Working Miami NFT Week
A behind-the-scenes look at the first-ever Miami NFT Week — thousands of attendees, neon-lit Wynwood, and the start of a wild tech week run.
01 · The Event
First-ever Miami NFT Week.
I had the honor of working the first-ever Miami NFT Week in Miami, FL, 2022. During the run I made contacts internal to the event and connected with many of the attendees and speakers.
Thousands of people poured into the Mana Wynwood convention center. The event officially kicked off tech week in Miami and set the tone for the wave of conferences that followed — Bitcoin, Shitcoin, the whole circuit.
02 · The Vibe
Wynwood, in true Miami color.
The whole event leaned into the artistic identity of the Wynwood arts district. Vans rolled by with full-screen flashing displays of NFT projects. The walls of the venue felt like an extension of the neighborhood — murals, canvases, and digital art everywhere you looked.
The main stage was lit up with multiple projectors and professional video and audio equipment — in true Miami style and color scheme.
03 · What's Next
The future of NFTs is wider than the art.
The conference mostly framed NFTs through the lens of art and image use cases, but that's just the surface. Other use cases are already emerging:
REAL ESTATE
NFTs are moving into property, leveraging their proof-of-ownership capabilities to streamline title and transfer.
EVENT TICKETING
NFTs as tickets — with the upgrade that you can layer on features over time and maintain a stronger relationship with the end customer long after the event is over.
DAOs & COMMUNITY
NFTs are being used inside Decentralized Autonomous Organizations to reward or track contribution and membership. The recurring lesson from the stage: build community first, then layer in the technology. Don't ship a tech solution without thinking through long-term consequences.
MUSICIANS
A strong potential use case — artists getting direct contact with their fans and cutting out the middleman. The musician decides what logic gets programmed into the smart contract: early access to content, unreleased material, event VIP access, anything they want to offer.
04 · On The Floor
Working the Degen VIP tent.
The staff was on-site to set up every detail before the event opened and handle anything that came up during the run.
I spent my time working the VIP tent — where French Montana and Wyclef Jean held a special meet-and-greet for Degen VIP ticket holders.
Written by Bryan Totty · Feb 2023
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