⚓ BivNFT takes LA
gm.
I decided that when NFTs are floundering and the macroeconomic climate looks dire, it would be an excellent time to attend my first NFT conference.
while the vibes may not be as euphoric as they once were at NFT events of the past, I am excited to meet some “real ones” this week who have stuck around through it all.
but mostly, I’m stoked to be having a new experience. my agenda (and mind) are open for the first time in a while…and I’m looking forward to learning more about NFTs.
I’ll dive into the topics I’m particularly interested in more below ⤵
ALPHA ⚓
it’s Hollywood baby…
when I first heard about NFTs, I was bullish on the idea that IP could come *before* films and television shows.
my thesis was this…brands and storytellers could market test characters and ideas in the NFT market *before* taking them to the big screen (or Netflix).
much like a early sketch of Mickey Mouse, NFTs offered a way modern companies (like Yuga Labs) to test out if people would even like their Ape creation in the first place before going all in (spoiler: they did).
on paper, it made a lot of sense to test it this way…as it allowed brand-building to become more cost effective. instead of getting a greenlight from a major studio with a $5 million budget, a company could launch an NFT project for far less.
it was essentially MVP testing for Web3 companies…which IPs stuck and which didn’t?
what I didn’t anticipate was a struggling streaming industry and an antiquated Hollywood system where it takes years (if not decades) to get things off the ground. NFTs have had huge, uphill battles to get their animations made…let alone penetrate any sort of mainstream media market.
since NFTs took off in 2021, we’ve only had people like Seth Green, Time Magazine, and others *tease* their shows…but outside of those we’ve really only seen rugs and the occasional failed YouTube series.
at NFT LA, I’d like to hear more about these struggles and what I can reasonably expect to see on the horizon for NFTs and mainstream media.
(I’ll definitely be attending the Animation panel with friend of the newsletter Jeremy Fisher speaking on his experience as a stop motion animator and NFT founder)
BETA ⚓
ah yes, AI
AI is all that anyone can talk about right now.
so I would find it hard to believe that it doesn’t come up at *some point* during a panel I attend this week at NFT LA…especially when so many digital artists will be in attendance.
(I have it at -1000 that it’s mentioned at a dozen separate panels)
with AI, you’re starting to see what happened with NFTs, crypto, and VR before that…in that everyone from your Forbes tech blogger to your dad is saying it’s the future.
and with those expectations, the gold rush and AI race is on…with every big company under the sun trying to get into the craze.
the same can be said for this conference, who ultimately needs butts in the seats. why NFT LA changed their name to Outer Edge I’ll never know (it’s a horrible name for a conference), but I imagine it’s partly so they could open up to this newer, larger audience who is interested in AI art.
(it certainly doesn’t hurt that they also got away from the (now) toxic stink that comes with the term “NFT”)
oddly enough, NFTs have been seated at the front row of the AI revolution this entire time. Art Blocks and other generative art projects have been experimenting with it for years now.
so I imagine that this conference will be a kind of perfect storm for the discussion on the future of AI and it’s relationship to art.
however, I’m already cringing at the fact that we’ll keep having the same questions asked across every panel about AI. and everyone will give the same canned answer about it…”either adapt or die”.
GAMMA ⚓
keeping an open mind
if you’ve been following my NFT journey this year, a lot has revolved around me pushing myself *outside* my comfort zone.
and I plan on continuing to do that.
this week, I hope to attend at least one panel about something completely out of my element (the panel above about Web3 biology and science seems perfect for that sort of thing).
maybe I come back finally understanding music NFTs…something I’ve never been able to quite wrap my head around. there seems to be a lot of panels on the future of music and its relationship to Web3 and NFTs.
or maybe it’s a panel that turns me on to a project I’ve never heard of or a founder I vibe with.
one thing is for sure: if I paid over $200 for this ticket, I better come home having learned *something* new by the end of the week.
if not, I think it’ll be a bad look that someone who’s currently unemployed went to a conference where he could have networked but instead he drank beer from a shoe…
DELTA ⚓
BivNFT meet-up?
speaking of beer, I would love to have grab a brew with my readers or literally anyone who will show up and chat with me.
I’m thinking about posting up at a brewery in the LA area on Tuesday or Wednesday and doing an impromptu BivNFT meet-up. are you down?
debating between Angel City Brewing, BoomTown Brewery, or something closer to where I’m staying in Glendale. I have no real events on my agenda, so I decided it might be best to just throw my own party. if no one shows up, that’s fine as I have no problem grabbing a drink just to sit there and do nothing.
after all, I am attending a conference this week…where I imagine I’ll be doing a lot of sitting and a whole lot of nothing.
see you Thursday for my NFT LA recap.
