Team: Community Cognizance
Period: September - December (4 months)
Amount:
USDC Grant: 6,000
API3 Grant: 14,000
Destination: Gnosis Safe (2/4 Multi-sig)
0x19494EE99ab99675A122FBEA1159264cB5f5042D
Community Cognizance Proposal
We are herewith presenting the Community Cognizance proposal, primarily designed to improve community inclusion through comprehensive content and educational resources. With this proposal, we envision establishing a community well-equipped to understand the intricacies of API3 and the broader Web3 landscape while fostering a culture of learning, inclusivity, and participation. Breaking down barriers by empowering people with profound knowledge of API3 can build confidence to participate and play an integral role in shaping the future of the DAO.
Further providing transparent insights into DAO-wide processes and analytics through comprehensive reports fosters trust, builds accountability, and enables community members to make informed contributions, which can encourage greater voter turnout and engagement in governance discussions. We will also be reintroducing our Redefining Trust series, where we have studied various business-centric topics to highlight the benefits of blockchain technology in business settings where transaction timing and execution can cause loss of profits for businesses.
To entirely focus on delivering what we have laid out below, we decided not to limit the proposal to the typical three months but to extend it by one month until the end of the year. This allows us, primarily due to our limited team size, to concentrate entirely on our goals and not worry about the organizational aspects of creating another proposal at the end of the year, which is very time-intensive. Furthermore, planning the proposal for the remaining year without disruption facilitates the development of a content calendar.
We look forward to receiving feedback, which is invaluable in helping us refine our ideas. Suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome, and we will review and discuss any input provided.
Core Deliverables
Listed are the primary deliverables within the realm of possibility in terms of time and resources to provide a realistic overview of what our team will deliver by the end of the year.
Comprehensive content
- Connecting The Dots series
- Create a go-to resource for people with little to no technical background who want to learn everything about API3 from scratch without having to rely on various sources
- DAO Snippets series
- Conduct interviews with contributors, partners, and projects utilizing API3 technology to write insightful stories
- Redefining Trust series
- Produce quarterly articles introducing a way in which blockchain can improve a defined transactional process
Reports and analytics
- Governance Reports
- Publish summary reports that provide insights into governance-related activities and processes of the API3 DAO
- Community Reports
- Create reports for Q3 and Q4 that include analytics about the growth and engagement of all official API3 channels and product usage statistics
- Annual recap
- Write a summary that highlights all accomplishments of API3 in 2023 (see 2022 recap)
Community Operations
- Support
- Implement a ticket system on the API3 Discord server for non-dev inquiries
- Documentation
- Update and expand existing resources (FAQ, Support Q&A, Bot Commands)
Audio Engineering
- Internal guidelines
- How to set up the workspace for high-quality recordings/streams
- How to fix audio issues at the source
Objectives
-
Foster a culture of learning, inclusivity, and participation
- Provide comprehensive content catering to people of various backgrounds
- Empower individuals with knowledge to build the confidence to participate
- Promote an environment where participation is encouraged
-
Reach a broader audience through holistic insights
- Showcase practical implementations of API3 technology and present different use cases
- Highlight success stories of individuals with different backgrounds who successfully transitioned into Web3 by contributing to the API3 DAO
- Provide easily accessible resources that offer a comprehensive understanding of processes across the API3 DAO
-
Improve the quality of API3 multimedia
- Ensure high audio quality for virtual live events and multimedia content
- Minimize the need for extensive post-processing efforts by resolving sound issues at the source
Content Creation
DAO Snippets
DAO Snippets is a blog series that provides contributors of the API3 DAO, partners, and projects that use API3 technology with a platform to share their Web3 journey and talk about their collaboration and experience with API3. This cycle focuses on finishing interviews with all core contributors of the API3 DAO before gradually scaling it up across different communities by moving to partners and projects that utilize API3 technology.
Goal
- Showcase projects that use API3 technology to demonstrate its practical application and different use cases
- Spread awareness of API3 across different communities by conducting interviews with partners and projects that use API3 technology
- Encourage participation and welcome diverse perspectives
As presented in the blog series, a single individual can make a substantial impact and play a vital role in shaping the future of a DAO. Fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment ensures that diverse perspectives, skills, and backgrounds are respected and valued. Further demystifying how to get started in the API3 DAO by presenting the success stories of people with different backgrounds and skill sets can encourage people to contribute who are otherwise held back due to uncertainty, misconceptions, and perceived high barriers.
Articles released:
- DAO Snippets: Engineering Web3 — an interview with Burak Benligiray
- DAO Snippets: Law and Code — an interview with Erich Dylus
- DAO Snippets: Unleashing the Potential — an interview with Ugur Mersinlioglu
- DAO Snippets: Signaling Blockchain - an interview with Mark Fitzgibbon
Connecting The Dots
Connecting the Dots is an educational series explaining all the terminologies surrounding API3 and Web3 in a simple language.
Focus for this cycle:
- Blockchain oracles (push/pull, first-/third-party)
- dAPIs (managed/self-funded)
- Intricacies of DAO governance
- dApps
Goal
- Provide a go-to resource for people to learn everything necessary to understand the full scope of API3, independent of their background and technical knowledge, without having to rely on several sources
- Encourage the community to learn with API3 through interactive content
Not understanding the immense scope of what API3 is building is a significant barrier to realizing its potential and attracting new contributors to the project. Providing educational resources that break down the technical complexities of API3 and Web3 in a simple language empowers people, independent of their background, to expand their knowledge and gain confidence to contribute to the API3 DAO.
To further inspire people to learn with API3, future articles of the Connecting The Dots series will incorporate interactive elements that encourage people to engage with the themes, such as thought exercises, problem-solving tasks, or guest articles. Participants may qualify to be featured in a contributor spotlight within the DAO Snippet series, offering a platform to share their Web3 journey and how they found their way into the API3 community.
Articles released:
- Connecting the Dots: APIs and the evolution of the World Wide Web
- Connecting the Dots: Blockchain and a Web of Decentralized Applications
Redefining Trust
The Redefining Trust series is intended to reach a more diverse audience because those in technical fields may already be interested in what blockchain technology has to offer. In bringing back the series, we will continue to create business-centric content as well as experiment with consumer-centric topics and topics in response to current events.
Goal
- Uncover the value offered to various parts of society when transactions are simplified with instantaneous, codified information transfers
By covering use cases in various industries, we hope to engage both business people and consumers with ways blockchain technology can help them save time and money, as well as ways they can make better decisions with their daily transactions. Each quarter, we will identify and explore a different transactional interaction and even introduce new topics from current events within the theme of Redefining Trust.
The Redefining Trust series will be managed by Emily, who former authors of this series will assist.
Articles released:
- Redefining Trust: Aviation Finance
- Redefining Trust: Smart Escrow Contracts
- Redefining Trust: Weaknesses in Modern Voting Systems
- Redefining Trust: M&A Transactions
- Redefining Trust: Truly Random Gaming
Reports and Analytics
Governance Reports
Governance Reports will provide regular updates about the latest governance-related activities of the API3 DAO, including information about recent proposals, the content and outcome of governance discussions, the introduction of new contractors and contributions by community members.
Goal
- Shape governance in a more lively and transparent manner to inform and encourage greater participation
Although decision-making processes and discussions are relatively easy to oversee at the current size of the DAO, staying up to date with its latest discussions still necessitates consistent monitoring of the API3 forum and Discord. Providing a format that simplifies staying up to date on all relevant governance-related activities easily accessible and visible to the general public can improve community inclusion and enable greater involvement in decision-making processes.
Governance Reports will further highlight valuable contributions by community members who engage in governance discussions and decision-making processes. Building a reputable standing within the API3 DAO can help to make a more compelling case for one’s proposals or receiving token delegations.
Community Reports
Community reports provide API3 community growth and engagement statistics, including comparison charts and API3 product usage analytics.
Goal
- Monitor the community’s health
- Present analytics about API3 product usage
Reports that provide insights into community growth and engagement metrics are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the community’s health. With a holistic approach that considers external factors, the presented data can assist in assessing the reasons behind the disclosed figures and, if necessary, designing dedicated solutions for improvement. Community reports are consistently expanded whenever feasible by additional metrics to reveal as much data as possible.
Latest report:
Community Operations
During his work as a Community Manager, Marcus undertook a multifaceted role centered around organizing and moderating the official API3 community channels, providing community documentation, creating internal moderation and safety guidelines, and managing the moderation team. With this proposal, Marcus will continue to take on the operational responsibilities below to maintain a safe, respectful, and user-friendly environment where people receive adequate support and have easy access to resources.
Responsibilities
-
Documentation
- Manage and expand resources
- FAQ, Support Q&A, Bot Commands, …
- Maintain internal moderation and safety guidelines
- Manage and expand resources
-
Server Administration
- Organize channels
- Integrate and manage bots
-
Support
- Implement and manage a ticket system on the API3 Discord server for non-dev inquiries
- Organize and address tickets submitted via the support email and Discord
-
Analytics
- Monitor the community’s health
- Provide quarterly Community Reports
Ticket System
In order to enhance community support and minimize vulnerability to scammers targeting individuals seeking assistance on our channels, we plan to implement a ticket system for non-dev inquiries on the API3 Discord. Users with general questions or concerns can securely describe their issues by submitting a ticket to receive dedicated support.
The implementation of a ticket system can improve:
Privacy
- Information is not exposed to third parties because all requests are handled confidentially
Safety
- Tickets reduce the attack surface for scammers who tend to target people who seek support on public channels
Tracking and Documentation
- Inquiries can be tracked, and the optimal solutions to issues can be added to an internal knowledge base
Response-time
- Advanced notifications and dedicated commands improve responsiveness and enable real-time support around the clock
Organization
- Providing dedicated support improves the workflow, reduces the chance for interruptions, and allows support agents to work through different requests in a more structured manner and with less opportunity for disruption
Transparency
- Incoming tickets are visible to every support agent that has access to the ticket system, and unlike troubleshooting via private DMs, the conversations between an agent and a community member can be overseen by other agents and supervisors to ensure transparency
Flexibility
- Any support agent that is free at the time of an incoming ticket can take and address it in a self-responsible manner
Audio Engineering
To strengthen the quality of our online presence, it is essential to ensure optimal audio (and video) quality for recordings and streams.
Goal
- Ensure consistent audio quality for multimedia productions and virtual live events
Responsibilities
-
Post-production
- Improve the sound quality of recordings through noise removal, EQ, and other post-processing efforts
-
Guidance
- Set up and prepare recording/streaming equipment for contributors
- Provide guidance to fix sound issues at the source to minimize post-production
- Offer sound checks before virtual live events and recordings to fix potential issues beforehand
Low audio quality and sound issues are often attributed to a poor setup. Therefore, it is crucial to address the problem at its root by using the right equipment and making proper adjustments. This minimizes the need to spend excessive time and resources on post-production. Marcus has already equipped contributors with adequate equipment and guided them in setting up their workspace for recordings and streams, resulting in high-quality content that has been achieved with little to no need for editing.
| Examples of edited audio: | |
|---|---|
| Unedited_1 | Edited_1 |
| Unedited_2 | Edited_2 |
| Unedited_3 | Edited_3 |
Team Budget
Responsibilities
Marcus
- Content research and creation
- Interviews
- Community Operations
- Reports and analytics
- Audio engineering
- Support (email and tickets)
Emily
- Content research, creation, and editing
- Management and logistics around the content calendar
- Support assistance
| Grants | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team member | Basis | USDC Grant (monthly) | API3 Grant |
| Marcus | FT (48h/w) | 0 | 14,000 |
| Emily | PT (20h/w) | 1,500 | 0 |
| Total Ask | 6,000 | 14,000 |
To keep the burden on the USDC treasury low, Marcus will not ask for a USDC grant. Instead, he requests a fixed amount of API3 tokens from the Hot Wallet to further increase his voting power in the DAO in exchange for his services.