Introducing POAPs

/ Dogs / By / 5 minutes of reading

Official Photographer of the 2022 ESS National Amateur Championship Field Trial

Chile Dog Photography is proud to be the Official Photographer of the 2022 ESS National Field Trial that starts near Clarkston, UT on November 30.   I've purposely not posted much on these pages about our 25 year+ participation in this sport because I know some are not fond of hunting. However, it IS part of our rural Midwestern upbringing, and it IS what the dogs we love were bred to do. And they absolutely LOVE it!
I've photographed a number of ESS National Open and Amateur Field Trials over the past 20 years.  As a result, I have 5 or 6 portraits/action shots in the Sporting Dog Hall of Fame in the National Bird Dog Museum in Grand Junction, TN.  I'm told they are all stored in the basement there, but I hope that some day they'll match up all the portraits with the dogs listed on the website.
Portrait of 2004 English Springer Spaniel National Amateur Champion, Shaman, in a walnut folio box sitting on an antique desk

Why Bring up Blockchain and Web3 Technology?

At the risk of confusing an awful lot of people (it won't be the first time), I've taken the initiative to create a POAP for all the handlers, marshals, committee members, judges, and others who make this event possible.  

My goal is that this will be most people's very first NFT and that some will learn just a tiny bit about blockchain and Web3.  Why??  I want to lessen the digital divide by showing people what it possible, one digestible bit at a time.  I firmly believe that blockchain technology is going to change the world.  In fact, it already is. ;).  It's my hope that this POAP will make you "crypto curious."

Are your grandkids playing Roblox?  If they are, they are building the Metaverse and already using digital currency.  Ask them to help you with your POAP.  😉

History is repeating self.  I remember exactly where I was and who showed me my very first web page on Netscape Navigator around 1993.  That Web1 page was nothing more than a listing of the images of German beer labels.  JPGs!!  Today, many people think NFTs and Web3 are nothing more than "overpriced JPGs.   In retrospect, I find this really funny.  Look where we've come since that rudimentary start, and you might get an inkling of where we're going from here.  Today's fervor about Web3 reminds me of that time more than a quarter century ago (OMG, I'm old!).

Handler POAP for the
2022 ESS NAC

POAP for the 2022 ESS National Amateur Championship Field Trial

What is a POAP?

So what the heck is a POAP or an NFT?  I'm so glad you asked!
POAP simply stands for Proof of Attendance Protocol. It is pronounced "Poh-app."  At its most basic, it's a digital badge that lives on a blockchain that proves the holder attended a specific event. POAPs benefit people by creating a completely personalized story of their lives, linking them with moments in time and space without sharing any data with big centralized platforms.
A POAP is both a "collectible" and a "reward" in our case because your dog has had to qualify for and compete in the the National Amateur Championship, or you have to participate in some role in real life (IRL).
Technically, the POAP is an NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, or a smart contract on the Gnosis blockchain that permanently records participation or attendance.  The classic example of a Fungible "Token" is a US dollar bill.  Every dollar bill is exactly alike (except for serial number) and can be exchanged for every other dollar bill.  That's the definition of "fungibility."  A Non-fungible Token, is a digital asset on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish each one from all the others.  Each one is unique. 

Y'all have the enormous advantage of having Google in your pocket.  There's been SO much content about POAPs, NFTs, blockchain and Web3 already published on all channels that you can't help but stumble over it if you take the time to look up these terms.

You can find out the nitty gritty about POAPs straight from the horse's mouth at
https://poap.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9494654007437-What-Is-POAP-
Another trusted source of information is Ledger, the maker of hardware wallets for everything blockchain.  If you really go down this rabbit hole like I have, you'll have to get one.

How Do I Claim my 2022 NAC Commemorative POAP?

If you're a handler, it's easy!  Come get your dog's Purina ProPlan® Portrait made.  I'll have QR codes ready for scanning on my iPad.  Look for my big purple flag.
If you're a marshal, on the committee, etc. just come find me anytime during the NAC and I'll get you hooked up through my iPad.  All you need is an email address.

To fully claim your POAP however, you will need to get your very first blockchain wallet.  The most popular wallet is MetaMask, and it's the one I use the most.  Hundred, if not thousands, of articles and Youtube videos have been made on how to download, install and set up your MetaMask wallet.  If you want help, please ask me.  Here's a great resource from MetaMask to help you get started, too.

Here's one of my favorite guides.  Gary Vaynerchuk can be pretty salty, but he's probably done the most of anyone out there to educate people about Web3 and NFTs.  This article is chock full of information, so please take the time to read to the end.  Fight the TL;DR! (Too long, did not read 😉 ).

Good Luck to All Handlers and Dogs!!

Even if you don't want to claim your 2022 ESS NAC POAP (wow that's a lot of acronyms!), please seek out the tall purple Chile Dog Photography flag and have your free Purina ProPlan® Portrait taken of your dog.  You can be in it, too, if you like.

Related Posts

Scroll to Top