{"id":1491,"date":"2022-05-06T18:11:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T22:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.ideate.cmu.edu\/62-830\/s2022\/?p=1491"},"modified":"2022-05-06T18:11:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T22:11:10","slug":"poaps-audience-engagement-and-memorabilia-in-the-web3-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.ideate.cmu.edu\/62-830\/s2022\/?p=1491","title":{"rendered":"POAPs: Audience Engagement and Memorabilia in the Web3 Era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Proof of Attendance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average theater goer walks into a performance with their ticket stub freshly procured from the box office. An usher hands them a playbill as they find their seat. Both items unique to the time and place of the event, and available only to those physically in attendance at the performance, these forms of memorabilia offer audiences collectible, tangible tokens to commemorate an arts experience. However, common practice in the digital age is to take a picture of the stage from one\u2019s seat with playbill in hand to post on social media and store in the cloud, transforming a physical token of memorabilia into a digital one. Today, we mark our in-person attendance with digital memories, finding opportunities to bridge ephemeral experiences with the longevity and security of our digital, online presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proof of Attendance Protocols (POAP\u2019s, pronounced poh-ap<\/a>) seek to bridge the divide between in-person experiences and our digital presence through Non-fungible Token (NFT) badges that can only be collected by those who attend an event. Each badge is unique and records the owner\u2019s attendance at an event on the blockchain, serving as irrefutable proof of attendance. They are collectible by design in the same way that a playbill, ticket stub, or concert t-shirt are, but without the risk of the collectible being lost or damaged. Their scarcity incentivizes attendance and collectability and provides those in attendance with evidence of their involvement in a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While POAPs originated in Ethereum communities, they are being increasingly used by mainstream organizations as a way to engage audiences and foster community across the digital-physical divide. At this year\u2019s SXSW conference, Fox Entertainment\u2019s new NFT studio Blockchain Creative Labs<\/a> rewarded participants with POAPs at several venues throughout the festival, incentivizing attendees to go to each location to collect the whole set. Doodle, an NFT collective, partnered with Behr paint<\/a> at their SXSW activation to distribute POAPs to participants that featured artwork and new paint swatches from the companies\u2019 collaboration. In April, Warner Music Group, the third largest recording company in the music industry, inked a deal<\/a> with the startup behind POAPs to create exclusive drops for concert goers and to connect artists directly with their fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the environmental impact of NFTs, the volatility of crypto currency, and the reproducibility of the digital image, the rise of NFTs in our zeitgeist is accompanied by necessary discourse. However, POAPs pose a unique use-case for these digital assets for event holders and goers alike. So, are POAPs another NFT gimmick, or a legitimate way to engage audiences across the digital-physical divide?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

POAPs, Blockchain, and NFTs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

POAPs were originally developed for ETHDenver 2019<\/a>, an Ethereum conference and hackathon that served to showcase the capabilities of the Ethereum cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at large. The creator of POAPs, Gonzalo Sainz Tr\u00e1paga<\/a>, sought to create a standardized, accessible, secure, and free way for event organizers to distribute digital badges to attendees using the unique properties of blockchain and NFTs. He created POAP Inc. as a centralized platform for issuers and collectors to create and mint NFT badges using his open-source infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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