Hero Zone: Where Social VR Meets Real-World Revenue -
Two weeks ago today, I woke up to a text message from the owner of the venue where we’re hosting the LEXRA Summit in Austin, Texas.
“Call me,” it said.
In my experience, that’s never a good thing.
I got on a FaceTime call with Reva Enzminger, with whom I’d been working to figure out how to turn her 30,000-sq-ft venue into an immersive conference center in time for the Summit on August 3rd.
“Enklu filed bankruptcy,” She said. “They’re liquidating the business.”
Enklu was the maker of Verse Immersive, the first augmented reality free-roam experience to gain any traction in the LBE market. Verse accounted for a significant portion of her revenue. And to make matters worse, she was entering the busy summer season with a large number of group bookings. She was going to have to find a way to plug the hole in her attraction mix.
The ripple effects of a company going out of business, even a small one, can go beyond what you imagine. Last week, 18 venues had to notify customers and employees that an attraction was no longer available. For some of them, like Main Event and Ripley’s, it was probably more of an inconvenience, but for Riva, others felt a lot more existential. One operator reached out asking for advice, explaining that Verse was their primary attraction.
Enklu’s employees had zero notice, too. They were instantly out of jobs in one of the toughest employment markets in recent memory.
Enklu had been a frequent sponsor of my events, too. They sponsored the GreenLight Insights event I ran at IAAPA in 2018 and the VR Attraction Summit in Vegas last year. They’d even verbally committed to sponsor the LEXRA Summit this year. I was surprised, but not shocked. I’d heard they were raising money and were close to closing a new round. That’s the problem with companies needing to raise money to survive: one false move, and it’s curtains. I know, I’ve been there myself.
I wrote a story based on information publicly available in the bankruptcy filings. You can read that here. I know there’s more to the story that will come to light over the coming weeks and months. I’ll try to share any relevant insights and lessons we can learn from.
In the meantime, over the last two weeks, we’ve been wrestling with what to do about the summit. I can’t distract Reva with the Summit, which would interfere with her ability to navigate the business challenge she finds herself in. So we’re making the decision to postpone indefinitely.
There are three potential options.
If you have an opinion on when or know of a venue, feel free to reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you.
