🍬 Sugary Scoop: Reflections from VeeCon 2024

Welcome to the Sugary Scoop, my free biweekly newsletter where we help you see and experience the magic of NYC that I love so much through curated events, experiences, artists, and community stories.

Let’s get to this week’s Scoop!

🍬The Scoop 🍬

• UPCOMING EVENTS

• WHAT'S NEW

  • THE SUGARY EFFECT

  • PAST EVENTS

    • AND DON’T SAY I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT…

  • NOTABLE NYC EVENTS THIS WEEK FROM OUR FRIENDS

August 15th @6:00pm (Midtown West): Sugary x Tradisyon: A Kamayan Feast - ​Come and enjoy a special evening of incredible eats as Chef Anton discusses the incredible world of Filipino cuisine and why he is among those leading the charge to bring it to the forefront of NYC’s dining scene! For those wondering what a Kamayan consists of, we have a wide variety of dishes including grilled pork belly, crispy pata (pork knuckle), whole fish, shrimp, veggies, fruits, individual dipping sauces, and more - on top of freshly made white rice! _{(Social Battery Level: Medium Ambivert - Crowd Size 10-20)}

August 20th @5:30pm (Tribeca): Sugary Community Town Hall II - Our Second Town Hall for our Community! ​Come join us to learn about what we are working on for the months ahead, offer your feedback, suggest programing ideas/collaborations & bring a guest to meet the members and enjoy an early evening of good vibes. _{(Social Battery Level: Low Ambivert - Crowd Size 20-30)}

August 22nd @5:30pm (Tribeca): Unsent Letter Project Presents: The Write to Read Salon - Our incredible salon series continues celebrating the power of anonymous writing and storytelling. Come check it out and see why folks are calling this series, “deeply thoughtful, immensely therapeutic and simply beautiful”. RSVP HERE _{(Social Battery Level: Low Ambivert - Crowd Size 25-35)}

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August 17th & 18th @1:00pm-5:00pm (McCarren Park): Follow @unsentlettermailbox for exact location.

September 4th @7:00pm (Midtown East): RDI & Sugary Present - Sensible Disagreement: The Political Spectrum Unraveled (Space: powered by empathy. discussion series) - With the traditional Left-Right divide having gone the way of the dodo, join us for a spirited discussion of what the future will look like for America’s political spectrum. Are common sense solutions across party lines still possible? Can we cooperate despite the political rhetoric that would have us focused on fighting each other? With insight from diverse speakers, this evening promises to be a lively and enlightening affair. _{(Social Battery Level: Very High ExtrovertLow Ambivert - Crowd Size 100-150)}

September 10th @6:00pm (Chelsea): An Evening…with a Touch of Whimsy: Come join us to celebrate the opening of Manhattan’s best kept secret and newest hidden experimental speakeasy bar loosely inspired by Alice and Wonderland. Join us down this rabbit hole…you won’t regret this one!   _{(Social Battery Level: Medium Extrovert - Crowd Size 30-40)}

_{(Space is very limited for each of these events so if you’d like to attend to any of these events, please hit the RSVP button below sooner than later!)}

I’m back from Veecon, and I’m happy to report it was a remarkably eclectic and enjoyable experience. I also managed to amble my way through the conference on crutches nursing a severe ankle sprain I sustained hours before boarding the plane to LA…the true definition of a “weekend warrior” 😅.

Folks from all corners of Gary V’s vast community gathered for 3 days of panels, parties and personalities.

Aspects of Gary V‘s communities include collectors, creatives, crypto enthusiasts, career entrepreneurs and so much more.

For me, this amalgamation of diverse presence was a joy to witness in terms of the interaction of energies and perspectives.

As for the panels, they were also reflective of the diverse attendance.

From world famous TikTok sensation Khaby Lame, speaking matter-of-factly about his rise to social media royalty, to VeeFriends president Andy Krainak talking about the roadmap for the collectible series to Will.I.Am guiding us through and experience with his new AI enhanced platform RAiDio.FYI which offers a new take on ChatGPT by offering you in essence an AI “DJ” which will provide whatever information you seek (in whatever vocal intonation or accent you prefer) while also keeping things moving with an inspired selection of songs to be the soundtrack for your search.

I got to link up some of my amazing longtime friends, such as artist Shantell Martin, restaurateur and author Will Guidara and c-suite brand maven Swan Sit as well as connect with new friends such as influencer marketer extraordinaire Shannon Eva and Good News Movement founder Michelle Figueroa.

As far as highlights go:

Best talk of VeeCon (Other than Gary Vee’s closing night speech…more on that later) 💬: The Future of Creativity, Media and AI…Where do We Go From Here - Chris Lyons in conversation w/ Will.I.am. The real time demonstration of FYI’s RAiDiO platform was as engaging as it was impressive along with a bit of swagger thrown into the whole mix.

Best Moderator 🧑‍⚖️ : Swan Sit - She may be a friend but she also asked the most insightful questions that I heard at VeeCon. Swan’s questions were thoughtful and you got the sense she was unafraid to push boundaries even with established and prestigious personalities.

Best Performance 🎤 : T-Pain - Gotta hand it to the guy, his performance was high energy and full of personality…that and you got a remainder of just how many hits you made bad decisions to across the years. Plus the man can really sing. Really appreciated the effort and the genuine commitment to the show.

For those of you that were paying attention, I did in fact honor my promise and did more posting across the 3 day span on social media than I believe I have done all year.

It wasn’t perfect or necessarily the most engaging content…(I think Bella Poarch is safe 😋…for now), but as with everything else, it’s a process and I’m only gonna get better with it the more I do it. Doubt me? We’ll just stay tuned…and follow 😉.

THE SUGARY EFFECT

Reflections of Grandeur

It had been a long but engaging 3 days at Veecon as I settled my butt into an aisle seat at stage one for Gary Vee’s closing night address.

As the crowds gathered, it was plain to see the vastness of Gary Vee‘s community and how many different people his values and content had connected with over the years.

I myself had been following Gary Vee‘s content for about five years now because I discovered that a lot of what Gary Vee had to say aligned very closely with my own values and so I resonated very strongly with it.

As the countdown began, the fervor and intensity of the cheering elevated to match the anticipation of the moment. When Gary Vee came out, a thunderous standing ovation greeted him.

Gary Vee, the son of Belarusian Jewish immigrants who started in wine yet wound up building a multi media empire, took centerstage in commanding fashion to impart his wisdom on the masses.

Gary Vee focused on what he believed to be the key tenets for success in pursuing your dreams and I couldn’t help but notice the parallels I’ve experienced with the creation of my own community:

• Adaptable - You’re not averse to changing things up…to change your mind midstream when given new context and information. I had to adapt in order to accommodate the needs of a growing community. It wasn’t just about a nice event here and there, it was about consistency as much as it was about quality. It was about content. It was about creating greater value.

• Courageous - Don’t be scared to lose or you have already lost with that kind of mindset. You will NEVER regret your acts of courage. I was riddled with self doubt when launching my community content. Would anyone care, interact or listen? At some point, I needed to silence that inner critique and take that first step. It’s been the best decision I have ever made.

• Practical - Do not allow your passions to make you delusional. Being delusional is not a strength so take care not to confuse the two. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will my vision. One subscriber at a time, one successful event at a time. One changed life becomes changed lives in time.

• Passionate - Lean into what you love. Please try, and ignore the naysayers, because first they laugh and then inevitably they will always marvel. My passion IS community and connection through culture. It’s my DNA and I look forward to shifting society with it.

• Capable - Have confidence in your own potential. It’s a universal truth that you can always push dramatically harder than you think you can. I am a creative dreamer and I am an authentic raconteur able to inspire authentically because I live my truth out through the community and we’re just getting started.

• Humble - Not to be confused with confidence and ambition, don’t posture and deploy your ego for vanity and acclaim. It may fool some but you’ll lose credibility with those that matter. When we launched the Sugary membership we did so at a very low cost. Despite previous successes, I wanted my community to feel my commitment towards building together from the ground up and earn trust one person at a time.

• Unwavering - Commit to your dream. Full tilt without wavering. Never mind what “they” are saying. Who is “they” anyways? If you don’t want to be like them, “they” are the last people you should listen to. So many people told me pre-launch that they had concerns about the viability of the community. However “they” had different priorities and “they” held different values than I did.

As the speech drew to a close, I got the sense that Gary Vee himself was going through his own journey. He said it as much but it was truly more in the way he delivered the update to his supporters on an uncertain future post VeeCon.  He was vulnerable yet defiant, bittersweet yet optimistic and you could really get a sense that he was in his feelings.

Whatever the future holds, I took stock in the sage words of “that other Gary” and held my head just a little higher in the knowledge that for better or worse, I was in fact living out my dream and if I just kept my eye on the prize, it would only get better.

PAST EVENTS

August 12th: 🍬¡Sugar Rush!🍬 A Gathering in LA. - While we were attending Veecon, DK and I decided to host an intimate potluck BBQ gathering from about 25 people. It was a fantastic evening that brought the good vibes from both coasts for an evening of conversation and good eats. This marked the 1st gathering hosted by our community in LA and it was an incredible night!

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Hanumankind

Like seriously…WTF?! This incredible artist shot out of cannon and into the collective consciousness with a banger of a summer hit released in July ‘24 “Big Dawgs” asserting Indian hip hop’s place in the ears and hearts of the hip hop devout.

Born in India and raised in Texas, Hanumankind (whose name is a blend of the deity Hanuman and mankind) signed to Capitol Records under Universal Music Group shortly after the sweeping global success of “Big Dawgs” and has been continually ascending ever since.

The artistry represents heavy influences from the likes of Project Pat, J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar.

With an impressive flow, infectious beat set and clever wordcraft, Hanumankind is on a straight rocket ship to and beyond the stratosphere.

Hold space for this man…he’ll be there soon enough.

T-minus with 10 toes in and standing on business…

Big Dawgs (most popular & newest song)

The Last Dance (lesser known song)

Damnson (earlier song)

NOTABLE NYC EVENTS THIS WEEK FROM OUR FRIENDS

8/15 @ 7pm - Evening of Music Immersion RSVP HERE

8/17 @ 7pm - The Ultimate Tech Party (The OOO After Party) RSVP HERE

8/17 @ 11am - Righteous Eats Food Festival (East River State Park, Brooklyn NO RSVP NECESSARY) MORE INFO

8/22 @ 6:30pm - Creator Economy Summer Soiree RSVP HERE (Mention Brett Dashevsky as your referrer)

9/17 @ 6:30pm - Deepfakes and Democracy in the Age of AI RSVP HERE