The “Innovation Brunch” series is an initiative launched by Dubai Media City, in collaboration with Communicate. A quarterly event that is aimed at bringing into the limelight, social, technological as well as economic trends and updates that are directly or indirectly affecting the communications industry.

Hosted on Thursday, 30th June 2022, at in5 Tech located on King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street, this quarter’s event discussed NFTs. The brunch started off with an introductory workshop hosted by the Co-Founder and Partner at Nifty Souq, Talal Alafghani. During his session, Alafghani walked the audience through the process of creating, buying, and selling NFTs through various marketplaces. The workshop ended with a long-awaited QnA round, building the momentum for the next session.

 

The workshop was followed by a panel discussion that touched base on numerous extensions of the technology, such as the digitization of traditional art into NFTs, how brands and advertisers can embed NFTs into the Metaverse to promote engagement and widen their target audience, and the many risks and security threats that amateurs need to be aware of before creating, buying or selling NFTs. Moderated by Alafghani, the panel invited Koen van Riel, Marketing and Strategy Director – SkyneNFT, Chantal Asaad, NFT Art Specialist/Marketing Communication Consultant at Terra Virtua/BlueGuard ME along with Julien Hawari, CEO and Founder of Million. The session came to an end with a long-awaited QnA round, building the momentum

Commenting on the event, Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Media City – one of TECOM Group’s 10 sector-focused business districts, said: “We are delighted to witness such an overwhelming response to the first session of the 'Innovation Brunch series. NFTs are a trending topic globally, and as more brands in the region enter the conversation, there is little surprise that people in Dubai are eager to learn about all that it offers. We want to continue the momentum of bringing together experts from the region to our community to exchange knowledge and share insights with the start-ups and entrepreneurs at in5, as well as any community members interested in tapping into future technologies and trends. NFTs are just the start of what this new series will offer, and we hope individuals and companies alike walk away with invaluable learnings about the latest developments in media and technology and embrace them in their own endeavors, whether it’s the metaverse or crypto. We look forward to the next session which will provide another opportunity for our community to converge, engage and learn.”

With an intimate gathering of over 50 professionals from across the communications industry, the brunch provided the audience with an open stage to learn, question and connect with like-minded individuals.