Into the Metaverse

Jay Lee is the CEO of Naver Z US. Naver is the South Korean Internet giant which among other things owns and operate Zepeto. We cover in detail why Zepeto is unique in the metaverse landscape and how its avatar platform is shaping youth culture and what are the opportunities for creators and brands to build experiences and connect with young female audiences. https://www.intometamedia.com

Matt Edelman is Chief Commercial Officer at Super League Gaming. We cover in detail the early learnings from partnering with brands as they look to establish presence and advertise in metaverse-type platforms, and what are some of the challenges and opportunities ahead. https://www.intometamedia.com/

Joining me today are Shahar Sorek, CMO of Overwolf and Mishi McDuff, founder and CEO of Blueberry. We cover in detail the role of user-generated content in fueling the metaverse with content and experiences that help shape the future of the Internet, and how digital fashion fits in. https://www.intometamedia.com/

Neil Trevett is the Vice President of Developer Ecosystems at NVIDIA, President of Khronos Group and Chair of the Metaverse Standards Forum. He joined me in a conversation in which we cover in detail why standards how vital for the metaverse to emerge and what could happen in its absence https://www.intometamedia.com/ At Nvidia, Neil is responsible for enabling and encouraging advanced applications to use GPU acceleration. At the Khronos Group Neil created and chaired the working group that defined the industry standard for 3D graphics on mobile devices. At Khronos he also chairs a working group for portable, parallel heterogeneous computing, and helped initiate the WebGL standard that is bringing interactive 3D graphics to the Web. He’s now working to help formulate standards for vision and neural network inferencing. Previously, as Vice President of 3Dlabs, Neil was at the forefront of the silicon revolution bringing interactive 3D to the PC, and he established the embedded graphics division of 3Dlabs to bring advanced visual processing to a wide-range of non-PC platforms. Neil was elected President for eight consecutive years of the Web3D Consortium dedicated to creating open standards for communicating real-time 3D on the Internet.

Special episode for thanksgiving with the wonderful Esther Wojcicki! Esther is a journalist, educator, and vice chair of the Creative Commons advisory council. She is the founder of the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program in Palo Alto, CA. and the Co-Founder of Tract Learning, which publishes the web app Tract, a peer to peer, project-based, gamified learning platform for kids 8 years and over. Esther’s book, How To Raise Successful People, is a best seller! We cover in detail how technology is rapidly changing every aspect of our lives and what the future of workplace looks like, but at the same time the education system lags behind and continues to struggle with these rapid changes and preparing children for the future. https://www.intometamedia.com/

As Director of Social and Influencer at Chipotle, Candice Beck drives the brand's strategic, rapidly growing social media marketing program. Candice strategizes first-to-market social and digital programs that drive brand buzz and amplify awareness for Chipotle's global campaigns. Candice is responsible for leading award-winning activations, partnering with cross-functional leaders to maintain Chipotle's relevance with fans of all ages. In addition to her focus on social media content, Candice oversees the brand's metaverse strategy, collaborations, and influencer program. Driven by cultural insights, obsessed with the customer journey, and immersed in digital media, Candice is constantly tracking what's new and trending while remaining rooted in Chipotle's values and purpose to Cultivate a Better World. Candice's focus on authenticity, innovation, transparency, and analytics has proven to be a winning combo for Chipotle. Prior to Chipotle, Candice worked in marketing and events at Abercrombie & Fitch. Candice attended The Ohio State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts and Science Degree. Candice was named one of QSR's '35 young leaders to watch'. We cover in detail how Chipotle seeks to create authentic experiences that give consumers tangible value, the way Chipotle experiences within Roblox merge the physical and digital worlds, and the massive opportunities for brands in this new frontier. https://www.intometamedia.com/

Joost van Dreunen is an entrepreneur and author. He teaches the business of video games at NYU Stern School of Business and wrote a book called ONE UP: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games. He spent the last two decades as an industry analyst working with all of the major firms on strategy. After selling SuperData Research, a games research firm he co-founded, to Nielsen in 2018, he’s now investing and advising data companies and game makers. We cover in detail the growing role of gaming in helping to realize the metaverse and why “video games” are a key pillar in the paradigm shift of human experience on the Internet. https://www.intometamedia.com/

Louis Rosenberg is a pioneer in fields of augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. He earned his PhD from Stanford, has been awarded over 300 patents for VR, AR, and AI technologies, and founded a number of successful companies including Unanimous AI, Immersion Corporation, Microscribe, and Outland Research. We cover in detail the important aspects for how we build a metaverse that we can trust and believe in. https://www.intometamedia.com/

Yon is Founder and CEO of Supersocial, a metaverse company that develops, publishes and operates cutting-edge virtual worlds on Roblox and other emerging platforms. Its business platform – which includes a development studio and publishing services, enables world-class brands and IP owners, as well as its owned IP, to enter the metaverse through bold creativity and unmatched product quality. Yon is also the creator, publisher and host of Into The Metaverse, a leading podcast and newsletter where anyone can learn about the metaverse. We cover in detail why brands are entering the metaverse, how Supersocial and Nars Color Quest are at the cutting edge of innovation in the space, and how marketers can add value to their communities through next generation experiences.

MiniToon is the creator of Piggy, one of the most successful games ever created on the Roblox platform, with 11 billion+ play sessions, and a cult of followers that propelled Piggy to a sensation status already in the first year of the game. We cover in detail the power of the Roblox platform and the opportunity for creators to build next generation game franchises starting on emerging platforms. MiniToon has nearly 700,000 followers on Twitter, more than 900,000 subscribers on YouTube, and Piggy has more than 240,000 members on Discord. https://www.intometamedia.com/