Title: Across Community Essentials Committee Renewal Proposal
Author(s): Mide, mydefi, neondaemon, PVM, TheRealTuna
Status: Proposal
Related Discussions:
Across Community Essentials Committee October 2023 Report
Across Community Essentials Committee November 2023 Report
Original forum post on committee formation
Summary:
The Community Essentials Committee seeks renewal for the Q1-2024 quarter.This committee has focused on growing and engaging the DAO community through initiatives such as onboarding, events, social media, campaigns and partnerships. We will continue to work towards the goals of the Across DAO and with the foundation we’ve created in this initial first quarter we should be able to make great strides in the growth of the Across DAO. This forum post has been simplified for the renewal and more information about our committee can be found in our original formation proposal linked above.
Motivation:
The community Essentials committee achieved a lot in our first quarter and now that we have a quarter behind us we will be even better equipped to assess our achievements and ensure we are doing the best job possible to grow the DAO and give opportunity to the Across community.
Achievements in Q4-2023
- Created/managed Gnosis Safes to handle committee budgets and compensation.
- Collaborated with tip.cc to facilitate the inclusion of Optimism tipping within the Discord server which greatly assists the community in more cost-effective withdrawals from the tip bot.
- Creation of the Across DAO Handbook, an HR policy guide for the DAO (still in progress).
- Successful implementation of a Community Integration Bounty system dubbed “Community Integrations 2.0”. This proposal has just recently passed and given us a budget to reward community members for getting Across integrations.
- Planned and managed the ACX Token 1 year Anniversary Party which included lots of events (check November’s report above).
- As part of the ACX party we did a charity chain which resulted in $1182 being donated to Save the Children.
- Made announcements within Discord and through social media channels to keep the community informed about governance votes and opportunities for ACX holders.
- Facilitated weekly committee meetings to keep track of progress and opportunities in our mission.
- Managed events within the DAO and on social media such as poker, Gartic games, crossword/word search, baking contest, spinning the wheel at community calls, and general Discord engagement.
- Creation of an Across Google safety form.
- Moderation of Discord and ensuring elimination of all scammers who joined.
- Loads of activity on social media to spread the word about Across opportunities.
- Management of a CEC Notion page.
- Increased engagement on Across community calls.
- Assistance with forming an Across Treasury Committee (still in progress).
Highlights
-
ACX party:
-
Setup tip.cc with ACX on Optimism. This allows Across members to withdraw ACX from Discord with minimal fees.
-
Passing of the Community Integration Bounty system on Snapshot. Will allow Across members to be rewarded for bringing in integrations/partnerships.
-
Draft Across DAO handbook
Committee Responsibilities
Here is an outline of the ongoing responsibilities and roles that each committee member has taken on. They will continue in the same capacity in the next quarter.
Mide
- Meeting Agenda / Notes
- Community Moderation
- Notion management
- Governance participation
- Onboarding initiatives
- Discord / Twitter engagement
mydefi
- Dev / Technical support
- Multisig transaction assistance
- Governance participation
- Developer relations
- Discord / Twitter engagement
neondaemon
- Policy and process documentation
- CEC meeting Moderator
- Monthly report writer
- Governance participation
- Discord / Twitter engagement
PVM
- Event planning and facilitation
- Content creation
- Community engagement
- Discord Moderation assistance
- Developer/partner relations
- Discord / Twitter engagement
TheRealTuna
- Budget and payments management
- Multisig administration
- Governance participation
- Community engagement
- Developer relations
- Discord / Twitter engagement
Infinity
- Event management
- games / quiz moderator
- Discord Moderation
- Community engagement
- Governance participation
- Meeting coordinator
- Record meetings and post to Discord /Google/Notion
- Discord / Twitter engagement
Smarty
- Discord moderation
- Multilingual community support
- Governance participation
- Meeting coordination
- Discord / Twitter engagement
Goals for Q1-2024
- Management of the recently passed bounty program allowing the community to help get new Across Integrations: Community Integration Campaign 2.0
- Continued management of the discord and protecting users from scammers
- Continued management of community events that will drive more engagement
- As part of this we are exploring a collaboration with Wonderverse which will gamify onboarding and engagement.
- Continued Social Media presence to spread awareness of what’s going on at Across
- Assistance with the formation of new committees such as the proposed Across Treasury Committee
- Increase Discord activity. We will use the data from our previous quarter as the benchmark.
- Assist Risk Labs in achieving new goals and acting as a liaison between the DAO and the developers.
- More work on foundational docs such as the Across DAO Handbook, that will be critical in creating a proper structure for the DAO to follow
- Initiate and complete a creative marketing campaign.
- Publish CEC Notion pages for transparency and accountability i.e so that DAO members have an overview of the workings of the committee.
- Across DAO forum management including reviewing existing governance manuals
Specific Goals and Timeline
| Goal | Timeline | Committee Members |
|---|---|---|
| Management of Across Integrations Bounty Programme | Ongoing | PVM, TheRealTuna, mydefi |
| Discord Management | Ongoing | All |
| Discord Engagement | Increase Activity by end of Q1 2024 | All |
| Twitter Engagement | Increase Activity by end of Q1 2024 | All |
| Implement Wonderverse collaboration for onboarding | End of January 2024 | Mide |
| Complete version 1 of the Across DAO handbook | End of Q1 | neondaemon |
| Publish the CEC notion site | End of Q1 | Mide, Infinity |
| Initiate and complete a creative marketing campaign | End of Q1 | Mide |
| Assist in the formation of the Across Treasury Committee | End of Q1 | TheRealTuna, neondaemon |
Specification & Implementation:
Upon approval, our budget will be transferred from the DAO to our Ethereum safe. We will then self manage our compensation and events budget. This proposal will also transfer $10,000 USD worth of ACX tokens to cover the Q4-2023 performance bonus as listed in the Across DAO governance operating manual.
Compensation
Compensating solely in protocol tokens poses a risk due to their volatile nature, potentially resulting in individuals being significantly underpaid if token prices rise on the snapshot date and plummet later on. To mitigate this, we recommend future committees utilize a 90-day average derived from Coingecko’s closing prices to determine the budget’s rate. This average should be calculated on the date the snapshot vote is posted. Specifically, for the Community Essentials Committee’s Q1-2024 renewal, leveraging a 90-day average would be opportune considering recent price surges. However, to mitigate treasury costs, a 60-day average will be applied in this instance.
From Across Governance Operating Manual
Upon approval, a committee will receive a base level of rewards in the amount of $10k equivalent in $ACX. This amount is meant to last for a 3-month period. It is up to each committee to determine the distribution of these tokens, the details of which must be included in the snapshot vote. This should include wallet addresses and amounts for each committee member.
At the end of each quarter of service, a committee will be given an additional $10k equivalent in $ACX, except in the case of a committee being removed from service by tokenholders during that quarter, in which case there will be no additional rewards. The distribution of these funds will be determined by the committee members by way of a peer review score.
This is to be paid out by the Across DAO Treasury. We will continue to use our 3 of 5 Gnosis multi-sig to bridge our budget from Ethereum to Optimism and stream compensation via our Llamapay account. Events budget will be paid out on a monthly basis and has been increased from $500 USD per month to $750 USD per month to be awarded to community members. Committee members will split compensation equally, while events manager and front desk operative have a fixed monthly income detailed below. For exceptional work in the Discord server we have increased the monthly compensation for the events manager(from $500 to $600) and the Front desk operative(from $300 to $350) positions. We will also move forward with only 1 front desk operative instead of the 2 listed in our formation proposal.
As previously mentioned we will be using a 60 day average based on the Coingecko closing price historical data. This average will be calculated on the date that we move our renewal vote to snapshot. In future, we will use a 90 day average.
Monthly budget breakdown Across Governance Operating Manual
Committees may manage a small amount of capital to meet the needs of their operational purpose. If applicable, include information about the address that is intended to be used for operational funds. This budget does not include committee compensation. Committees will receive their budgeted funds at the start of each month from the Across DAO Treasury. Whenever possible, this amount should be limited to 1 month of operating expenses at a time.
Monthly Budget Breakdown (unless specified will be paid in ACX tokens)
- 1 Event Manager: $600 per month
- 1 Front Desk Operative: $350 per month
- Wonderverse: $87
- Notion: $40
- Prizes / Giveaways: $750 per month
- Discord Nitro: $30
- Miscellaneous: $150
Monthly Total = $2007
Quarterly Total= $6021
Rationale
Having a dedicated committee focused solely on community building is more effective than ad-hoc efforts or trying to manage it alongside other responsibilities. The CEC in the last 3 months has shown individually and as a team that they can deliver outstanding results as demonstrated above.
Community building initiatives such as exploring collaboration with Wondervese will be at the core of CEC activities. They will continue to innovate introducing new events, games and quizzes. The team’s diverse set of skills and perspectives have enabled them to handle the complex and nuanced work of community management.
The CEC with its mix of backgrounds and roles (marketing, partnerships, moderation, events, education, development etc.) meant that they were able to execute events such as the ACX party. They look forward to implementing the Community Integration Bounty system which will increase engagement as well as bringing rewards to DAO members.
Overall, the CEC will be laser-focused on growing and engaging the Across community. This will drive participation and activity in the DAO, build valuable social capital, and ultimately attract more talent and contributions to the protocol. With robust community support, Across is better positioned to deliver on its ambitious technical roadmap and business objectives.
Potential Downsides
- There is a cost to funding and compensating a dedicated committee. This diverts resources away from other protocol needs. The budget and scope should be carefully evaluated.
- If not managed well, the committee could take decision-making power away from the community at large. Transparency and community input are essential.
- Paying roles may incentivize politics, entrenchment of power, or attracting members looking for a paycheck rather than protocol progress.
- Moderation powers on social channels and Discord could be abused to censor certain views or promote biassed agendas. Clear moderation policies are needed.
Mitigation of risks
- These potential risks have been mitigated through careful design of the committee structure.
- Transparency and community engagement are the cornerstones of CEC’s ethos. Each member writes a short report at the end of each week and a monthly report is published in the forum.
- The CEC goals are measurable and at the end of the quarter the DAO will have an opportunity to assess its effectiveness.
- Policies and processes are being developed to ensure that all in the DAO are treated equitably and are able to voice concerns/issues.
