xDay Munich
Concept, experience design, overall production and hosting
xDay Munich brought together around 300 people to explore real-world uses of blockchain. We gave them a few to try while they were there.
People needed tickets. They might want merchandise, something to play, something to remember the day by. We had partners whose products could make those things happen. I wanted the technology to contribute to the experience of attending.
A jacket with a story
The founder's leather jacket was already a familiar sight to people following MultiversX. We gave it an adventure of its own. In A Jacket's Journey, it found itself in the company of a memecoin dog, a wizard and a beaver mistaken for a bear. Three episodes were released online, with a fourth onchain.
The story continued in a game set in a digital version of Munich. Players used tokens to acquire items and earn points on a leaderboard. The prize was the actual jacket. Its owner, Beniamin Mincu, would be there to part with it.
Working with Tagrity, we tokenized the jacket and selected merchandise. The physical objects were linked to digital certificates of authenticity. The jacket therefore had a place in each part of the event: the story, the game, a demonstration of the technology and, finally, someone's wardrobe.
A ticket in. Something to keep.
XOXNO provided the digital tickets people used to enter. It was a practical place to begin: everyone attending already needed a ticket.
With Itheum, we made onchain time capsules containing conference highlights and exclusive behind-the-scenes material. They gave attendees a collection to keep after the event, and gave the technology a purpose people could understand without another presentation.
The tickets, game, merchandise and capsules each had a different job. Some were part of attending; others were an invitation to play or explore. As the host, I could introduce them in the context of the day.
The people making it
And when you try to do interesting things, interesting things often happen. And contributors willing to make things happen that same day become easy to find.
We wrote and produced the series in a matter of weeks. The ticketing team was happy to jump in. The game went from an idea to something people could play. Partners were excited to participate and give their products a useful place in the event.
I led the concept and overall production, directing the work with partners and specialists. Around those experiences sat the conference itself: speakers, rehearsals, vendors, dinner, broadcast and on-site delivery. I also hosted the day. The people implementing each part brought their own craft and judgment to it.
What I remember most is how readily people joined in. They were happy to try the technology, play the game and understand what it was doing there. The same enthusiasm was there among the people making it.