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00:00talking about the power of community and web 3 for content creators
00:15good morning tech summit good morning everyone
00:25good morning so my name is Kimberly Wilson I am the senior money and careers editor here at
00:33Essence magazine I have a special guest joining me today so excited for this conversation mainly
00:40because I have so many questions about web 3 but we'll kick things off so in this conversation
00:46we'll be talking about this new phenomenon when we think about web 3 and how it's allowing creatives
00:52to take the concept of building community to new heights so I am joined by Stephanie smelly who
01:00is the VP of partnerships at dapper labs and she'll be opening up our minds to this entire concept right
01:08now so thank you so much for joining me and welcome you for having me awesome so we're just gonna kick
01:13things off so web 3 is a term that we've been hearing more and more over these past couple of years but
01:20for those in the crowd who are not familiar with the term can you just explain a little bit more
01:26about it yeah sure so firstly thank you for having me this is amazing and I love what Essence is doing
01:33to expose our community to new innovation and tech so kudos to Essence for that but web 3 so if you
01:41think about web 1 when think about like the encyclopedia sites that were out back in the day when the
01:47internet first kicked off that was more about information and it was a read-only environment
01:53where you can just consume information and search for things then web 2 opened up our minds to the
02:00ability for user-generated content and being able to create things and participate by way of social media
02:07um tick tock all of these uh sites that provide an outlet for creativity if you will but as you know
02:17and as we all know in this room of all of our us cousins here we often don't get credit for the things
02:26that we create or we're often left out of that um the upside and the revenue generation aspects of it
02:33and so web 3 is really exciting because it's this next phase of the web where it's a phase of ownership
02:41so web 1 is information web 2 is creation web 3 is ownership where uh sites and information and
02:50platforms will not be just um limited to a set of centralized companies like the facebooks of the
02:57world like the googles of the world but rather you're able to create your own um sites and
03:03platforms and ip without having to go through centralized organizations and you're also able
03:10to bake in uh royalties and revenue into perpetuity so that you will get paid for your work and i think
03:17this is an exciting part for us as a community because we're culture creators where we start things
03:23we really chart where where the cool things are going and so i think we all should be excited about
03:29this new phase of web 3 so let's talk about sustainability and web 3 just a little bit
03:34how can we weed out what's hype versus what's real yeah so in my role i'm talk i work at dapper labs i
03:44don't know how many people have heard of nba top shot but it was probably the biggest nft project to
03:51really um hit the mainstream and it really took off in 2020 um in 2021 but my role is to talk to
04:00projects builders founders and developers um and empower them to build on our blockchain flow
04:07and right now i don't know how many people invest in crypto but we are going through a bit of a crypto
04:13winter and the the value of these cryptocurrencies have dropped dramatically now to most that seems
04:22like um something scary especially if you put all your life savings in it which i don't recommend but
04:28um for my field we look at this as an area to build and it really weeds out the projects that were
04:36just hype to those that are really building um projects for your community with utility with
04:44value and and those that weren't really built on any strong foundation will be weeded out and so to
04:52your point it's we weed out those that are just hype because right now people don't have the disposable
04:57income to just buy jpegs and images and apes and whatever if you will just because the real
05:05projects are the ones that are providing value to the community which are giving a stronger
05:11connection between the content creators and the content holders and really giving ownership and
05:17and revenue upside to those that that purchase them we've been seeing artists specifically um
05:25create nfts right to generate revenue and to build community and to just share their work overall
05:33um and that's everyone from global artists to even some of our local artists we just talk about some
05:39of the key benefits of nfts for these artists yeah so um it comes with a lot of benefits um firstly i i
05:47touched on it before but it's ownership so if you're able to create digital art and by the way nfts is not
05:54relegated to only art look at it as a certificate of authentication art is what um the front end of what
06:03people see but it also could be music it also could be um your voice it could be a script but anything that
06:12you want a record of it is now attached to the blockchain so there's a public record so that no one can
06:18dispute who owns it and it also has smart contracts baked into it so you can say for this person who purchases my nft i want to get 20%
06:27royalties on that because i created it and then after that anybody who sells it thereafter i want a 5%
06:35um royalty baked into that so think before in in the web 2 days who remembers radio shack and virgin records
06:43you buy a cd the your favorite artist let's say lauren hills and she came out last night and blew my mind and that was crazy
06:51but say lauren hill you buy the miseducation of lauren hill lauren hill gets a cut of that after that she has no visibility
06:59as to who bought the record if you want to sell it to your friend um if you want to trade it if you want to do anything with it
07:07there's no visibility after that so this gives a digital record so that as it exchanges hands the original creator
07:15is getting paid each time and that is something that is extremely powerful that artists should look like
07:21as an opportunity to say 10 years from now when somebody wants to appropriate my art or try to get
07:29credit for it here's a record that i was the creator of it and i'm gonna get paid for it because it's a public
07:35record so i think that is the biggest opportunity i think as as culture creators and and starters uh for our
07:43community as we create more and more ip so let's talk about this concept of community how can artists
07:52and individuals use web 3 to either expand their footprint expand their audience or just grow overall
08:00yeah um let's talk in terms of music since that's my background i was previously head of creative
08:06partnerships at spotify so if you think um in in terms of spotify you can listen to your favorite
08:13artist let's use lauren hill again and she she knows how many listeners she has on spotify she knows
08:19how many followers she has on instagram but there's no way to like really rank who is her who are her
08:25biggest fans or who deserves more love and more return on their investment into her career um what nfts
08:35allow you to do is have a direct relationship with your community so that if she says i'm going to
08:42release a limited cover art um of for the 25th anniversary of miseducation to my top a thousand
08:50fans those fans she now has a direct access to without having to go through instagram or spotify
08:58or any of these large platforms that if they crash she loses that connection now she has a direct
09:04relationship where she can thereafter say okay so everyone who spent a thousand dollars on this cover art
09:11you now have access to vip when i do a tour or when i release an album i want to drop it to you guys
09:19first because i know that you are my biggest fans and so it opens an opportunity for the creator to
09:26build a connection with their fans but also fans the super fans to get rewards for for their affinity and
09:34their connection and for following these artists all along the way so i think it it it really opens up
09:40opportunity for more of a hierarchical base where those that deserve it are being rewarded so we can't
09:47talk about web 3 without actually thinking about equity right when we think about the digital divide
09:54and part of what's going to build or bridge that divide is advocacy specifically for black and brown
10:03communities um what what can we do right when we think of these communities not being left out of
10:10this movement that is building generational wealth yeah so i think it's two-sided um as a black woman and
10:19knowing my community i know that oftentimes we're we're scared of the unknown or we want to wait until it's
10:25proven and we're apprehensive to start something new and then we get left out of the equation i think that
10:33it's on us as far as we can control the outcome to do our part so that means educating yourself um don't
10:42wait for someone to come to you and tell you and beg you to do this there are podcasts there are articles
10:48there are youtube videos the information is there i think that we need to take control and and and
10:55really advocate for ourselves to educate on what this new technology is and how can we get involved
11:03now there are many ways you don't have to be a web3 engineer you don't have to be a builder to get
11:07involved i would say um the first way is through consumption so test out the waters if there is a
11:15project if there's your favorite artist or musician um that is dropping a web3 project as long as it's
11:22in your budget don't do anything that's going to take it out of your budget right now but if you have
11:28disposable income test the waters nba top shot if you're a fan of the nba um the lowest pack for an nft
11:35is nine dollars and you can purchase with your credit card so i'll say dip your toe in and and get
11:40acclimated to the technology but then there's also many other ways like if you work in tech and you
11:47work or if you work in any other industry say you're good at business relationships i'm head of
11:53partnerships at dapper labs i don't need to be an engineer to figure that out or if you're a creator
11:59figure out ways that you can um create something and drop it on a web3 platform so there are many ways
12:05to do it that you don't have to be technically inclined or feel that you are stepping out of
12:12your comfort zone there are transferable skills that you can leverage to really um jump in and
12:17then on the corporation side i think it's it's our job and i'm blessed to be in a position of influence
12:23to to knock down the doors and make noise when when the environment isn't equitable and at dapper labs
12:30um i spearhead the launch of a token grant for a million dollars to help black developers build on
12:37our platform and so i think different different initiatives like that will certainly open the door
12:42but we need more of me and people who look like us in the space to really have change and we appreciate
12:51you for the work that you're doing can you just share a little bit more about dapper labs and just how
12:57you all are revitalizing that web3 space especially um in that miami tech community yeah for sure anybody
13:04from miami here no okay you should come uh but um so dapper labs is um an nft is a leading nft company
13:14as i mentioned before it created nba top shot crypto kitties for those who remember that um we have a
13:21project with the nfl um la liga ufc etc but um what what's really there for impact and scalability is
13:31the blockchain we created called flow and my job is i'm vp of content and entertainment pro partnerships
13:39so i'm speaking to developers and builders and ip holders and musicians and um designers about how we
13:47can support them building on our chain and we're really looking at transforming web3 to the mainstream
13:55and in doing that we've taken away the complexities that might might cause friction in people onboarding
14:00into this new space by way of if you sign up for a crypto wallet you can sign up with your google sign
14:06and you don't need a token a token wallet or any of that you don't need to purchase cryptocurrency
14:13you can onboard and offboard with um fiat currency and then also um it's sustainable so a lot people
14:21are concerned about the environmental impact but um we're one of the most eco-friendly blockchains and
14:26minting something on our chain is equivalent to doing a google search or posting something on instagram
14:33and then lastly cost um we've really revolutionized the technology where our gas fees and transaction fees
14:40are a fraction of a cent and so all of that is done to really lower the barriers to entry for
14:46the mainstream we're not targeting crypto enthusiasts or early adopters we're targeting people who
14:52love content and want to engage with it and taking the complexities out of that we couldn't be at
14:59essence festival without talking about black women having a seat at the table um specifically within
15:05web 3 which you know you you have a seat there but how can other black women you know get their seat
15:12or create a space for themselves so that they are a part of this revolution yeah i wouldn't look at it
15:18any differently from how black women can get a seat in general and so that's by way of i mean i know like
15:25the world usually doesn't work in our favor and so we're we're fighting against a lot and it's very easy
15:29to say like knock down the doors and and put your hand up but that's often easier said than done so
15:36some practical steps are um find somebody in the space so i'm i'm someone in the space but leveraging
15:44linkedin is is a useful tool and don't be dismayed when people don't respond to you it takes you might
15:50take a hundred no's to get to one yes but but be very vigilant about that um i would say educate
15:58yourself i touched on that before but then attending summits like this networking events where you can
16:04meet more and more people it's really about who you know and and one person it doesn't have to be
16:10someone super senior it could be someone you meet whose godmother is a part of an organization so
16:17don't don't like minimize your networking to only people who can give you a hand up but get to know as
16:23many people in the space as possible and eventually um you'll you'll get a way in where you can at
16:29least get your foot in the door but then once you're there make sure you prove yourself make sure you
16:34are impressive you're articulate you're educating yourself and you're really proving the black girl
16:40magic that you are well i appreciate you so much for sharing this information are there any just a few
16:48key takeaways that you want to leave with the audience um as it relates to web 3. yeah um i i
16:54harbored on this before but like i said um i got into this space because i saw opportunities for
17:01musicians and spotify to uh make money for off of nfts and so i started contacting companies and speaking to
17:09them i think that is evidence that you don't have to be a tech genius to figure this out you just have to
17:16take the first step by learning um and then lastly i touched on this before but relationships are so
17:24so important unfortunately hard work is not everything it doesn't it doesn't always get you
17:31where you need to go it's hard work plus those relationships politics are always involved don't
17:37don't be deterred by that you have to play the system and so work smart more than work hard awesome
17:44well thank you so much for this conversation do you just want to share your social media
17:48platform so people can follow you along on your journey sure my twitter is miss steph alexis so
17:53that's m-s-s-t-e-p-h alexis a-l-e-x-i-s awesome well stay tuned for more amazing tech summit program
18:04and stephanie thank you so much thank you for having me thank you
18:14thank you
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