Numerous economic activities have been generated by blockchain and cryptocurrency conferences across the world, but their potential has not yet been completely released. ADAM has been collaborating with companies in the meetings and events sector. By establishing long-lasting connections with conference attendees, we are investigating ways to profit from tokenization and DAOs. The new token DESK, introduced at Consensus 2022, will be introduced in this article.
What is DESK?
DESK, the Consensus token, is a new social token of CoinDesk, which is an ERC-20 token created on the Polygon network. Its purpose is to tokenize the conference to create genuine benefits for participating in the community.
CoinDesk beta-tested DESK, which has been running on the Ethereum blockchain’s Rinkeby testnet, during the virtual Consensus 2021. The test was successful, and CoinDesk formally introduced DESK at Consensus 2022, which was held in Austin from June 9 to 12. However, in the future, it will be applicable to all of CoinDesk’s services, not just the festival.
DESK at Consensus 2022
For all the IRL attendees at the crypto conference Consensus 2022, DESK served as the social fuel that drove the tokenized experience. It was designed to help participants go through the event’s activities.
Get initial free tokens
To get the Consensus token DESK, all guests must first set up a cryptocurrency wallet that is compatible with Polygon, such as MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet. Attendees then received airdrops and freebies of DESK in the weeks before the event. Each participant received a unique DESK key NFT through email, and 500 DESK tokens were added to their wallets right before the event.
How to earn DESK tokens
A lot of gamification can be done to incentivize active participation in a tokenized crypto conference. Attendees had to complete different kinds of activities at the main festival or other partnered events within their 4-day experience to earn DESK. Here are some examples:
- Panel discussions
- Keynote speeches
- DAO House
- Metaverse Zone
- Creator Summit
- Money Reimagined Summit
- Music Performances
- NFT Gallery
- Sport Court
- MetaGala
- Talent Hub
- Web 3 Pitch Fest
- and more…
There were a lot of ways to earn the tokens with tokenized engagement in the festival. The objective was to encourage attendees to explore and be engaged at the events.
Spend the DESK tokens
The tokenization of spending enables all attendees to spend their Consensus tokens DESK in the crypto conference to redeem their rewards. The rewards include:
- Meals in the food area
- Food from the nearby vendors partnered with CoinDesk
- Free drinks at the evening events
- NFT on CoinDesk marketplace
- On-site offers from Consensus exhibitors and partners
- Merchandise like hoodies and T-shirts
You can even redeem some once-in-a-lifetime experiences at this tokenized crypto conference, such as:
- playing chess with the chess grandmaster, Gary Kasparov
- playing basketball with the NBA star, Spencer Dinwiddie from Dallas Mavericks
There were many other interesting rewards which were available at the festival. But no matter how the attendees decided to spend the DESK tokens, the goal of the tokenized system was simply to create value for their community members.
The Future Usage of DESK
To be clear, the Consensus token DESK is a social token that differs greatly from the common cryptocurrencies and other digital tokens we are familiar with. It is not intended to hold any monetary value and is not supposed to be exchanged for any other types of tokens. It was only tokenized in Consensus 2022 to maintain guests’ interest and encourage participation over the course of the event’s four days.
Understanding “what is DESK” and how to use it, you can tell that CoinDesk won’t end at Consensus 2022. CoinDesk is setting up the necessary infrastructure so that DESK might serve as a feedback loop between them and their readership. More benefits are on the way for their audience and community, and the use of DESK will be expanded throughout the whole CoinDesk ecosystem. We anticipate the Consensus coin being used once more at Consensus 2023 in the near future.
We anticipate CoinDesk’s third tokenized crypto conference, Consensus 2023, may achieve even greater heights. The tokenization could aid in exploring exhibitor-to-exhibitor and participant-to-participant engagement, which the system’s main focus now is conference-to-participant relationships. There could be cross promotions and collaborations incentivized by the Consensus tokens. Participants could host side events initiated and use DESK tokens as entry to earn DESK for themselves.
The tokenization of the conference economy in 2022 has unquestionably been launched by CoinDesk, inspiring not only crypto conferences but also the entire conference sector to explore cutting-edge technology. We anticipate seeing more intriguing components in the upcoming Consensus 2023.
How ADAM Envisions Conference DAO?
DESK is merely a starting point on the road to the tokenization of the conference economy. In the future, ADAM foresees DAOs playing a bigger part in conferences. DAOs will serve as the gathering places for the communities at different tokenized conferences. The organisers, online and in-person attendees, venue suppliers, eateries, bars, motels, shops, the media, logistics firms, and other players together make up the conference community.
It is simpler to realise the full potential of the tokenized conference economy with a DAO. Through a DAO, all conference participants will be gathered without geographical barriers. The members can exchange values and make decisions using their tokens. Members can also vote within the DAO on topics such as “Where is the main conference host next time”, “Approving sponsored side-events or after-parties”, “Guest speakers invitation list”, which can make the tokenized conference more interesting for attendees.
Additionally, the diverse exchange of values is what drives the conference economy as a whole. Every time thousands of people gather in one location for a conference, a significant amount of money will flow through economic activities in addition to ticket sales, such as hotel reservations, meeting room reservations, food and beverage purchases. Yet, these activities generally don’t depend on any particular organisation.
We can use DAO as the community’s container and its tokens for value exchanges to capture the economic value produced by these activities. In other words, breaking through the level of a mere tokenized conference, but aiming to capture the entire tokenized economy. For instance, when Conference DAO members hold their own side-events, they are able to draw attendees from the DAO and charge them with tokens for admission as well as additional services like food and drink. Decentralising the sponsorship sourcing process is another example. Simply put, conference tokens can be awarded to successful sponsor referrers.
After the Consensus token, it is worthwhile to explore and experiment with DAO in the future since it can bring communities together at a conference and harness its enormous economic value. Soon, more information about the tokenomics, logistics, and utilities will be included.
Join the Alliance
ADAM Vault is working with conference and event organizers, solution providers, and potential sponsors to pioneer an experimental Conference DAO.
If you are interested in the partnership opportunity of any kind, please send us an email at hello@adamvault.com or talk to us on Discord.
To know more about ADAM, stay tuned to our website and Twitter.