IRL Event Impact on Web3 Communities
In-person events are a big part of society, incorporating a wide range of industries from every corner of the world. IRL events bring people together in ways that other event formats simply don’t deliver. For many, lives are changed because of attending these events, as there seems to be something special about the in-person interactions forming unbreakable bonds within communities.
Here joining OCM Magazine today are 3 incredible leaders in OnChainMonkey whom we consider positive change agents and role models as we watch them passionately live out their Web3 journeys. Each of these individuals are pioneering the OCM landscape as they fight on the front lines, take the arrows, and pour their hearts and souls into the community every single day.
We made the mistake of not introducing them by name at the beginning of the video (sorry, guys), but let’s take a look at our special guests…
Special guests
Andy (far right)
Bryce (far left)
Mandy (far right back)
Alpha Andy is the voice of OnChainMonkey, serving as the host of !RISE Radio, a decentralized network of OCM community members. He also is the host of OCM After Dark that meets in Twitter spaces on Thursday evenings.
Andy is known around the OCM community as “Alpha Andy” because he has a unique, intricate way of extracting Alpha from people that may or may not have been ready to spill the beans. Andy has been with OCM since the beginning and is an absolute rock star in the space.
OntheInternet (Bryce) is the tech guy as he is, “constantly looking at the OnChainMonkey code”, studying it like a good book from cover to cover. Bryce claims that he excels at, “learning how to swim in the middle of the ocean”, placing pieces together under a tight timeframe in order to pull off some really cool things.
Right now, he is providing animation to the OCM code for 50 bananas, half of which go to the DAO. If you are a holder interested in this, follow and leave him a comment here. OntheInternet has been around since the beginning like Andy has and is fully committed to the success of the OnChainMonkey ecosystem.
RedHotPink88 (Mandy) is a strong female leader within the OCM community. Mandy created and runs the CuteCatEarsClub, a group of OnChainMonkey members who fancy monkeys with the cat ears trait (Hat 16) on their heads.
Not only that, but Mandy is a dedicated advocate for women in the Web3 space. She does an excellent job of encouraging women and answering back when they approach her with questions. Mandy is a role-model for those who are looking to get into the NFT space but are still a bit hesitant, as she provides that confident reassurance, pointing women in the right direction.
Questions discussed during the video
Tell us about your history with OCM. What person or event sparked you to join, and where has that brought you today?
What was the thought process you each had leading into the event?
Tell us about Outer Edge LA!
What was your favorite part of the event?
Why are IRL events so important for online communities?
What would you tell someone who is on the fence about attending a future event?
Video:
Huge apology for not introducing each of these guests by name at the beginning of the video call. I was so excited to have them on that I didn’t remember to say who they were up front.
About the Outer Edge LA event
(contributed by @snorkeldork)
Outer Edge LA took place from March 20-23, 2023. The event was built around curiosity, co-creation, and community and was the largest gathering of NFT influencers, Web3 leaders, innovators, explorers, experts, tech pioneers, investors, celebrities, and enthusiasts. There were up to 150 satellite events and reported to have earned a media reach of over 12 million viewers.
The event was massive. For some, that type of conference may not be appealing because they view it as a shill-session or cash grab. For many more, however, Outer Edge LA was just the right mixture of oxygen they needed to refuel creativity, excitement, discovery, and make real-life connections beyond devices and PFPs. No matter your view, the description of, “It’s more than an event…It’s an experience,” was spot on.
Danny Yang
CEO of Metagood and creator of OnChainMonkey, Danny Yang, “Zoomed” into the event.
Planning the OCM Outer Edge event
Mandy, Bryce, and Andy all had jobs to do leading into the event (not to mention the other incredible OCM members that contributed to the event. Kudos!).
Mandy’s job leading up to the event was to contact everyone to:
1. See if members were attending or not
2. Check if they were staying at an Airbnb or not
3. Put a spreadsheet together of all details to send to Andy
Contacting people is not always an easy task. As stated in the video interview, Mandy handled the event work while also taking care of her family and still going to her day job during the week.
Andy served as the main coordinator for people coming out of state. He spent many hours spearheading the logistics and picking out the spots for the group to meet. Andy attributes a lot to the DAO coming together, funding the event, and helping make it a great success in the end.
Bryce got the monkey animations on the big screen doing all the tech work behind the scenes. He animated the code on screen and had a monkey pop up to have attendees, “visualize what we have here”. Tech work can be daunting, especially when you are working on a tight timeframe and worried if you will be able to deliver what the community wants or not.
Quotes from our special guests
Alpha Andy
“Without the help of the DAO and Small Grants Committee, it would have taken a lot more friction to get it done.”
Andy makes mention and gives thanks to the OCM DAO for acting with haste, helping to make the LA event a strong success.
“When I saw my monkey in a gallery next to other monkeys displayed and the code and the elegance and just how clean it is… it’s a piece of art. For me it’s a modern-day Picasso.”
Andy was so proud to see his monkey displayed on the big screens and is enthralled with the artwork.
“The biggest value add you can get from OCM is the connections and family that you can have”
Genuine connection means so much to Andy, and he gets that by being an OCM member and attending events.
“If you’re on the fence about going to an OCM event, don’t be on the fence about it”
Andy suggests that people get off the fence and just go to an event. He can’t stress that enough because he has witnessed first-hand the power they bring to community members.
OntheInternet (Bryce)
“Without the meetup, you don’t really gain the trust of the person or understanding of their personality.”
Bryce exclaims the importance of meeting in-person and how nothing else compares to it.
“We don’t have VR Chat yet, but the IRL place is where you’re going to ferment these ideas into reality that then become new Web3 things.”
Nothing replaces IRL meetups at this time
“For me, the most impactful thing for Outer Edge was seeing everyone’s reaction to the work that I did because it was stressful leading up to the event.”
Bryce worked very hard to prepare for Outer Edge LA, and having it all come together was a delight for him to say the least.
RedHotPink88 (Mandy)
“IRL events is what got me involved. That is key and I keep trying to stress this…That’s how people understand OnChainMonkey”
If it wasn’t for IRL events, Mandy might not even be involved with OCM today.
“What does OCM mean to you?”
This is the question she kept asking community members at the event because it’s important to know. She also asks herself that same question every single day.
“You’re going to be treated like royalty at OCM events”
Mandy exclaims how you get treated so well at OCM events, you get treated like a king or a queen would get treated.
Wrapping Up
(More content from @snorkeldork)
The excitement around OCM continues to intensify into a force of its own, a positive energy providing the driving fuel to flourish and achieve OCMs goal of… “creating the Wealthy Digital Nation for our members, a nation that encourages our community to use their wealth to make the world a better place.”
Mandy. Bryce, and Andy set the stage for a beautiful event in Los Angeles, California. We are positive that it will not be their last event either. Andy will be joining OCM Magazine at NFT NYC this week as the community gathers and spends time getting to know each other on a deeper level (and of course, have a lot of fun).
Readers, thank you for joining! Feel free to leave a comment below.
As always… keep your eyes on the !RISE.
