Episode 6 | Talking NFT's, Metaverse and Tennis with Ridley Plummer

10/05/22 • 36 min

Over the past 24 months just about every sport has started testing the waters of Web3 and the Metaverse. From NBA Top Shots, to Socios Fan Tokens, to Man City’s launch of their virtual stadium and so many more. But one of the first and most successful big sporting events to step into the space and show us what’s made possible by mixing Metaverse, NFTs and live sports was the Australian Open.

To learn more about their approach I spoke with Ridley Plummer. Ridley has what I believe must be a dream job in that he is responsible for NFTs, Metaverse and Web3 for Tennis Australia. The Australian Open was in January this year meaning he’s had time to consider the learnings from that event and he was kind enough to share many of his thoughts.

SPECIFIC TOPICS:

In our conversation, Ridley shares details about what sounded like an epic journey to concept, develop and launch simultaneously in Decentraland and with NFTs for the Australian Open 2022. Specifically we spoke about:

What they developed and launched in Decentraland
The idea and ambition behind the AO Artball NFT project
Thoughts on what makes a web3 and metaverse project successful
The role of storytelling in developing a project
The role of a virtual world as a complement to a live event – spoiler alert – it’s not just to recreate the same activities you can experience offline in the virtual space
The role of community and how the Web3 and the sports communities came together.
Other sports moving into the space
The opportunity for brands and the lessons that we can all take
And of course I tried to get him to spill on plans for 2023 ...

LINKS TO OTHER PROJECTS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE

AO Artball - https://ao.artball.io/
NBA Top Shop - https://nbatopshot.com/
The Otherside - https://otherside.xyz/
Nike - https://opensea.io/collection/rtfkt-nike-cryptokicks
Gucci - https://vault.gucci.com/en

CREDITS

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Ridley Plummer

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

SPECIFIC TOPICS:

What they developed and launched in Decentraland
The idea and ambition behind the AO Artball NFT project
Thoughts on what makes a web3 and metaverse project successful
The role of storytelling in developing a project
The role of a virtual world as a complement to a live event – spoiler alert – it’s not just to recreate the same activities you can experience offline in the virtual space
The role of community and how the Web3 and the sports communities came together.
Other sports moving into the space
The opportunity for brands and the lessons that we can all take
And of course I tried to get him to spill on plans for 2023 ...

LINKS TO OTHER PROJECTS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE

AO Artball - https://ao.artball.io/
NBA Top Shop - https://nbatopshot.com/
The Otherside - https://otherside.xyz/
Nike - https://opensea.io/collection/rtfkt-nike-cryptokicks
Gucci - https://vault.gucci.com/en

CREDITS

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Ridley Plummer

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

Previous Episode

Episode 5 | China and the Metaverse - a discussion with Alvin Graylin

Some of the largest and most innovative companies to come out of the Web2 era have come from China. Many of these companies have become household names around the world including the most recent, and most prominent example: TikTok (or Douyin as it is known in China). But what is China’s approach to the Metaverse and how are the Chinese brands building the Metaverse thinking about the future?

I recently spoke with Alvin Graylin who may well be the most qualified person to share thoughts on the subject. Alvin is President of HTC China, President of the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA), and Vice Chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance (IVRA), and he was kind enough to share his views on the technology today and how he sees its future potential coming to fruition.

PODCAST TOPICS:

Our discussion was wide ranging, but a few of the subjects covered include:

The difference between Metaverse and Web3
China's approach to growing and investing in Metaverse
A perspective on the different phases of Metaverse evolution: from Walled Garden to Open Metaverse
Key use cases that are taking shape
How brands are getting involved in China
Responsible governance
Learning from the different approaches taken to developing the Metaverse

It was a fascinating conversation, and I encourage you to listen to what Alvin has to say. I know I learned a lot.

CREDITS

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Alvin Graylin

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/

Next Episode

Episode 7 | Seema Khinda Johnson explains decentralized Identity

Decentralized identity. It’s without a doubt one of the innovations that has me most excited about the future potential for web3.

You might be asking your self - what is decentralized identity? Well the answer can actually be quite varied as different companies are approaching it differently as they aim to solve for different use cases. In today’s conversation, I speak with Seema Khinda Johnson about her company Nuggets and how they are building decentralized identity solutions designed to protect us against fraud, identity theft, etc.

It’s a huge and growing problem. It’s so big in fact that even if it’s never happened to you, I’m sure you’ve felt the effect. The moment of panic when you don’t recognise a charge on your credit card and you think it might be fraud, or when your bank calls you to validate a transaction and you have to think if it was really you.

Seema and the whole team at Nuggets are building the solutions to help with this and so much more so listen in to find out more.

SPECIFIC TOPICS:

In my conversation with Seema we covered a wide range of topics, but some of the things we talk about include:

How and why she launched a blockchain business focused on identity
What is decentralized and self-sovereign identity.
Why decentralized identity is critical for both people and for brands
Key use cases for the technology, and what it will mean for marketing use cases such as personalization, crm, etc
Other brands and approaches to decentralized identity - for example prioritizing social media
ZK proofs as a technology enabler. What they are and why they are important.
Her vision for the future and how the technology will mature and grow
A few points of advice we can take today.

CREDITS:

Host: Justin Peyton
Guest: Seema Khinda Johnson

For more insights and deeper dives into the content, subscribe to the BRAND N3XT newsletter at https://brandn3xt.substack.com/