[Proposal] Open Web Labs 🦉

NDC Community and nodes
1

TLDR:

Open Web Labs :owl:will capture the energy and excitement of individual creators to cultivate diverse ideas for the NEAR ecosystem.

OWL will:

  • Elevate projects that are out of scope for Createbase.
  • Energize projects that could lose steam after a hackathon
  • Have endless crazy/fun ideas for the solid devs that come through Near Certified Developer program and want to get started right away.
  • Build a purposeful network to fast track demos/hacks into their next stages (production, more robust incubators, funding, etc).

A budget of 16,600 USD will fund each circle which will last an average of 4 weeks. An upfront cost of 6,000 USD will launch the program with a landing page and “Early Owl” badge to build the initial community.

Program Proposal (450 words max):

Rather than requiring a critical mass of 30 or more teams to form a cohort, OWL’s flexible cycle for kicking off circles will require only 5-7 incoming creators. Multiple circles can run simultaneously if there are enough mentors and interest. The program will maximize impact and reach by take advantage of internal and external partnerships and publishing incentives.

Circles

  • Individuals or teams can join a circle, with or without a project.
  • The main qualifications for creators are commitment, potential, and flexibility.
  • 5-7 creators around 1 mentor.
  • Expected cohort tenancy is an average of 4 weeks.

Flexible Cycle

  • Always On Outreach
    • Via guilds, partners, and social publication.
    • Inside and outside of blockchain cliques.
    • Alum network of capable initiators motivated with referral reward.
  • Weekly Status Salons.
    • Touch point for gamified rewards.
    • Progress update from circles.
    • Lightning talks from Alumni.
    • Speed networking opportunity at the end.
  • Team Formation (inside Circles)
    • Sized 2-5 people.
    • Form within a week of the cohort kickoff.
    • We expect projects to generate interest outside of their cohorts. Rather than having contributors join a team half way through a cohort, creators will be enabled to offer bounties. Added positive effect of bounty structure is ingraining DAO approaches, attracting new “Chill Owls”, and engaging “Alumn Owls.”
  • Monthly Demo Days.
    • “Keynote” from celebrity circuit.
    • Proof of Concept and Minimum Viable Prodcut demos.
    • Findings from OWL teams ready to take flight.
    • New cohort announcements.

Participation Incentives

personas WIP

  • flexability
  • individuals with energy
  • teams willing to pivot
  • non technical ok (Small number)

Participants will be attracted to:

  • Gamified accountability
  • Mentorship
  • Logistic support
    • Structured but flexible growth program.
    • Driving commitment & follow through.
  • Program Success Stories
  • Stipend

Gamification checkpoints for all levels of participation. Off chain badges to begin, transition to on chain badges, add social token.

  • Chill🦉 / Alum🦉
    • Proof of Attendance for the public events.
    • Discord status for notifications.
    • Networking milestones.
  • Active🦉
    • Monthly Stipend.
    • Joining a co-hort.
    • Forming a team.
    • Presenting status.
    • MVP/POC Demo.
    • Taking flight.
  • Honor🦉
    • Guest speakers, judges, etc.
  • Team🦉
    • Monthly Stipend.
    • Mentorship badges.

ROI / NEAR Ecosystem Impact:

In line with NEAR Collective values, OWL will:

  • Enable ideas pushing what’s possible with blockchain & build a purposeful alumni network to usher projects into next stages (Community driven innovation).
  • Cultivate “Killer Apps” for NEAR ecosystem (UserEx).
  • Demonstrate Speed to Market (DevEx).
  • Create Marketing Content & Token Distribution (Growth).

Funding:

  • We request 16,600 USD endowment (allocation) for each circle.
  • As much as possible, funding will be distributed based on milestones and gamified accountability.
  • We will begin with an initial circle and iteratively adjust endowment as we learn.
  • All fund requests and transfers will be in NEAR tokens, no fiat whatsoever.

Team:

Roadmap:

  • Monday, March 22 - Begin site development, outreach, and media planning.
  • Monday, April 12 - Launch site & media campaign (ready for the Open Web Community Conference & Hackathon)
  • Friday, May 7/14/21 - Weekly status salons.
  • Friday, May 28 - Launch initial circle at first monthly demo day (will have a speaker even if there are no circles to demo yet).
  • Friday, June 4/11/18 -Weekly status salons
  • Friday, 25 - Monthly Demo Day with potential 2nd circle launch
  • Friday, June 4/11/18 -Weekly status salons
  • Friday, 25 - Monthly Demo Day with potential 2nd circle launch
  • Continue the monthly cycle.
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Would love to help! :star_struck:

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