We have some exciting news to share: NextMe co-founder and CEO John Yi has been named one of BizBash’s Industry Innovators 2026, recognized alongside nine other event tech leaders who are redefining how live experiences are designed, managed, and measured.
It’s an honor we don’t take lightly, and we wanted to take a moment to share what it means to us.
Where it all started
John’s path into event tech didn’t begin at a startup or a tech firm. It started in a beauty salon on the south side of Chicago, where he and his brother James helped their mother run her business after she immigrated from South Korea. As kids, they greeted customers, managed wait times, and even created small pop-up experiences to keep guests engaged while they waited.
“Looking back, we were experimenting with experiential marketing long before we knew what it was,” John told BizBash.
That same instinct of reducing friction, improving flow, and making people feel taken care of is exactly what NextMe is built on today.
What we believe about innovation
One of the things we’re most proud of is how John articulated our philosophy in the feature:
“Innovation is about removing friction from everyday experiences and making systems easier for people to use. The most impactful innovation is often not about creating something entirely new. It is about identifying where things feel unnecessarily complicated and designing solutions that make those moments simpler, more intuitive, and easier to implement in the real world.”
That’s not just a quote. It’s the lens through which we build every feature, every update, and every integration in NextMe.
When stakes are high, operations have to be airtight
The BizBash feature highlights one of our most telling deployments: supporting several simultaneous brand activations at San Diego Comic-Con, including photo ops, bumper car battles, and product giveaways, all running at the same time in a dense, high-traffic environment.
Events like this don’t have a margin for error. Crowds that spill onto surrounding sidewalks and public areas don’t just create a bad experience - they create safety risks and can trigger shutdowns. The operational challenge isn’t just managing volume, it’s maintaining control without sucking the life out of the experience.
With NextMe in place, fans could join the queue and keep exploring Comic-Con freely. Brand ambassadors checked guests in quickly and confidently. Organizers stayed in control without losing the energy of the moment. That balance of structure and spontaneity is exactly what NextMe is designed to deliver.
👉 Check out some of our our SDCC case studies to learn how brands like Peacock, Marvel, and Topps used NextMe to control their lines and manage demand.
What’s next for NextMe?
We’re not slowing down. We’re currently rethinking how organizers manage access to high-demand experiences - moving away from rigid reservation systems toward more flexible, queue-based approaches that set realistic expectations and keep things running smoothly in real, live environments.
With data gathered across thousands of events and brand activations, we’re building the next generation of virtual waiting experiences - smarter, simpler, and designed to strike the right balance between technology and human interaction.
The best is still ahead.
Congratulations to all 10 honorees on the BizBash Industry Innovators 2026 list. We’re proud to be in such great company.
