[Closed] BanklessDeSci Virtual Unconference Q4-2023

Marketing DAO Marketing DAO
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Guild name: BanklessDeSci
Funding scheme: One-time

Hi everyone! My name is Elijah. This is my first proposal to the Marketing DAO.

What & Why?

This is a funding request for sponsorship of the upcoming BanklessDeSci Virtual Unconference. As a longstanding contributor to both BanklessDAO and the Near ecosystem, this is a bridge I’ve been wanting to build for quite some time.

BanklessDAO is a media DAO focused on Defi and self-sovereignty of digital assets with over 20,000 members on Discord and over 50,000 followers on Twitter. Despite being formed by and continuing to use the Bankless brand, BanklessDAO operates as a wholly distinct entity from the popular podcast BanklessHQ (Bankless LLC).

BanklessDAO is a constellation of coordinated media nodesAbove image caption: BanklessDAO is a constellation of coordinated media nodes

BanklessDeSci focuses on exploring the concept of self-sovereignty for digital assets and its applications at the intersection of DeSci, DataFi, and dataDAOs. Most DeSci projects tend to actively avoid anything to do with Defi due to the stereotypical reputation of crypto as a scam. Leaning into these concerns to explore how DeFi can be ethically integrated into DeSci and DataFi in ways that align the values of both movements has huge potential for unlocking access to knowledge as a universal public good. All while retaining or increasing the net profitability of coordinated scientific activity.

We’re organizing a virtual unconference the first week of December. After announcing the event only a week ago, we already have over 40 registrations and tentatively confirmed sponsorship from big projects including VitaDAO, TalentDAO, and BanklessDAO. This event presents an opportunity for the Near ecosystem to onboard desci projects and contributors, particularly by emphasizing the power of BOS infrastructure and tooling. We have also had requests for session facilitators in the areas of AI, community building, tokenomics, dataFi, open-source software, and public goods.

Breakout room topics we’re recruiting facilitators for include:

  1. deBio
  2. deHealth & Longevity
  3. deSpace
  4. dePhysics & superconductors
  5. DeSci Tokenomics
  6. DeSci Infrastructure, software, & tooling
  7. DeSci Community Building
  8. DeSci Legal & Regulatory
  9. dePublishing & Peer Review
  10. DeSci Funding
  11. DataFi: “The spice must flow.”
  12. DeSci + AI
  13. DeSciFi
  14. Quantified Self
  15. Open Source & Public Goods
  16. De-SocialSci

Note: the final event schedule may not include all of the above-mentioned topics.

Who?

BanklessDeSci creates a pipeline for:

  1. DeSci education & awareness for non-scientists
  2. Web3 & DeFi education for scientists
  3. DeSci funding opportunities for scientists

Most likely audience(s) to resonate with BanklessDeSci:

  1. Students & entrepreneurial scientists interested in web3
    1. Students = looking for work = new desci contributors (scientists & community participants)
    2. Scientists = ideate new desci projects & find collaborators/contributors
    3. Independent researchers not yet in web3
      1. Why? IP infrastructure & access to funding/publishing channels
  2. Investors, web3 & science/tech

I am well-suited to lead the execution of this proposal for a variety of reasons. I have been an active member of the Near ecosystem for over two years and hold an OG SBT to prove it. In addition to domain expertise in web3, data science, and biotech I was also a university-level instructor for 7 years (both during and after grad school). Beyond creating publication-quality graphics and figures for scientific research and education, I have produced a wide range of highly viewed video content including animations and technical web3 training videos. More recently, I served as marketing lead for both the Crypto Sapiens Podcast (BanklessDAO) then MedDAO, a decentralized medical knowledge network. I was also one of two co-organizers of DAODenver 2023, where we hosted over 1500 in-person attendees over three days as the largest side event at EthDenver. I currently serve as Marketing and Operations Lead for MoonDAO’s Blue Origin Astronaut Selection Sweepstakes.

A more complete work history is available on my LinkedIn profile and personal website.

Squad

Signatories

Specific Deliverables

  • Publish a thread on Twitter/X tagging and thanking all sponsors of the event
  • Include Near MarketingDAO logo on our website
  • Mention Near MarketingDAO during BanklessDAO community call
    • Include Near MarketingDAO logo on our project update slide
  • Present Near MarketingDAO logo while the event is ongoing
    • Before and after welcome address
    • Before and after keynote address
    • In all breakout rooms before and after each session
    • Before and after closing address
  • Include Near MarketingDAO logo in a “Sponsored by” credits slide in post-production content
    • We will be gathering roughly 25.5 hours of content across 8 breakout rooms
  • Recruit at least 3 unconference session facilitators from the Near ecosystem to lead interactive discussion sessions on the topics of deBio, DeSci Infrastructure, software, & tooling, DeSci Community Building, DataFi, AI, Open Source & Public Goods.

Traction and KPIs

We expect to easily reach maximum capacity of 300 attendees at our event. Our social media following and community size will largely determine reach of content we release that promotes event sponsors. Despite having a small following, many of our community members and session applicants are considered influencers across various segments of web3 and traditional science. This gives us substantial reach beyond our existing subscribers as exemplified by our first post (with zero followers) reaching over 1700 views and being retweeted by ResearchHub Foundation, VitaDAO and others. Below are KPIs we intend to track regarding the reach and impact of our event.

Twitter/X

  • Over >100 followers in our first week
  • Goals is to reach > 500 followers by the end of the event

Near Social

  • Currently no follwers
  • Goal is to reach > 50 followers by the end of the event

Telegram

  • Currently > 80 members
  • Goal is to reach > 200 members by the end of the event

BanklessDAO

  • Biweekly presentations as BanklessDAO community call
  • Goal is to onboard one BanklessDAO project and 10 contributors to the Near ecosystem
    • KPI measured by creation of a sputnik DAO contract and 10 new wallets
      • Verification will occur through direct contact with the contract deployer(s) and wallet owners to ensure they are either BanklessDesci and/or BanklessDAO members.

Near Ecosystem

  • Recruit 3 facilitators from the Near ecosystem to lead breakout sessions at our event
  • Onboard 1 BanklessDAO project and 10 BanklessDAO or BanklessDeSci contributors to Near

Budget

We’re asking for a one-time sponsorship of $2500 for our team to be used toward production of the described event. We are accumulating substantial contributor hours and have hard costs related to infrastructure required to host a virtual unconference. We do not expect any individual sponsor to cover the entire cost of the event but have included an estimated breakdown of our budget below.

  • Marketing

    • Social media, 2hrs/week for 8 weeks @ $25/hr = $400
    • Design graphics for breakout rooms and sponsor slides
      • 10 hours @ $25/hr = $250
    • Post-production
      • Welcome and Keynote = 1hr video
      • Breakout rooms, 8 x 2.5hrs each = 24hr video
      • Closing remarks = 30min
      • Estimate 2x time to edit & publish as length of content = 51hrs @ $25/hr = $1275

  • Operations

    • Recruiting, vetting, and scheduling speakers
      • 4 hours per week for 8 weeks = 32hrs @ $25/hr = $800
    • Hire moderators (8)
      • 8 people x 4 hours = 32hrs @ $25/hr = $800

  • Develop an open-source event hosting platform (next.js app) deployed using Vercel that leverages Supabase and a headless CMS (Storyblok).

    • Developer hours 40 @ $25/hr = $1000
    • Vercel Teams = $20/mo x 2 users x 3 months = $120
    • Supabase Pro = $25/mo x 3mo = $75
    • Storyblok (headless CMS) = $91/mo x 2mo = $182

    Minimum estimated cost to produce the entire event > $4900

2 Likes
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Further evidence of interest in DeSci on Near that highlights the potential impact of this proposal:
https://twitter.com/Naomi_fromhh/status/1712110312936116620

1 Like
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Hi @elijahspina thanks for the proposal. The conference sounds like a solid event, and I understand you’ve had longtime participation in the community, but I don’t think sponsorship aligns with the purpose of the MarketingDAO role in distributing NEAR Community funds. A few comments on my perspective:

  • The MarketingDAO doesn’t “sponsor” events per se – we don’t need promotion or visibility really other than to educate and connect with active NEAR ecosystem members and help support projects that align with KPIs recommended by the NDC.
  • This event sounds like a good one in general, but our priority at the moment is allocating funds to projects building on NEAR, utilizing BOS and increasing on-chain activity on both. I’m not seeing a strong enough connection or throughline to those outcomes here.

In considering a possible way forward, here is a link to the MarketingDAO Guidelines for October that were posted on the forum. They contain the NDC’s KPIs we are asked to focus on for allocating this month’s funds.

I’ll quote them here so it’s easier to review:

Please use the following metrics that will be used for tracking individual initiatives’ performance by Marketing (Eco) DAO. All the metrics must be attributable to the relevant project/initiative through on-chain activity and off-chain reporting, ensuring GDPR compliance and preserving privacy:

  1. Accounts retention after 1/2/4/8 weeks — the percentage of accounts who continue interacting on the chain over a given time period (higher is better)
  2. Account acquisition cost — budget divided by the number of accounts interacting through the funded initiative (lower is better)
  3. Median number of dApps used by P95 accounts retained for 1+ week (higher is better)
  4. Number of accounts retained for 1+ week using at least three dApps (higher is better)
  5. Social engagement score — some compound metric of the number of posts, likes, and followers/views in social media produced by the users.

Let’s take this example: Why should Marketing (Eco) DAO fund Project X?

  1. Project X should have a clear goal and target audience
  2. Project X should bring improvements to several metrics listed above

Based on the above, can you share:

  • Which of the above KPIs your initiative will use if funding is received
  • How you will track and share the results with MDAO so we can have visibility into the results?
  • What is your response to questions 1&2 above?

The reality is that MDAO has 35+ pending proposals for limited funds, so we are carefully evaluating all requests in order to fund the highest impact activities and projects as we move into mid-Q4.

Thanks!

1 Like
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Unfortunately, your proposal doesn’t align with NDC goals and KPIs, so I can’t support it. Please revise your proposal and submit it again.

Aslo, I am suggesting you to apply for DevHub grant.

1 Like
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Thanks for your response. I find it unfortunate and counterintuitive that the Marketing DAO isn’t aligned with supporting proposals that would bring new builders and projects to the ecosystem. It feels like the sole prerogative to fund existing projects building in the ecosystem fails to capture obvious win opportunities like this to put Near ecosystem tech front & center with key decision makers in a fast growing and under-serviced desci movement.

In response to your questions:

The KPIs for this proposal may not strictly align with the myopic metrics outlined by NDC, but events are clearly stated as being within the marketing DAO vertical in the pinned post here: The Marketing DAO Vertical - Marketing / MarketingDAO - NEAR Forum

I have outlined clear KPIs and goals. If provided any feedback or guidance about how to improve clarity around requirements we could have easily implemented necessary improvements to tracking and reporting.

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Thank you for your suggestion to apply for a DevHub grant. We may choose to puruse this in the future if our community decides to build Near integration(s) into our event hosting platform.