By Josh Albrecht
After a record-breaking year in tourism, VISIT Milwaukee unveiled a new way for visitors to explore Milwaukee with Authenticated Experiences (AX), a non-fungible token (NFT) marketing campaign at the organization’s recent annual meeting.
The tourism industry’s only immersive and interactive NFT platform, AX features collectible digital 
tokens allowing users to unlock exclusive real-life experiences and prizes in a scavenger hunt-like format. This campaign by VISIT Milwaukee is designed to attract visitors from across the region to Milwaukee and encourage them to venture out into the city’s 191 neighborhoods.
“This campaign is a unique opportunity to attract new visitors to our city and offer them incredible experiences while helping them explore all that our 191 neighborhoods have to offer,” said Josh Albrecht, VISIT Milwaukee’s vice president of marketing and communications. “AX serves as an artist platform and gives us a fresh way to position Milwaukee as a destination for both tech and travel—a win for the arts, tourism, and our terrific partners like Summerfest.”
Debuting in partnership with Summerfest and Summerfest Tech, AX spotlights Milwaukee’s digital creators, iconic brands, places, and people by geolocating free NFT collectibles around the city. AX’s first five custom NFT collectibles are inspired by Milwaukee’s rich music history through the lens of local artist T9LET. In honor of the 55th anniversary of the world’s largest music festival, Summerfest, the first 55 people to collect all five NFTs will receive access to an exclusive VISIT Milwaukee x AX artist experience and the chance to win two tickets to a Summerfest show of their choice in 2023 or 2024.
In addition to AX’s first five collectibles, AX2 will feature five NFTs geolocated on the Summerfest festival grounds through July 8. Curated by Cullah, a Milwaukee native, artist, and musician, AX2’s Summerfest-inspired designs will unlock unique VISIT Milwaukee prizes and the chance to win a Summerfest x Visit Milwaukee VIP Experience.
“This is a joint effort between Summerfest, Summerfest Tech and VISIT Milwaukee to lean into new and exciting technologies. It allows us to create a tech-forward touchpoint for our Summerfest attendees and provide awareness around Web3 and NFT at Summerfest Tech this year while strengthening the connection we have with VISIT Milwaukee and tourism,” said Jerrod Woods, senior director of marketing at Milwaukee World Festival, Inc.
As part of Summerfest’s efforts to enter into the NFT and collectible space, the music festival released its own NFT on June 22 with 1,000 limited editions available for collection. Each user who claims the special Summerfest NFT will also receive one FREE Summerfest general admission ticket. The NFT will be made available with the same technology group that VISIT Milwaukee has partnered with, Vennity. This is the first time that Summerfest has entered this tech-forward space, thanks in part to the efforts of AmpliPhi Digital and Spencer Smith.
In addition to partnering with local artists and brands, VISIT Milwaukee is aligning with Vennity as its AX technology partner for online map integration and digital art minting on the Polygon blockchain. A no-code platform for creating and distributing digital collectibles in the real world, Vennity was founded in 2018 by Vlad Avesalon and Navneet Saxena.
“Milwaukee holds a special place in my heart since my wife and I spent seven-plus years here collectively, we got engaged here, I got my dog from the Humane Society here,” says Saxena, co-founder of Vennity. “It’s a special place and a hidden gem when it comes to tourism. I’m excited to showcase some of Milwaukee’s beauty through the Vennity app as it was intended to be used.”
Josh Albrecht is Vice President of Marketing and Communications for VISIT Milwaukee.
