Back from Vegas!
CES 2019 is over, here are our takeaways.
#CES2019
The Blockchain Studio team, well-represented by Corentin, Vincent, Aurelien, Frederic and Claire, had the chance to experience the CES 2019 (Consumer Electronic Show 2019) hosted by Engie, one of our main investors. Our booth was located in the Eureka Park @Sands, the area dedicated to startups.
Frequently the launchpad of many tech products, this year’s CES was no exception. There were curved TV sets, smartphones with powerful cameras, autonomous cars, an air-taxi drone and various wearables at every turn. Additionally, in the spotlight were technological trends like 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, VR/AR and… Blockchain, of course!
There were around 40 booths dedicated to blockchain solutions this year: crypto wallets, digital money, hardware wallets (Congratulations to Ledger for the successful launch of the new Ledger Nano X), smart solutions for the city, and new blockchain protocols, which was great to see, especially during the “Blockchain winter”. We really appreciated the representation of the Blockchain ecosystem during the event.
Thanks to Owen Simonin, AKA Hasheur, blockchain and crypto youtuber, for his summary ;) (only in French)
To summarize what we did during the trip to Vegas, we had to:
- Design, prepare and set up our booth
- Share use cases, pitch, pitch, pitch our Blockchain Orchestrator, Rockside
- Get (very good) contacts, meet the media, network around beers
- Get feedback from the visitors, get inspiration
Here are our top 3 takeaways:
1/ Entertain your guests
We wanted to show how our Blockchain Orchestrator, Rockside, works through the use of a simple game. Hence, we came out with a Blockchain version of the “Capture the flag” game that we decided to call the CES Wind Turbine Challenge. The principles of this social game based on an Ethereum Blockchain were very simple.
CES wind turbine rules
The player enters the game by filling her/his Twitter account and by this action, she/he becomes the owner of the CES Wind Turbine. The energy, which is produced, is allocated to her/his account until someone comes and takes control of the CES wind turbine. A player can take control of the wind turbine as many times as they want.
Why blockchain?
The benefits in this example were numerous:
- Simplicity in setting up: a smart contract was written to register the owner and timestamp the allocated production (in this case the production was completely linear). This smart contract was deployed and monitored with our Rockside Blockchain Orchestrator in a few clicks on Ethereum Testnet.
- Transparency and traceability: any player could see directly on the blockchain the different transactions and shifts of ownership.
- Cost-effective: for building the game, we needed a smart contract and 5 user screens, so less than 2-days of work and that included the realisation of our Lego Wind Turbine model ;). At the end of the game, we didn’t need any third party to validate the name of our 5 winners and their ranking.
The game was very well received and ultimately helped people to understand the usage and benefits of Blockchain. We had in total around 80 players and more than 3000 transactions directly from the CES and also from other countries. Our 5 winners have been contacted and the prizes are going to arrive soon.
2/Pimp your booth
Attracting visitors to your booth is a big challenge when you are surrounded by thousands of other booths vying for attention. For an early stage company like us, making a first good impression was key.
At CES, visitors want to be surprised, inspired, entertained and above all, visitors want to understand how your product is going to change the game. The main design of our booth was decided by Engie, our host. However, we were asked to come with a meaningful example of our solutions and if possible a prototype.
We decided to build a consistent environment around our game that would attract visitors. A website was created with the following topic: “5 reasons why you should meet the Blockchain Studio team”.
We had the chance to find the re-edition of a Lego Wind Turbine (a 1-meter Lego model) that could stand on our booth, to support our game. It brought a real positive effect and caught the attention of many curious visitors. And as we know: people tend to follow the crowd.
Our grateful thanks to Yasmine Kazbik, Events manager and the Engie Innovation team for their support and their help during the preparation and the whole event.
3/Be ready to meet unexpected BIG Names
We actually had the chance to see Kanye West visiting the Engie booth, unfortunately, he did not stop by for us, but for the solar bicycle from the partnership with Nokia.
However, in Las Vegas, we were able to meet Deputy Jean Michel Mis who is in charge of the Blockchain report for the French Assembly and Deputy Christine Hennion who is a member of the mission. It was very important for us to share our vision on a sustainable ecosystem where the Blockchain startups can develop their business in a favourable environment, notably from the regulatory point of view.
We appreciated their generous feedback on our product and the participation of Jean Michel Mis in our CES wind turbine challenge.
In short, we spent 4 intensive days demonstrating how our Blockchain Orchestrator, Rockside, is the right way to build a solution using blockchain.
We met many big corporations interested in our products and discussed partnerships with some key global consulting firms and startups. We also talked with investors, journalists and students and getting their feedback on our product and vision was very refreshing and stimulating.
To conclude?
We still can’t believe how lucky we are. Being able to generate this level of interaction, visibility and a respectable number of contacts does not happen easily. Only a big event like the CES can gather la crême de la crême of the industry.
For the 5 of us, it was our first CES and we are certainly hoping that it will not be the last.
The team came back from Las Vegas more motivated than ever and we hope our clients will see it very soon with the next release of our product.
For the Blockchain Studio team, what happens in Vegas, won’t stay in Vegas — except maybe a few dollars on the poker table ;)
The Blockchain Studio Team
Blockchain Studio is dedicated to crafting products that simplify the blockchain adoption. Find out more about us!
#thesimplewaytoblockchain #blockchain #startuplife #CES2019
