Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Rush.
Hi Josh, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I love creating moments that matter and experiences that build real connections for businesses and brands. As such, I’ve worked in event production and experience marketing for the majority of my career, and am a partner at Echelon Design, a Chicago-based event marketing and production company.
In early March of 2020, Covid-19 took root around the globe—decimating the event and trade show industry. As a veteran of live event production, in order to survive and thrive, Echelon knew it had to pivot from physical experiences to virtual ones. The change was always coming, fate just demanded it happens sooner.
Endeavoring to convert this challenge into an opportunity, SURREAL Events was born to bring any experience to life—in any virtual space imaginable. The result is a practical metaverse platform-as-a-service (PaaS) enabling companies to engage audiences with photorealistic (Unreal Engine), social-first, browser-based, multiplayer experiences designed for: B2B Experiences (persistent enterprise environments such as virtual headquarters, innovation labs, testing centers, training facilities, partner activations and collaboration areas) and B2C Experiences (event-based or persistent, custom branded worlds or digital twins like sports stadiums, theaters, concert venues) for consumer and fan-based engagements.
In less than three years, SURREAL grew from a pivot to a pole position in this new and nascent metaverse industry. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in business and technology like Epic Games, AWS, Nissan, Infosys, Celebrity Cruises, and our local heroes, the Atlanta Braves. And we’re just getting started!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like any road worth taking, we’ve definitely had our share of challenges and setbacks. From developing the platform, upscaling the team, building the brand, finding the right partners, and meeting difficult demands and timelines—none of it has been easy. But all of it has been worthwhile. It’s been the most exciting and most difficult three years of my life!
We’ve been impressed with SURREAL Events, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Built-in Epic Games’ Unreal Engine and pixel-streamed to the browser, SURREAL is a platform-as-a-service publishing tool for metaverse creation that combines storytelling, game design and multiplayer immersion—enabling people to live, work, shop and play together like never before.
A social-first, device-agnostic and avatar-based platform, SURREAL helps brands across geographies, industries and verticals harness the power of cutting-edge technologies to meaningfully and memorably connect with clients, prospects, employees and fans by bringing any experience to life—in any virtual space imaginable.
SURREAL’s real differentiation is its photorealistic graphic fidelity, intuitive in-game features, and the high level of verisimilitude that they help to produce. Likewise, being browser-based enables anyone with an internet connection to experience the platform.
Visit https://www.surrealevents.com for more information.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
SURREAL helps businesses and brands connect and engage with clients, prospects, employees and fans all over the world.
Connecting human beings—especially when cost, carbon footprint, physical limitations or other factors make on-premise events impractical or impossible—is what matters most to us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://surrealevents.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surrealeventsnow
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/surrealeventsnow
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/surreal-events/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/surreal_events
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@surrealeventsnow
