Blockchain Use Cases for IRL Events

A Deep-Dive into Applications of Blockchain Technology in Organizing Real-Life Events.

Blockchain. This is the buzzword of the 21st Century. It is the technology, which will lay the foundation for the Future of the Web (Web3).

Blockchain, is a decentralised Peer-to-Peer network. Information on the Blockchain is not stored on a single server, but simultaneously distributed across every participant in the Network. This essentially reimagines the way we interact, with other Humans & Companies on the Web.

We’ve already seen the utility of Blockchain enabled products & services in the field of Finance, while use-cases in Healthcare, Supply-chain management, Cloud-storage & several other avenues, continue to evolve.

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Blockchain 🤝 Real-Life Events

With the prospects of Metaverse & Virtual Reality, it often seems irrelevant to talk about real world events. I mean, who cares about Physical interaction when you can strap on a VR Headset & attend any event, anywhere, anytime. Well, we do care.

IRL (In-real Life) events are very important, not only for interaction of community members, but also for bringing mainstream audience onboard.

The Global Events Industry, is roughly valued at $850+ Billion today & is set to reach a $1 Trillion value, before the end of the decade.

Source : Evedo

Blockchain Technology can revolutionize the IRL events space by solving some of the major inefficiencies & introducing newer ways of organizing & executing events. We’ll explore the Use Cases of Blockchains in IRL events & understand the space in-depth. Let’s Dive in! 🌊

Events may include, but aren’t restricted to Conferences, Seminars, Art Exhibitions, Hackathons, Social Meet-ups, Sports matches, Music Concerts, Conventions & Parties.

Common participants in an Event are:

1. Organizers: They are the host of the event. They Organize & plan the entire event & make crucial decisions. Ex: Solana Community is the Organizer of Solana Breakpoint Conference.

2. Attendees: They are the ones attending the event. Ex: Developers & Founders attending the Breakpoint Conference.

3. Event Service Providers: They assist the organizers, by providing services like Ticketing, Accomodation, etc. Ex: Helio allows attendees to buy tickets with USDC for Breakpoint Conference.

4. Sponsors: They fund or support the event. Ex: Chingari is supporting the Breakpoint Conference.

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Here’s what Blockchain brings to the Table

By virtue of its nature & structure, Blockchain brings the following benefits to the IRL Events space:

1. Decentralisation: This indicates the distribution of information & access across all participants of the Event Ecosystem, providing them transparent view of Data & activities.

2. Trustless System: Blockchain acts as an unbiased enforcement of rules & conditions, which allow all participants to interact amongst themselves, without depending on a third-party or central authority.

3. Immutable Record: Blockchain allows record of every event, activity, transaction & participant to remain immutable & stored, which can be accessed for future reference.

4. Incentivisation: Blockchain allows for organizers to create a system, where every participant is compensated based on how they contribute to the event & introduces newer ways of interactions between the participants.

Now let’s explore some Real-life use cases!

I’ve taken help of Bob, our imaginary friend who’ll be part of the examples which will help you understand these Use cases better!

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NFTs 🎉

Non-Fungible Tokens are the Hype of the moment! Pictures of Apes selling for Millions & new collections launching everyday. But somewhere amidst that noise, is the true utility of a remarkable technology.

NFTs are Digital Assets. Owning an NFT is like owning a Car or a House; The only difference, is that your ownership of NFTs is authenticated on a Blockchain Network. If you buy or sell such tokens, the record is available on the Blockchain & can be verified.

NFTs are the most secure & efficient way to own almost anything.

Here’s how NFTs are used in the Events Industry:

1. Funding 💰

Any organizer that plans an Event, will require funds. The traditional path to the same remains getting Sponsors, which will bombard the event with Ads & Not-so catchy Taglines.

Here’s a solution, NFTs can be used to fund an event. Organizers, can launch an NFT Collection aimed at raising Funds for the Event. If someone buys these NFTs, they are indirectly providing Funds for the Event, while also receiving a Proof of their Contribution, an NFT!

Investors & Attendees can buy these NFTs, fund IRL Events & in return, can get many associated benefits along with them.

Ex: Bob buys an NFT from a popular Sports Franchise’s collection. The Cost-price of NFTs from this collection helped them organize a Charity match with all of Bob’s favourite players. Since he was the early supporter, he got a chance to meet all the players and a free seat for the match.

Glimpses of Veecon - source

Veecon - An IRL Conferences for Web3 & NFT Enthusiasts is organized by the VeeFriends Community. Gary Vee, the visionary Entrepreneur was the Founder of the Community. To fund the event & attract attendees, they launched an NFT Collection. The holder of these NFTs, was given access to the event (Acting like a Ticket) while also getting access to other exclusive services. These NFTs also have a resale value which the early investors & buyers can benefit from. A lot of other events have followed a similar model.

To sum it up, NFTs allow early believers in an event to invest & receive due benefits & credit for it.

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2. Ticketing 🎟️

Tickets are a major chunk of the Event Economy & the most accessible element to the Attendees. We went from Long queues for Physical Papers to Digital Ticket Sales & QR Codes; But we still have a few problems that need to be solved.

NFTs can act as tickets to all types of events. The ownership of an NFT can be verified & the owner can get access to the Event premises or amenities easily. Here’s why this is better than traditional ticketing:

• Prevent Malpractices: Frauds are rampant in existing Ticketing tools, due to their vulnerability as a Centralized System. Hackers may forge fake tickets, program bots to bulk-buy tickets & resell with an inflated price (scalping) or create fake phishing sites to exploit attendees. The security & transparency of Blockchain networks, prevents NFTs from any such dangers.

• Traceability: Organizers can easily track the distribution of NFT Tickets. This includes the ability to provide early ticketing access to select individuals or limiting the amount of Tickets sold at once.

• Perpetual Revenue: Organizers can arrange for reselling of previously bought tickets, directly by the attendees. This will incentivise more participation & make Tickets a token of ownership.

Companies like TicketMint, MetapassHQ, Ticketh, etc. are working on providing robust Ticketing services for IRL Event Organizers. They allow Organizers to monitor & track NFT Ticket sales while the attendees can mint Tickets in seconds!

CandyPay is making Gas-less NFT Minting possible, which addresses a major Gap in the space & makes the experience more seamless.

Example of an NFT Ticket for an event I attended recently, viewed on Solscan - here.

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3. POAP 👋

The Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) allows for Event Organizers to reward attendees with NFTs that authenticate their presence or participation in a particular event. These can be Soulbound tokens, i.e NFTs which can’t be transferred or sold because their ownership requires for the attendee to be present at the IRL Event. POAP NFTs are essentially a token of Loyalty & Participation that may come with associated Benefits.

Ex: Bob has a Proof of Attendance NFT for a Developers Workshop that he attended last month. This NFT verifies that he completed all the tasks required in the course. He can now show it to his Developer friends or add to his Job resume.

Vitalik Buterin’s POAP Collection. Check it out here - source

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Supply Chain Management 🔗

Any event involves planning of Venue, arrangement for food, accessories & tools necessary for the Event. This involves various Contractors & Service Providers that will contribute to this process.

Smart Contracts on the Blockchain can make this coordination efficient & transparent. Here’s how this works:

Smart Contracts are pieces of Code, that execute a command when certain Conditions are met. In case of IRL Events, an application can be built with Smart Contracts that determine when to pay a service provider or when to reward a particular attendee.

The entire operations process of an Event can be taken on-chain, where smart contracts will determine everything & make unbiased decisions. The Benefits of this are:

• It builds a truly independent Ecosystem. Anyone who gets tasks done will receive a predetermined payment. Bob delivers 50 tables to the venue; Bob verifies this action on the Smart Contract; $5000 are transferred to Bob’s wallet. No chances of delay or foul play.

• It stores history of all transactions & activity for Future Reference. Bob delivered the tables before the deadline; He has on-chain record of previous experience; Let’s hire Bob for this another event as well.

There is a massive opportunity in combining the use of Blockchain & IoT (Internet of Things). This combination has potential to disrupt not just the Events Supply Chain, but perhaps the Global Supply Chain.

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Data & Identity Management 🪪

Companies & Event Organizers collect a wide range of Data from Attendees & Service Providers while planning an event. This includes details of every participant alongside Analytics for the Event at large.

Presently, the tools used to collect & process this data are exposed to potential Fraudulent activities while making the process of Data Management in the long-term, inefficient.

Blockchain allows this Data to exist Trustlessly, i.e actual identities of attendees will not be vulnerable, instead all their Data will be encrypted on the Blockchain & stored in a decentralised manner, preventing hacks. Blockchain can be used to Collect, Process & Store this Data. This includes:

• End-to-End Profile Management of Participants. They can be verified & given access to sub-events or features. There historic data will remain on the Blockchain, allowing for reference in the future. 0x28f…456K (i.e Bob) attended the event; verified his details; visited this sub-event & contributed this way.

• Transaction history between participants & testimonials can be stored on-chain in case this Data is to be reviewed. Service Providers can use this feature for Analytics of Events. 0x28f…456K (i.e Bob) attended 3 of these events previously; He enjoyed the first 2, the last one could have been better; He also received a surprise NFT for his Hat-trick, he can access an exclusive lounge with it.

Civic is a company working along similar lines, but there still remains potential for Platforms to build such Technology for Events (Such Softwares, will be a combination of Smart Contracts + Decentralised Storage).

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DAOs & Governance 🏛️

Every event requires so many decisions to be made. The Venue, timings, ticket price, invitees, etc.

In a traditional setting, such decisions are made by the Organizers & are rarely subject to change. Blockchain proposes a newer Decision Making paradigm for Events.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are a group of people, working with a common vision. Here, there is no central decision making body; instead, all members are given certain rights which allow them to vote for decisions & progress as a community. All operations of a DAO are carried out on-chain via smart Contracts.

Any Event can be transformed into a DAO, with all participants allowed to vote. Here’s probably how this will go down:

• Bob is an early NFT Holder for a Music Company’s Collection. He’s now allowed to vote on the venue & date for the next rock concert.

• Bob has a Service Provider NFT for a Food Festival. He can vote upon the types of stalls or food categories for the annual event.

Companies like Squads, Realm & Snapshot are already working on similar DAO setup & voting tools. Read more about the same, in my article here.

Evedo is taking this one step further by providing end-to-end Event Management with Blockchain Technology. They’ve launched their own Ticketing & Event Management tools. They’ve also launched the $EVED token, which aims at creating a native Economy around Events. These tokens are involved in all transactions for an event (Ticket purchase, payments, rewards,etc.); They are building the most sophisticated tools to bring Blockchain Technology into the Events industry.

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Areas of Focus ahead 🚀

• The present Events Economy is Fiat currency dependent with participants unaware of how Web3 technology functions. This is an area of improvement where Companies need to build solutions that onboard a wider audience to Blockchain platforms, make use of Cryptocurrencies more mainstream & educate others like Bob about this technology.

• There is still a Gap in the market for a product like Luma, which brings an ease & simplicity to conducting Events.

• There is also a Gap for integrating the Content Creator & Influencer Economy in IRL events & leveraging the future of Creator Tokens & Content Ownership.

• Companies building in this space need to ensure they have a mobile-first approach & a friendly UX for people to be able to use all the tools & products.

• Augmented Reality (AR) still has immense potential when combined with Blockchain tech for IRL Events. This could act as a bridge to the VR Metaverse.

• There is also massive potential in integrating Decentralized Social Media Protocols like Lens Protocol to target the Marketing & Social Capital space for Event Organizers. This includes interacting with participants on a public forum, sharing on-chain Data & NFTs via Web3 Social Media.

All in all, we still have a long way to go for Blockchain Technology to become mainstream in Real Life Events. There will be need for constant innovation to achieve mainstream adoption. The Future, if for us to build.

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Thank you for reading! Make sure to connect with me on Twitter here to drop in your suggestion! 🎈

References

The True Utility of NFTs - NFT Now
NFT Tickets - Binance Blog
Blockchain in Supply Chains - Deloitte