Ducks make Waves in the USA
Permissionless — Consensus — NFT.NYC
Spring and summer 2022 have already proven to be the hottest seasons on record. Despite the bear market, there was no lack of passion and excitement burning for the creatives building in the now and for the future of blockchain technology. NFTs are not going away.
In fact, they are only in the beginning iterations of what they will be and are yet to become. Already busy igniting bright sparks this year, the Waves’ team has attended several important crypto conferences, expanding our reach and presence in the US market.
In May, we began our journey in beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida at Permissionless, a well-attended conference, and the first big event for the Waves Labs team.
Two weeks later, we flocked to the vibrant city of Austin, Texas to participate at Consensus and host several private events. Soon after, we joined the throngs and much anticipated crypto events of NFT.NYC.
While each conference is a unique experience with its own personality and participants, the overarching takeaway was the pleasure of connecting with a wide variety of people building together in the crypto world. Whether sharing our vision via speaking engagements, networking at sponsored events, or hosting private sattelite events, each was an opportunity to introduce our blockchain protocol and launch the Waves Ducks Hunt AR Game, an important milestone.
It certainly seems almost everyone likes to play games, so we upped the fun factor by placing hundreds of rubber ducks around the events for participants to hunt. Waves Ducks’ team members were present to onboard and help players get started on the quest. The hunt for the ducks earned players chances to enter a raffle and receive one of our specially designed and rare playable ‘jackpot’ NFT ducks. The Duck hunt culminated in a special launch at our NFT.NYC events, for our new augmented reality game, Waves Ducks Hunt. Attendees were able to log into the game in New York and play to earn special rewards.
Introducing Waves Ducks NFTs and launching the AR game helped us gain many new insights and receive valuable feedback from a seasoned and well informed community. Overall, we were a part of thrilling interactions, gained valuable partners, and onboarded many new users to our platform.
Permissionless (May 17–19, 2022)
During Permissionless, Coleman Maher, Head of Ecosystem at Waves Labs, held an insightful talk on the Metaverse stage about NFTs and our ecosystem project, Waves Ducks. Other highlights of the conference included co-hosting a Mansion Members’ event with Ankr, a Web3 multichain infrastructure provider. It was also a golden opportunity for the entire Waves Labs’ team to meet for the first time since the US arm was established in 2021.
Through the process of onboarding players to Waves Ducks, the team confirmed gamification brings promising results when combined with profitable opportunities and top-notch blockchain security. The Permissionless raffle included 500 NFT ducks and 5 unique jackpots valued up to $5000 each. Raffle participants numbered 250, and 6 lucky winners took home valuable NFTs with the capacity to generate additional income. As for the exclusive 100% rarity jackpots, they remained unclaimed during the conference. Better duck next time!
See the video recap of Permissionless
Consensus (June 9–12, 2022)
Our next stop was Austin, Texas. Once again, Coleman was the star of the show, ducked out in his Waves Duck drip.
In Austin, we hosted two satellite events in collaboration with Trippy Labs, a Web3 Studio, NFT incubator, and IRL producer of crypto events. On June 11th, over 1000 guests mingled and networked throughout the day, first for a ‘Luncheon and Fireside Chat,’ followed by a ‘Dinner and Afterhours Gathering,’ at a gorgeous Austin estate. Hidden around the property were 700 ducks, and one of our winners, Sam Clark, found and scanned 680 of them, earning him the most chances to win a valuable NFT! At the fireside chat, Coleman Maher was joined on stage by Swan Sit, former Nike Marketing Head and Web3 Queen of Clubhouse with 3.5M followers, to discuss the future and various use cases of NFTs.
You can see photos from our Consensus event here.
At Consensus, the NFT Duck hunters amazed us with their phenomenal luck. Using the same pool of NFT ducks, 530 participants pulled 4 out of the 5 jackpot ducks, a true statistical wonder! Congratulations to those lucky ducks!
NFT.NYC (June 20–23, 2022)
The Big Apple was our final destination on the American tour. NFT.NYC touted over 15,000 registered attendees, however, the conference was not nearly as fun or engaging as the numerous side events … including ours.
See for yourself…
More and more it has become apparent the main conference is the best excuse for Web3 startups to organize and attend satellite events.. True crypto and seasoned enthusiasts prefer to network in closed circles with an approved RSVP as a sign of IYKYK. We also call them “GMIs”, GMI for “gonna make it”.
Waves Ducks traveled thousands of miles to launch the Waves Ducks AR Game at NFTSEA Block Party, potentially the largest satellite gathering for the core NFT community and Web3 thought leaders featuring outdoor music and cutting edge art installations at The Seaport in New York City. It was an event that set Twitter on fire with positive reviews and a call for more events of this caliber by the community.
During the full day and evening gathering at NFTSEA on June 20th, our US team was busy onboarding players to the Waves Ducks Hunt AR Game, while also distributing over 2000 pieces of stylish swag to the NFT community. Because the NFTSEA event was also the premiere site of our new Waves Ducks Hunt AR Game, we launched it in ‘special mode,’ allowing everyone to try it and hunt for golden eggs and unlock special prizes.
Hidden throughout Manhattan were 1000 virtual golden eggs. Some of the eggs contained tokens and others NFT ducks. Additionally, Waves Ducks commissioned a unique NFT duck by the famous Web3 artist, Zoe Winters, only available to hunt and find during NFT.NYC.
On June 22nd and 23rd, we held panel discussions, a Waves VIP Dinner, and exclusive After Party at our own satellite venue in Manhattan in collaboration with Trippy Labs. Our panels evolved around:
- A Multichain Future — L1s and the Internet of Blockchains
- Surviving a Bear Market — What to Do and Not to Do
- How NFTs Empower Gamers and Creators
Some of the notable guests in attendance represented Meta (formerly Facebook), PwC, EY, Paypal, Faze Clan, Opensea, Coinbase, Robinhood, Pantera, Moonpay, and Consensys to learn about Waves and engage in the Waves Ducks Hunt AR Game.
Lastly, Waves Ducks AR Game launch was announced on one of the massive Times Square’ billboards for all to see.
Take a look at the photos from the NFT.NYC Waves Duck Hunt AR Game launch here.
Did you happen to attend any of our US events? If so, we value your feedback. Please take a moment to answer the survey questions here. As a token of our appreciation, you will earn 5 Waves’ tokens worth $25 at the time of writing.
If you would like to learn more about Waves Ducks Hunt, check out this article.
Remember to join the Waves Ducks group and subscribe to the Waves Duck’s Twitter!
