This article is the entry for day 19 in the KINTO Technologies Advent Calendar 2024🎅🎄

1. Tech Blog Debut

Hello!

I'm Shiori (@shor_t8q) from the Generative AI Development Project. I am currently in charge of training, use case development, and technical support for generative AI! (Though I chose Web3 as the topic for my first Tech Blog post.)

This blog is about how we used NFTs at a team activity during the CHO All-Hands Meeting (an in-person meeting event that brought together all employees across all offices) held on November 28, 2024. This is the perfect content for anyone interested in the in-house planning and deployment of large-scale company events, incorporating NFTs into internal activities, or learning more about the company culture at KINTO Technologies.

Premise

The NFT initiative introduced in this blog was made possible through the cooperation and dedication of all the organizers of the CHO All-Hands Meeting, the activities team, the novelty team, and the Creative Office.

Furthermore, this blog is not sponsored by any of the companies providing the NFT services discussed here. The purpose of this blog is solely to share the experiences, creativity, insights, and lessons learned by those in charge of the activities and novelties.

2. About the CHO All-Hands Meeting

2-1. What is a CHO All-Hands Meeting?

A CHO All-Hands Meeting is a company-wide event held by KINTO Technologies approximately once or twice a year. The CHO All-Hands Meeting covered in this blog was held on November 28, 2024, with approximately 300 attendees in person and around 50 attendees online. The meeting took place from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM and was a highly exciting event with a wide variety of content.

2-2. Being Part of Organizing the activities and novelties

About a month and a half before the CHO All-Hands Meeting, members from various departments came together to form the organizing team. I was assigned to be part of the team in charge of activities and novelties.

To promote communication across the company, we decided to create desk nameplates as novelty items. The design was handled by J-san from the Creative Office.

2-3. Concept of the CHO All-Hands Meeting

The event's concept was "KTC is Made by You”, which was shaped by gathering input from executives, department heads, and managers about their thoughts on teamwork, company culture, and their vision for the future.

3. Activities at the CHO All-Hands Meeting

3-1. What is a team activity?

It was the final section of the event, held at the end of the meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Based on the concept of the CHO All-Hands Meeting, the activities team set the following two goals:

• To promote communication among participants and between members of different departments.
• To deliver an experience that leaves participants feeling grateful they joined.

3-2. What led to the use of NFTs in the team activity?

The activity featured an NFT stamp rally, but why choose that format? I was originally in charge of novelties, but the idea started when I wondered, "What if the novelty items were NFTs?" and "Could this serve as inspiration for future NFT and Web3 projects?" I was also motivated by the desire to try something new and different.

With that in mind, I began exploring ways to incorporate NFTs that aligned with the theme of the CHO All-Hands Meeting. Through online research, I discovered the concept of an "NFT stamp rally." Around the same time, members of the organizing team shared that a digital stamp rally had been used at the previous CHO All-Hands Meeting. That inspired us to take it a step further and evolve the concept into an NFT stamp rally. From that point on, I joined the team activity planning discussions, and we began exploring how to bring the NFT stamp rally to life.

4. What Is an NFT?

4-1. NFTs Are Unique Digital Assets

NFT stands for "Non-Fungible Token." NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets that cannot be exchanged for other tokens due to their uniqueness and characteristics. In addition, NFTs use blockchain technology to ensure transparency in transactions. For example, Bitcoin is a fungible token, meaning one Bitcoin holds the same value as another, whereas NFTs are non-fungible because each NFT holds its own unique value.

Because of their non-fungible nature, NFTs have become a new tool to enhance fan engagement in art, games, music, movies, sports, entertainment, and corporate marketing activities, and their application in other industries is expanding as well. While NFTs provide a means of monetization for creators and a new marketing tool for companies, improving the transparency and traceability of transactions, they also come with challenges such as the environmental impact from the large amount of electricity it requires during mining, legal risks, and price volatility due to market fluctuations.

5. NFT Stamp Rally

5-1. Is it feasible to hold an NFT stamp rally at the team activity?

Conducting a survey

To explore whether it was feasible to distribute and exchange NFTs as part of the team activity, we began by conducting some research.

Through this process, we came across a company called Sushi Top Marketing which has an extensive track record with NFT use cases including organizing NFT stamp rallies. They are also promoting a new concept called “Token Graph Marketing.”

What is Token Graph Marketing?

Token Graph Marketing is a new marketing approach that uses blockchain technology to reach users while protecting their privacy. Users' hobbies, preferences, and behavioral history can be analyzed based on their NFTs and other token information.

Source: What is Token Graph Marketing?

Initial Ideas

I had several discussions with the vendor based on the following initial ideas:

Content	Description
Novelty Concept	Activating communication among members who rarely interact with each other, stimulate communication and promote innovation, fostering a sense of unity, and provide novelties that appeal across age and gender. The solution should not deviate from this core concept.
Accessibility	Since the stamp rally would be held on a single day, it needed to be intuitive and easy to use Must be supported for both app and via QR code scanning.
Value as a Novelty	Showcase NFTs as a new type of novelty item, something participants can transfer to their own wallet and keep as a digital asset.
Innovation	Reflect the company’s emphasis on creativity and technology by trying something that hasn’t been done before.
Brand Alignment	Customize the UI to reflect the company’s brand identity, including its colors and character.
Concept Visualization	For example: “Each department has a different NFT stamp. When Employee A speaks with Employee B from another department, A receives a stamp from B’s department.” This encourages interdepartmental interaction.

5-2. Blockchain Technology Behind the NFT Stamp Rally

For the NFT stamp rally, we chose to use Astar, a next-generation blockchain platform known for its compatibility with smart contract and dApps (decentralized apps). Astar is part of the Polkadot ecosystem, enabling interoperability between different blockchains.

5-3. NFT Stamp Rally Concept

Idea brainstorming

We received four initial proposals for the NFT stamp rally:

Proposal	Description
NFT Card Exchange	Participants collect NFTs by exchanging digital cards. Additional NFTs can be unlocked upon exchange.
Dynamic NFT Stamp Rally	Collecting specific NFT pairs unlocks special NFTs. Different combinations yield different results.
NFT Distribution via LINE	Commemorative NFTs are distributed through an official LINE account. Those who hold them receive a gift.
NFT Business Cards & Stamp Rally	NFC or QR-enabled cards are handed out before the event. These cards serve as novelties and as tools for collecting NFTs during the rally.

We discussed and refined the proposals based on the following criteria:

Criteria

Criteria	Description
Workload	Can everything be prepared in about one month?
Usability	Is it intuitive, with little to no manuals or explanations?
Operability	Can it run smoothly, in a relaxed atmosphere in an event with 300 participants?
Simplicity	Can it be used without complex operations or steps?
Accessibility	Can it be accessed without restrictions, needing third-party services?
Innovation	Does it offer an interesting NFT experience?
Security	Does it ensure data privacy and protection?
Scalability	Can it handle simultaneous access from a large number of users?
Compatibility	Is it mobile-friendly and Web3-compatible?
Budget Alignment	Is it achievable within the budget?

Combining the ideas and our requirements, we finalized the following plan:

5-4. NFT Stamp Rally Planning Details

Overview of the NFT stamp rally

We issued 14 NFTs, covering each department, management team, and a completion certificate.

Participants would visit different zones during the activity (such as spots where the management and award recipients are present), collect NFTs that are different from the ones they already hold, and engage in communication with members from other departments or the management team, whom they don't often have the chance to interact with. This promotes the start of new projects and fosters relationship-building.

A gamified element was added, in which participants who collected all 13 NFTs could earn a final “completion” NFT, which was redeemable for a prize.

NFT Collection Points

Each participant’s name tags (distributed at check-in) would contain an NFC tag -explained later- and a QR code, allowing participants to collect NFTs through either NFC tapping or QR scanning. Providing both options ensured accessibility for participants who couldn’t use NFC.

NFT Stamp Rally Flow

1. Participants visit each zone.
2. Interact with members from other departments and management.
3. Post what they discussed in the chat linked to the department's NFT (sharing the conversations in the NFT-linked chat adds unique value to each department's NFT).
4. Exchange NFTs with the members they interacted with and collect 13 NFTs.
5. Earn the completion NFT.
6. Post their Slack name in the completion NFT chat.
7. The event staff later award prizes via Slack.

NFT Design

Since this was a company-wide event, we incorporated KINTO's brand character, Kumobii, into the NFT designs to strengthen the sense of unity and identity.

The NFT artwork was created by Momoi-san from the Creative Office.

NTF Innovations

We added original value to NFTs by:

• Each department having its own unique design.
• NFT names were written in both Japanese and English to accommodate global members.
• A unique collection name and event date attribute were added to each NFT.
• All NFTs included the keyword "KTC is Made by You," the theme of the CHO All-Hands Meeting. When combined, the NFTs formed the full theme of the activity.

6. Challenges in Realizing an NFT Stamp Rally

6-1. How Should NFTs Be Exchanged? What channel should be used? What technology should be adopted?

Using NFT x NFC tags

As an element of this get-together, we placed importance on adding small surprises and discoveries, such as "Oh, I didn't know that was possible!". By combining ideas from service providers and the organizing team members, we made it possible to receive an NFT simply by tapping a smartphone on an NFC chip embedded in a name tag.

*NFC (Near Field Communication) is a technology and standard that enables wireless communication between devices in close proximity.. It's used in a wide range of applications, including smartphones, IC transit cards, credit cards, and smart appliances.

How to write NFT information ito NFC tags?

NFC tag: www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DFW9WTRW

NFC writing app: https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/nfc-tools/id1252962749

We procured NFC tags from Amazon manually wrote NFT URLs for 13 types and approximately 300 people. To cover potential failures, we also prepared NFT QR codes for all participants. This process was carried out manually (the organizers, thyt-san and Oka-san, did the writing.)

The completed tags were inserted into name holders.

6-2. How were the rules communicated to all participants?

During the host's introduction before the start of the NFT stamp rally, the “NFT Stamp Rally Guide” was projected on screen, while the host and I worked together to make sure everyone was aware of the rules of the NFT stamp rally.

6-3. Since NFT exchange is done on a browser-based web app, how can participants avoid losing track of the NFTs they have acquired?

I worked with the event MCs to provide the following information through the projected materials:

• The web app runs in a browser.
• Don’t use incognito mode.
• After acquiring your first NFT, add a NFT list shortcut to your home screen.
• Take a screenshot of your NFT backup code displayed during the NFT exchange.

6-4. How to issue completion NFTs

Participants who collected all NFTs could show their NFT list to staff to receive a special completion NFT.

7. Lessons Learned

7-1. NFT exchange became the only activity everyone had time for

Although we got to meet many team members we don't usually talk to, it was difficult to even find time to eat. It was difficult to share conversations with members in the chats linked to NFTs as originally envisioned, and achieving the goal of "accumulating the insights and ideas of department members in each department's NFTs and turning them into unique value for each department's NFT" proved challenging. In addition, the original plan envisioning people exchanging NFTs across zones (spots where management, honored members, awarded members, would stay) didn’t pan out either. At an activity that encourages free communication, there was no need to set up zones.

7-2. We should have supported NFT type-checking

Participants commented that, since it was possible to obtain multiple NFTs from any member of the same Department A, participants often ended up with similar designs, such as multiple NFTs from Department A. This made it difficult to check which types of NFTs were still missing. This should have been considered in advance and addressed.

7-3. The completion process should've been simpler.

As mentioned in 5-4, things didn’t go as smoothly as expected.

Asking participants to post a screenshot of their completed NFT list in Slack could have helped. It would have made it easier for staff to confirm completions.

Also, by reporting completion in an open space such as a Slack channel, "My colleague, so and so, has completed it!" would have motivated others and encourage more participation.

7-4. More flexibikity in choosing channels for NFT touchpoints.

We manually wrote NFT URLs for 300 people onto the NFC tags. However, considering the potential for human error and the amount of workload involved, it may be better to explore other touchpoints and channels for larger events.

7-5. Provide more proactive English support

About 25% of KINTO Technologies' employees are international. Although presentation slides were prepared in both Japanese and English, but when speaking with several international members at the activities, we found ourselves giving additional explanations in English during the event. Things would have gone even more smoothly if we had shared the presentation materials on the Slack channel beforehand and provided explanations in English at the start of the stamp rally.

8. NFT Stamp Rally Results

8-1. 10% of Participants Completed the Rally!!!

Out of approximately 300 participants, 30 people, or 10% of the participants completed the NFT stamp rally.

8-2. Overall results

A total of 1,734 NFTs were distributed. On average, participants exchanged 6.6 NFTs per person, with a median of 6. That means each participant talked to members from around 6 different departments.

One of the goals was to interact with members from other departments at the team activity, so it can be said that the NFT stamp rally fulfilled that goal.

Metric	Result
Completed participants	30
Total NFTs issued	1734
Average NFTs exchanged	6.6
Median NFTs exchanged	6

9. Future Posibilities for NFTs

We learned that NFT stamp rallies can visualize movement and engagement at in-person networking events. Interestingly, it allowed us to see how many NFTs each department issued, which enabled us to identify which departments were most active in communicating with other departments.

This experience expanded our vision on how NFTs could be used both online and offline in KINTO Technologies' KINTO product offerings, such as MaaS-related apps and member services. For instance, I thought that NFTs could be effective for approaching customers based on their hobbies and preferences, rather than traditional attributes such as age and gender, and for visualizing customer communication and behavior.

10. Conclusion

Through the NFT stamp rally initiative, we realized the potential that can arise from the fusion of new technologies and ideas. It was a valuable experience to create an opportunity for members from different departments to interact and engage with technology in a fun way during a team activity. We’ll keep exploring how to integrate new technologies in engaging ways and share our findings along the way. If you're thinking about trying a project involving NFTs, AI, or Web3, go for it! I'm sure you'll discover something interesting!

Thank you for reading until the end!