Gm BJ frens,

I want to start the NFT Paris recap by giving the biggest shout-out to Anya (@borntottravel) for being a superhero and providing us with access to the conference. It will be great if you could check her profile and art and give her a follow on Twitter. She is a great artist and her art was showcased during the event.

OMW to Paris

After spending 3 days skiing on “Muntele Mic '' close by Timișoara, I arrived home around midnight. I was super tired but at the same time excited that I will attend my first NFT conference. After getting about 1h and a half of sleep, I got a taxi to the airport, arriving in time for my 5.00 AM flight.

During the short layover in Munich I noticed a guy working on something in photoshop having the NFT Paris logo. I said hi and got to know @NastyFT_ from @chaptr_xyz. They have a really cool project that combines Web3 and AI. Check it out here: @whitemirror_xyz.

After the quick stop in Munich, I arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport where I was to meet with my friend, @EndiUngureanu (CEO at @Metaventis).

When in France

We planned to attend the conference together in order to observe the look and feel of the event and to connect with as many people as possible. Why? #probablynothing 🙂

But since we arrived a day prior to the start of the event, what else could we have done than go for a quick walk around Paris, passing by the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Since we were both quite tired, we then returned to the hotel and were ready to call it a night.

But then we bumped upon the @veefrenchclub announcement for the side event they were organizing for the @VeeFriends community that evening. A quick look at each other was enough to have both of us change our pyjamas for the GM FRENS t-shirts, and on our way we were.

We arrived at the location and were welcomed from the first moment. Big shout-out to @irana_mpz, @Evknows_ and the others that were so welcoming and kind.

BJ Frens. You are all great human beings and we can’t wait to see you again at VeeCon 23. Hear that @garyvee?

As we had to be fresh for the 1st day of the conference, we went back home around midnight and called it a day.

Day 1

Next morning we were ready to rock & roll. Full of energy, we woke up early and took a walk from the hotel to the impressive Grand Palais Éphémère, the venue of NFT Paris 2023.

We were lucky enough to not stay too much in line, as this was not too long by the time we arrived. We passed the security, we received our bracelets and there we were, inside the most important NFT event in Europe.

And since we all know the world is a small place, we already met with my Munich fren, @NastyFT_.

After doing some reconnaissance rounds, we immediately started to connect with other frens.

I first went to the @wiw3_community stand where I got some info that I passed by to my wife. Thank you for the information and for the merch @DFnetta. Great artwork, and initiative. We are going to follow closely!

Next we went to the @poapxyz stand where we connected with Lucas Verra (@poapfr) and @worthalter. I have to stop for a bit here and give a big S/O to the whole POAP team for the human quality they all have. And you @worthalter, I wish all founders will be as humble and smart as you are. We really hope to stay in touch and as said, maybe we are going to see you in Buenos Aires.

We then moved to the @Ledger stand where their latest [ Ledger ] Market partner @RTFKT was presented.

After this, me and @EndiUngureanu split our ways in order to cover more ground and get ourselves the chance to go and focus on what was more interesting for each one of us.

And boy, I was mesmerized by the @SmurfsSociety stand. A 3.5 m (approx) Smurf, a giant 3D printer, the booth covered in hundreds of smurfs waiting to receive some color from the participants, a super dedicated team, all of this made me place them as my favorite project ( that I was not aware of) from the entire conference. I want to give a sincere shout-out to Sophie Lawson , @JeremFebvre, @asalkin for all their kindness, human quality and great professionals that they are. You guys rock! Same as the Smurfs (I was so nostalgic about this).

By the way, the huge Smurf was painted live by artist @BaronAndre. You can check the end result here. GG frens!

Then there is this other project that I was not aware of. @tom_sachs’ @tsrocketfactory. If you also are not aware of who @tom_sachs is or what he’s doing, I recommend you check him on Google and then go and read about @tsrocketfactory project. Tom’s project is entering its third phase - The Final Frontier. And to FOMO you a bit, check the presentation video here

Coming back to the @nft_paris experience, @tsrocketfactory had the biggest and most impressive stand. This created a lot of interest and there were huge lines of people trying to get in on the journey. Although I missed my initial number, I came back the 2nd day and managed to secure my chance for a Stateroom aboard the Space Station.

During the first day of the first day of the conference we also got to meet @CristianB3D IRL for the first time. After working on several projects together, it was great to be able to give a hug to this awesome dude. Cristian was so thoughtful that he brought us a small gift all the way from Firenze. Hope to see you again soon, fren! Tuscany is one of my favorite places on earth!

With the first day coming to an end, we moved to the @MultiversX gathering organized by the @wecowcow community. I was happy to connect with the team and #Gmoo together.

Next we went to bed as we had big plans for the 2nd day.

Day 2

@EndiUngureanu was luckier and got to attend the Gaming panel during the first day. Because of the huge lines and limited space available at  the Main Stage, I only managed to get in during the 2nd day.

But man, we got la creme de la creme. We watched the discussion between @CryptoGarga (founder at @yugalabs) and @farokh( @RugRadio). The discussion focused on the current developments at Yuga Labs, the Donkey Dash game and Otherside metaverse.

The next talk was a panel moderated by @ChrisLyons from @a16z about the innovative creative process. The guests were top game players: @frankdegods from @DeGodsNFT, @LucaNetz (@pudgypenguins),  @PrimordialAA (@pudgypenguins), @divergenceharri (@proof_xyz/ @Moonbirds) and @0xfanfaron (@77BitOfficial). It was a great talk about the Culture NFTs and how it is to build out in the open. A great point I got out of this panel is that if you ask the community what utility do they expect from your NFT collection, you might get a lot of different answers due to everyone’s different perception and understanding of the word utility.

Furthermore, during the two days there we connected also with @_TomThomas_ from @9dccxyz. Thanks for being so welcoming and a genuine kind person. Hope you found the present we left for you!

We also got to see @gmoneyNFT, the founder of @9dccxyz and creator of Admit001.

During the 2nd day, we got the chance to say hi to @borgetsebastien from @TheSandboxGame. We are going to meet him again on the 2nd of March, when he is invited to a @QED_Team event in #Timisoara. See you there, frens!

Another great vibe we got from @aubtoshi_nft. She is a nounish builder and @nounsdao proliferator. We had a great talk since we like her so much, she is the only one that managed to get a GM Frens T-shirt. In return, she mentioned the 5K grant from OTG @nounsprophouse for the most nounish proliferation idea that comes from the attendees.

Me and @EndiUngureanu were both thinking at the same time: Hold my beer! We already sent our out-of-the-box ideas. Voting has started!  Wish us good luck!

My application - https://prop.house/nouns-on-the-ground/for-the-nounish-culture/3863

@EndiUngureanu’s application - https://prop.house/nouns-on-the-ground/for-the-nounish-culture/3869

During the 2nd day I met an old friend, @iamMEANiX. It was a nice opportunity to catch up and learn more about his new adventure at @YOMetaverse.

Now, let’s go quickly through other projects and people that caught my attention during @nft_paris.

.Arrianne (@ArianeeProject)

Arianee is on a mission to empower brands and owners to give digital life to products, experiences, or communities through NFTs.

• Solid (@solidnft)

Solid allows NFT owners to redeem their physical print. They follow the vision of creating physical experiences around NFTs. They are also verifying requests and certifying their physical artworks.

• The Assets Club (@NonFungibleAss)

The Assets Club is the genesis collection of our ecosystem. 5'777 unique Assets granting its holders access to a journey called Inspirata. Congrats Cristian with your newly acquired Assests.

• Immortal Game (@TheImmortalGame)

The project represents the first ever free-to-play and play-and-earn version of chess with a built-in earning mechanism, and their mission is simple – provide existing chess players with the most nuanced and variable experience available coupled with financial rewards for their skills, while simultaneously introducing the game to an entirely new audience of investors and DeFi / GameFi enthusiasts.

• Futures Factory (@futures_nft)

They are a creator-first startup operating at the forefront of the Sneaker Culture and the Web3 space, existing to empower Creators to design the Future of Next-Gen Footwear. At their stand I got to meet Bojoreal (@OvidiuValeriu) a very talented Romanian artist, but even more important, an amazingly kind and humble human being. Nice to meet you fren!

• Web3 Antivirus (@web3_antivirus)

Web3 Antivirus proactively protects you from malicious smart contracts and phishing websites and warns you not to fall into a scam. After seeing their demo, I went and downloaded their extension right away. The best solution out there in my opinion.

• For those of you that would like to listen to the pannels, some were recorded and are available here:

End notes

Overall I had a great experience and a very good time talking and connecting with everyone.

Although the organization had some challenges, growing over 30x YoY in terms of attendees for sure got the organizers by surprise.. I am sure the organizers will learn from and the 2024 edition will be a blast!

One thing is certain: The Revolution can not be stopped!

As @Farouk mentioned in a tweet the other day, “These IRL events give you the drive you need for months”.

Au revoir #Paris! Rendez-vous en 2024 !

#LFG

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