the return to physical– but I’m not entirely convinced by some of the arguments here. I’m finding a lot of arguments about the return to physical to be based more in “feeling” rather than in convincing argument. What do you think?
- With the introduction of new features to accelerate learning and development, O’Reilly announces strong business growth [FEnews] O’Reilly Media is experiencing exponential growth this year, and its down to one thing: virtual events. Their Superstream Series of virtual events as well as their new courses on hosting virtual events have been responsible for a big part of it.
- The pandemic didn’t wreck news outlets’ hopes for events. Far from it, in some cases. [Poynter] Going digital supercharged this media outlet’s event series, increasing their connection to the audience and building community engagement.
- Virtual Counter Days registered record attendance [Fvw] Going virtual has led to record attendance for this regular event.
- Igus: Stolze 168 Innovationen bei der hybriden Motion Plastics Show 2021 [Industrie] How exhibitors are shifting to their own digital events, no tradeshow needed!
- How non-fungible tokens will be present at events [Special Events] The nitty-gritty on NFTs and if they’re going to be the next thing to add to your virtual events.
That’s it for this week! If you want to be kept up to date on the innovation of the event industry, sign up to The Lookout Newsletter! Read more editions of our newsletter here.
The Lookout Newsletter #24
**Written by:
**Felix Josephi
PIRATEx Managing Director