Reflections from NFT.LDN

I know enough about myself to know I need a few days to reflect on events before passing comment. I like to let things percolate a bit in my brain, spend some quiet time with my thoughts and reflect on what I enjoyed and didn’t so much.

Last Thursday and Friday I attended my first NFT/Web3 IRL event, as a speaker no less! Although found out there were 800 of us so not quite as special as it may sound but more on that later.

I’m going to assume if you’re reading this you know about NFT.LDN so won’t go into it here. It was the first one on UK turf and 5th (possibly 6th?) event by the same organisers.

Held at the Queen Elizabeth II centre over 6 floors, it was way bigger than I had imagined. And it was a maze to find things, with no floor following the same footprint as the one below. Cue lots of people walking round looking lost and exiting lifts before realising they were on the wrong floor and doing a 180.

Before I offer my reflections on the event, a couple of things about me and my perspective. This is important as we are all uniquely different, we all have different experiences and needs and wants and in my experience (20 years plus of organising fundraising events for the charity sector)?it is impossible to please all the people all the time.

And this is especially true of an event like NFT.LDN which was trying to appeal to (deep breath) Gamers, Investors, Artists, Not for Profits, Brands, Collectors, DAOs, Developers, People in Fashion & Film, Legal & Accounting, Musicians, Sportspeople and Educators.

The organisers model of offering out 800 speaker spots so that they have that critical mass of attendees is an interesting one. Their argument was they wanted to give as many people a voice as possible, and in particular the chance for newbies to have a platform, many for the first time. The ultimate onboarding opportunity you could argue.

I guess the flipside to that is it kind of dilutes the messaging by having so many talks. In trying to appeal to a wide a group as possible, it becomes a little wishy washy, talks of 10–25 minutes never really going in to any depth and at times felt like you’re watching endless commercial breaks. Personally I found the talks really confidence boosting as there was only one that I had no clue what was being talked about.

By mid way through the first day I started questioning my place at this event. None of the talks spoke to me or immediately demonstrated their value and I felt completely out of my comfort zone at times. But after giving it a bit more thought I realised; there is a value to this type of mass event.

Let me explain; we want to do things differently in Web3. We want to collaborate and share more. Be more transparent and build things in a way that creates more equity, diversity of voices and lived experiences. And one way to achieve that is by getting out of our silos and listening and understanding different ways of working and approaching problems. Why can’t I learn from the way musicians are setting themselves up for success or how NFTs can fund space exploration? It’s kind of magical really. And from my perspective of working in one sector for 20 years, it’s really energising and exciting.

Would I have bought a ticket to attend if I hadn’t been chosen to speak? No.

Was I pleased to have got a free ticket, heard some interesting talks (on all sorts of stuff), met some fabulous people who I’d met online and can now call friends, drank good coffee, soaked up the atmosphere in one of the best Cities in the World? 1000 x Yes.

Some suggestions for next time:

I do believe there is a place for a cross sector/industry Web3 event such as this?at the moment. Its not going to be appropriate forever, because as soon as mass adoption kicks in, each industry will become too large and will splinter off to have their own huge event.

It could have been even more valuable by having less speakers and talks. Slowing everything down, giving plenty of time for networking, would make the talks and presentations more impactful, better attended and provide opportunity for interaction from the audience.

The ticket price has to be addressed. The tickets were extortionate and if I’d paid to go I would have felt ripped off. If the organisers mission really is to onboard more people, the ticket price has to be more accessible.

I don’t know how much this already happens but involving the community more in the organisation and programme would be good. Speak to experts in those specific fields as to who they’d like to hear from and on what topics.

QEII Centre was fantastic, the staff were brilliant, the location is incredible (the toilets have incredible views), coffee was amazing. But some of the spaces could have been utilised way better. It felt pretty empty on some of the floors. Why not offer empty space to artists to have a free stand to talk about their projects?

Puppy Room all day every day. LOVED IT!

Would love to know what your thoughts were if you attended?

What could future Web3/NFT events look like?