My Face During the NFT NYC Conference: ??-??-??-??

NFT NYC took place in-person this week with 600+ speakers, 5000 attendees and 100+ sponsors. It felt like the inmates were running the prison. One they never wanted to actually leave.

These three days left my brain feeling like a Coca Cola bottle that a pack of Mentos was just dumped into it!

In a way, it reminded me of the Burning Man Festival: Most of the attendees lead a completely different lives outside of this gathering -- different jobs, titles and lifestyle that might have nothing to do with their NFT persona.

But here they can be Apes, Punks, Kitties, Llamas and Mushrooms running ramped across all five venues in Time Square. In this context, they are part of a crazy powerful community. One no one else seems to understands. Maybe their "IRL jobs" seem dull or irrelevant.

At NFT NYC I've had the pleasure of meeting doctors, ex-cops, starving artists, retailers, rappers and students…And they all have one thing in common:

None of them thought they’d be passionate about NFTs when they grow up. Well, probably because none of us knew it existed before 2018 (… or 5 mins ago).

Now, they are hoping it will change their life forever. Some will consider it their main income, others already told me all about how crypto earnings enabled them to tour the globe and buy a house.

The main goal of this article is for the Licensing Community to be able to peek into this [virtual] world and figure out how to leverage their existing relationships with brands, manufacturers and retailers to establishing new revenue streams and target audiences.

Licensing has now reached an old-school status. It hasn’t really been disrupted before (though e-commerce is definitely changing the game). The main reason was it’s a relationship-based industry. But the rapid shift to virtual should have an impact on it.

NFTs (and BlockChain on the overall) has the power to change it, mainly due to how rapidly the technology is evolving, bringing Licensing into new dimensions: disrupting legal, accounting and fan-based commerce at a very quick rate... it's only a matter of time until it hits the way you do licensing.

Here are a few takeaways to in order for us to start asking the right questions:

1. The NFT industry is also a community. Very similar to Licensing, it's a tight-knit community that in the heart of it all there are very strong pre-existing relationships that generate a $h!t ton of money.

It's true - right now, a lot of greed is propelling this community forward. According to Gary V the issue is with the "short term greed" players. There is nothing wrong with "long term greed". Eventually the opportunistic and the spectators will leave the scene, and the community will consist of people who want to use BlockChain Technology to change the world for good. Check out a few (Purpose) Powered Metaverse examples HERE

2. Play-to-Earn is the stickiest concept - BlockChain Games have the power to change the gaming industry for the better.

It’s ok if you want to to throw shade on it for now... it makes sense to harp on the guzzling energy and gas emissions , but if you’re in licensing you lost the right to speak about excess and waste a long time ago.

There are many companies providing solutions to mint (create NFTs) greener that make way more sense and traction than how we're approaching sustainability in manufacturing consumer products.

Companies such as CurrencyWorks have a smashing head start with their product zer00 (zero cost energy mining).

3. NFTs are giving people means to change their lives.?

Daily wage earned through play earned games is going to be 100x from what it’s today. Beyond what you can see happening in the Philippine, developing territories, such as LATAM & Africa are going to be the lead at this evolution.

Moreover, artists are finally understanding the importance of IP protection, and will have more respect towards the big licensors.?

NFTs have also leveled out the playing field, so even the smallest artists are able to sell their creations now for big bucks... and the fun part is there are no headaches around "manufacturing fees or shelf space".

4. How do we make sure to stabilize and empower the community?

As long as the community (and not opportunistic flippers) have an upside portion of the blockchain game, the community can strengthen and have more impact.?

If we make sure users need to earn the right to buy certain NFT (by putting in X amount of hours on discord, time/efforts in the game, etc.) it will scare off spectators, investors, etc.

5. You still don't understand why people are buying NFTs? It’s for The exact same reasons they are buying brands:

• Status
• Identity
• Membership/community
• Performance?
• Bragging Rights

Sound familiar? Yup, that's exactly why people want to own officially licensed merchandise.

6. I know what you're thinking: "Will metaverses just keep on multiplying like rabbits in Spring-Time???"

I suspect that the Future State of the metaverse is the same as B&M retail’s faith:

Consolidation.?

Eventually, there will be alliances formed between the smaller owners of games/metaverses .

It will enable us to?take our virtual assets (wearables, accessories, tools, etc.) from one world to other worlds. But not seamlessly...

For a while we will see platforms like Decenraland and Sandbox allowing to build on top of their scuffling.?However, this wont be deemed logical to existing IP from an optics and operations?front.

Eventually, strategic partnerships will be formed - Small independent creators/games will partner & aggregate to compete with the big game companies... while big companies will protect their IP and not license it out to other platforms.

7. Bringing some Licensing Lingo into all this Crypto-Jargon:

There is important interconnectivity between the real world and metaverse?- NFT is the fabric of the metaverse.

Licensing can operate in unique & profitable ways within this [white] space

• Opportunities for Licensors/IP Owners:

1. New product category with powerful features?
2. Easy way to verify ownership, authenticity and product journey.
3. Digital [everything] for better merchandising and marketing strategies
4. Creative & Design liberties you cant leverage IRL

It's now up to licensors to convince the NFT community to invest in their existing IPs, by promising to increase user engagement, provide a marketing boost, promote user retention, elevate their games profile (investors/partners) and generate more revenue (brands sell).

Companies such as RECUR FOREVER design & develop on-chain branded experiences for fans to buy, collect, and re-sell NFTs while keeping Licensors' best interests in mind, providing recurring royalties; While agencies like epic do a great job in linking the IP owners to virtual opportunities.

• Opportunities for Licensees/Manufacturers:

1. There are so many new IPs with a highly engaged audiences that are playing, earning burning NTFs. These new right owners are mostly developers, and still aren't savvy when it comes to bridging virtual goods to actual consumer goods. Their captive audience would love to unlock perks and benefits. In return, granting them access, collectives and that chance to purchase merch encompassing IRL bragging rights.

1. In appose to influencers who provide high-risk opportunities that depend on volatile individuals, why not take a chance on IPs with a fully baked-in audience that has skin in the game? it's like Gaming on steroids.
2. The NFT Community Managers will tell you exactly what the users want and how to involve them. Which makes it even a safer bet (think: Pre-Sales, POD, DTC in-game advertising, etc.).

• Opportunities for Artists:

Once a neglected category in Licensing, now is front & center. Skillful creators can now break through the clutter, build their own audiences and conduct trends instead of caving to retailers' demands.

1. Artists can create and sell their art with no helmet or training wheels on.
2. Endless creations sans most of the hard costs associated with finding an agent/licensee.
3. They can now score desirable jobs at exciting companies, and be part of very supportive communities.

• Opportunities for Professional Service Providers:

1. Creative Services and Specialty Agencies - Traditional Licensing Agencies wont get you much traction on this rocket ride, so agencies like PIXL8 were formed to make sure there's a strategy behind your NFT play with long term ROI attached.

??Shameless Plug-In: as a Creative Full-Service Agency, PowerStation Studios is enjoying many opportunities to help brands create the right strategy and assets to play & scale in PFP and different Metaverses. Without the right utility, it would be purposeless to embark on an NFT adventure.

1. Legal?- contracts, audits, advisory... it's all going to change. Firms that adapt and start paving the way, will enjoy many new clients from sectors they wouldn't have dreamt of servicing before this bubble inflated.
2. Brand Protection -BlockChain technology will be changing how we approach fakes, counterfeits and overall IP protection when it comes to licensing. Minting is your new seal of approval.

• For Retailers:

1. Space Shelf? ha. Retail spaces need to provide more experiential value.

A fact that compliments the fact that NFT platforms will eventually need to provide utility that will support benefits and rewards - unlocked, earned or driven by community commitment - to be cashed out IRL.

Every NFT based experience can be gamified and linked with real life products or services utilizing relevant tokenized ecosystems. Companies like MoonWalk have built a very enticing Web3 based solution to make sure the threshold for entering the crypto NFT world is lowered for everyone to enjoy their favorite brands - on and off line.

2. This community is young and fun. They will need venues to hang out in. What does the "ESPN Bar of the future" look like? What does the Disney x VeVe NFT unlock for me at Disney Parks and Stores? What kind of NFT do I score from POD's like BLANX for immediate gratification? The answers are out there.

Wrapping up with a quote from Ben Alquist, COO at ChainGuardians, who I've witnessed exercise endless patience, and almost lost his voice this week, in favor of educating NFT newbies and help big NFT players brainstorming opportunities, instead of pushing his agenda at the conference:

"There will be a time and place for competition,

But we are here to help the NFT community drive adoption to a blockchain world of endless opportunity -

our mission is to grow the community by putting our gamers first and forming partnerships with other ambitious projects in order to work collaboratively towards breaking through technological and ideological barriers."

This sentiment encompasses the overall mindset of the sponsors and attendees at NFT NYC this year, which made me "drink the kool-aid", and believe this community is a force to be reckoned with. They will be driving major change in the fan-based consumer goods world.

It's no surprise the Toy Fair Association is devoting space titled "Welcome to the Metaverse", spearheaded by The Virtual Events Group, at NY Toy Fair 2022.

Ping me if you have any questions or desire building the right bridges to & from the metaverse, as we pave and navigate this exciting space!

~Sharon "No Wax" Weisman