Research Guild - S9 Budget and Proposal

Grants/Funding Season 9 Proposals
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Authors; Aloy​:black_flag:#6049, ETrinity007#7414, infinitehomie.eth​:black_flag::hammer_and_wrench::test_tube:
Editors: Latsan#6466, Crown​:crown::black_flag:#6220, SpiritedF#7303
Date created: 17/07/2023
Date posted: 22/07/2023
Wallet surplus: 1,816 BANK
Funds requested: 580,584 BANK
Multisig; ETH: 0x2b00Fdf9AadAFEe22Cf56eb59BA367f6aCD0ce10
Polygon: 0x3628F8A41eE5112931fBA446610aEaD236Cd2AA3
Multisig signers; ETH: Crown​:crown::black_flag:#6220, SpiritedF#7303, Latsan#6466
McEal#0001, Og#1963, infinitehomie.eth​:black_flag::hammer_and_wrench::test_tube:#4930
Ernest_of_Gaia​:blue_car::black_flag:ccNFTs​:ringer_planet:#4762
Polygon: infinitehomie.eth​:black_flag::hammer_and_wrench::test_tube:#4930, rowan#3669,
Gahbby#6647, Miss purple💜#0919 Aloy🏴#6049
feems, Vickyone🏴#️0165

Guild Description
The research guild is responsible for conducting research, providing insights, educating members, and fostering collaboration.

  1. Conducting research: The primary purpose of the research guild is to conduct research on various topics that are relevant to the DAO’s mission and goals. This can include researching new technologies, analyzing market trends, and evaluating potential investment opportunities.
  2. Providing insights: By conducting research, the research guild provides valuable insights to the DAO’s decision-making processes. The insights gained through research can help the DAO make informed decisions about its operations, investments, and other activities.
  3. Educating members: The research guild helps to educate other members of the DAO about various topics. This can include providing training on new technologies, explaining market trends and their implications, and sharing best practices.
  4. Fostering collaboration: The research guild helps to foster collaboration among members of the DAO. By working together on research projects, members of the DAO can develop a deeper understanding of each other’s skills and expertise, which can help them work together more effectively in other areas.

Past Activities
Spent Season 8 setting the foundation for 2 Major Projects, the Guest Passer Sentiment Survey, and Governance
Spent Season 8 conducting an overhaul of active membership to weed out treasury hunters, and focus on empowering active members to thrive.
Spent Season 8 upskilling members on important research topics, Creating a Research Proposal, Research Methodologies, and Notion Management.
Spent Season 8 assisting with other guilds in the creation of a project that documents BanklessDAO members that have transitioned to other DAOs, Crypto Communities, etc.
Established a Twitter Handle with informational tweets and threads focused on research.

MISSION VALUE AND ALIGNMENT
The Guild’s Mission will be to operate as a Support Node for conducting, guiding, and funding research that aligns with the goals and vision of the Bankless DAO.
To achieve these goals, the Research Guild Will:
• Create research bounties
• Track Research Jobs/Opportunities within and outside the DAO
• Fund scope squads and research projects through a grants program
• Write and publish research articles
• Empower Research Work and Talent recruitment for projects across the DAO
• Empower new joiners with what they need and fix them into workgroup as they can start writing research papers and articles
• Expanding horizons and introducing BanklessDAO’s Research to New Communities

Season 8 Wins:
Spent Season 8 setting the foundation for 2 Major Projects, the Guest Passer Sentiment Survey, and Governance
Spent Season 8 conducting an overhaul of active membership to weed out treasury hunters, and focus on empowering active members to thrive.
Spent Season 8 upskilling members on important research topics, Creating a Research Proposal, Research Methodologies, and Notion Management.
Spent Season 8 assisting with other guilds in the creation of a project that documents BanklessDAO members that have transitioned to other DAOs, Crypto Communities, etc.
Established a Twitter Handle with informational tweets and threads focused on research.
Work and research was carried out into the role structures dependent on the pod system, where loopholes via which responsibilities fell through and mitigation methods were devised.
Season 9 Plans:
Creation of main projects focused on active membership.
Continued work on the two major projects, Governance and the Guest Passer Sentiment Survey
Finalization of Roles from the retired Wind Role structure to a more focused approach for role holders.
Recruitment of new members with a more streamlined onboarding approach.

NORTH WIND/Governance and Admin Coordinator
The main goal of the North Wind this season was to jump start the governance “triage center” of the guild. Now we can’t say the triage center is running at the capacity it should, but the center is definitely running. As at the documentation of this document, we have been able to decipher via rigorous hours of readings and research over a dozen governance Ideas/topics that are needed to align DAO participants and guild contribution effectively. So basically the foundational research footing needed for earnest governance work has been laid, and a roadmap drawn up on how the foundational research can be utilized even up to S9 and beyond.

SOUTH WIND/Memberships Coordinator
We were able to Utilize the MOMA incentive to encourage more contribution and activeness in the guild in season 8. Members of the month award (MOMA), this time we will be more focused on effectiveness and commitment of the contributor that has been nominated during this course. This is to make sure that folks that are hardworking, effective and committed are celebrated. We are adopting a new payment method for the MOMA winner, which will be, sending the payment directly to their wallet address, rather than the old method of tipping. MOMA NFT will also be sent alongside the winners. We are maintaining the 3000 Bank per month used in season 8, for the four months, we will have 12000 Bank altogether in season 9.

EAST WIND/Research Education
Maintain Activity Quizzes for Active Membership
Create Activity Quizzes for Active Membership in order to also learn about Research Processes
Working to create and maintain a partnership with Bankless DeSci in order to advance research efforts for engagement, sentiment, and contributor health, along with other important advances in decentralized science.
Ad Hoc Power Hours to assist members on learning about Research related topics and other aspects to help new contributors learn about ways to contribute to Research Guild and Bankless DAO.
Work on empowering members to learn about the research build out process. From ideation to presentation of a research paper, or research presentation.

WEST WIND/Daolationships Coordinator
As per our duty to scout for opportunities within the web3 and crypto space, we Identified opportunities at Umoja DAO which had great potential in the web3 and crypto space. Unfortunately, Umoja DAO was dissolved before we could establish a partnership. Also, efforts to explore opportunities at BANKLESS Academy are ongoing, and they have shown a keen interest in potential cooperation. The demo is currently pending, but should take place before the end of the month
Ongoing Efforts and Outlook:
As we approach the end of the season, the pod remains steadfast in its commitment to identifying further opportunities within the web3 and crypto space. We understand the importance of uncovering innovative projects that had potential for research Guild members to learn, work and up-skill their talent.
Also, we aim to strengthen our network within the industry by engaging with key players, and participating in relevant webinars and workshops.
The web3 and crypto space is dynamic and rapidly evolving, and we are determined to seize the best opportunities before the end of the season.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Budget Breakdown
S8 Budget Summary

  • S8 total budget was 663,308 BANK
  • Extra BANK identified in the multi-sigs (ETH & Polygon) from previous seasons:
    5,332 BANK
  • S8 total allocated funding as of May 26th, 2023 was 663,308 BANK
  • S8 Anticipated Rollover = 1,816 BANK

S9 Budget Breakdown

Formally we had four Operational Pods or Winds (The North Wind, East wind, West wind and South wind) Each of these pods had two role holders, the Lead of the pod and their supports.

For a more KPI efficient leadership and as part of our overhaul of the guild, the pods have been broken down and their responsibilities filtered and appropriately distributed into new portfolios;

Guild Coordinator - Overall guild coordination, Meeting facilitations and bridging
all role holders activities.

Governance & Treasury Coordinator - Handles the governance as well as the
Finance operations of the guild.

Talent Scout & Manager - Talent seeker, Onboarding and membership
management

Daolationship & Liaison Manager - Inter & intra DAO relationships, collaboration
Opportunities.

Education Manager - Research Orientation and training schemes, Educational
& research manuals.

Social Media Admin - Handles all social media pages of the guild (twitter &
LinkedIn)

Notion Admin - Incharge of ensuring up-to-date and a well kept notion page.

Projects Manager - Project Ideas & Implementation, works in tandem with the
Educational manager.

Since S9 is going to be 16 weeks, the table below depicts a seasonal salary structure;

Guild Coordinator - 80,000 BANK
Governance & Treasury Coordinator - 80,000 BANK
Talent Scout & Manager - 80,000 BANK
Daolationship & Liaison manager - 80,000 BANK
Education manager - 80,000 BANK
Social Media Admin - 40,000 BANK
Notion Admin - 32,000 BANK
Projects Manager - 48,000 BANK

TOTAL
520,000 BANK

Total Funding/Ask is dependent on our active members, and at the moment we have 20 active members.

Screenshot (74)
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Each of the active members in the list above has in the very least partook of the phase quizzes that are made available each period, amongst other activities which include the research surveys, Web3 research group and the governance research group.

Using the GC approved formula of; 16x(21,000+770x[active members])

16x(21,000+770x20) = 582,400.

Now as approved by GC we are to minus our expected rollover of 1,816 BANK from our S9 ask of 582,400 BANK

This will give us the amount of 580,584BANK

Proposed Seasonal Coordinape Spending is 80,000 BANK.

Current Holdings
As at the documenting of this document, the Research Guild has two Multi-sigs (ETH & Polygon). The ETH multi-sig has 465,855 BANK, and the Polygon Multi-sig has 13,961 BANK, giving a total of 479, 816 BANK and also 0.0728WETH.

Two pay periods for salaries of 128,000 BANK apiece totalling 256,000 BANK, three coordinape payouts of 23,000 BANK apiece totalling 69,000 BANK.

Note-taking & Meeting Facilitation, a remainder of six meetings culminating into 12,000 BANK.

Member of the Month award (MOMA), two periods done- left with two more periods culminating into 6,000 BANK

Research/Work groups and bounties culminating into 135,000 BANK

(256,000 + 69,000 + 12,000 + 6,000 + 135,000) BANK = 478,000 BANK

Then we minus it from the overall balance (479,816 - 478,000) = 1,816 BANK

Links

Next Steps
If this proposal is accepted and funding disbursed, the immediate next step is implementation across board. Basically what we are achieving with this S8 was ensuring that contributors who are interested in the growth of the guild and their growth as well get to have a place.

Now while compensations are a good means of reward, the goal is not for it to be the motivation but more of a by-product. So our next steps will be to ensure a more balanced guild of equal proving of worth and this is where each of the newly created roles come in, by ensuring that each of the outlined protocols in place for increased participation is implemented to the latter and this budget will serve as a base catalyst to drive just that.

The new role system would serve as a means to galvanize guild growth, ensuring that every base is covered and that guild membership is effectively harnessed. S9 will be borne as a continuance of our effective S8.

We hope we have your support for this S9 Budget & proposal

If you decide to vote NO, please leave a comment detailing your objections - and hopefully we can change your mind

  • Yes, I support this proposal
  • No, I do not support this proposal
  • I abstain, but understand my vote contributes to quorum
0 voters
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Thanks @Aloy

  • Where can we find the output of the governance research that was conducted in s8?
  • I see many guest pass holders being active members in the guild from a very long time. Are we expecting them to convert to L1 members? what has been the historical % of L1 members to guest passers and what has been the historical conversion rate?
  • Can you please give us 3 examples of research reports that the guild has produced this year?
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I’d like to touch on the Active Guest Pass Members discussion. @Jengajojo

In the guest pass survey we’ve created, we noticed that there are a large number of members who are active members of groups including DAOlationships, Marketing, and Writers Guild.

A sizeable amount also have indicated that they have been in the dao for longer than 6 months.

We can assume that guest passers would hope to earn enough to reach L1 status, however, economic, health, and timing (aka earning bank or enough of a financial
status to be able to hold on to an L1 during a lower economic period) would lead us to be realistic.

The best question regarding this would actually be why the number is so high, and what actions could the DAO, the guild, and each of us do to help turn the tide.

That is a main goal of S9, researching this. Because as you can see, there is a need to figure out how we can maintain what we already do well with contributors, and what we can do better. Thanks

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The Guest Passer Survey is in the process of finalizing a few more details, a report will be created at that stage.

The recent post discussing the SEC v. Binance is is on the Research Guild paragraph.xyz newsletter, here - https://twitter.com/BanklessRG/status/1683240412469706752?t=c_r5lzD8yZfHki5gE3RKwg&s=19

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Hello and thank you for the questions Jengajojo- as pertaining the output of our governance research, our first step towards the research was building a foundation that will support and determine the direction and growth of the research and this culminated in the cultivating of a dozen focal points/research heads each with a plethora of mini-heads on what governance should entail basically for an individual in a guild and the DAO at large. The link below takes you to our notion page workflow of the governance page where you get to view the focal points of our governance and their mini-points as well.

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Hey there! I’m your GC reviewer for this seasonal budget, thanks for posting it and pushing forward the bankless mission! I have a few questions =)

  • Can you share what you did to “conducting an overhaul of active membership”? What was the previous way you measured active members and what is the new way?
  • Can you tell me moe about the project that “documents BanklessDAO members that have transitioned to other DAOs, Crypto Communities, etc.”? Who is the project champion and what did research guild contribute?
  • You mention that you calculate active members based upon “phase quizzes” - can you describe more about these quizzes?
    • Personally I don’t feel answering a quiz counts as “active membership”, can you explain how these people are active members?
  • Where do you keep track of tasks done by your members? I checked your Notion and Dework and the task boards are very light
  • Can you post links to some of the output your guild has produced over S7/8? I saw the guest pass survey and SEC/Binance article, but wondered if there was more.

Thanks!

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Hello!

I’m trying to answer a few things on the fly, as I have had a bit of a busy day today.

This holds a very good point.

So the quizzes give a bit of an insight to the level of intent that each member has.

After approximately 3 seasons of failed efforts of trying to deduce truly active members using dework as a “task board” we discover that a two tiered method has been an interesting progression towards truly active membership.

The quizzes have actually proven to be a challenge for people to complete, that give contributors insight to different aspects of research that will help them achieve success in this guild, and in others.

It also has given them motivation to move forward in other aspects of the DAO that have proven elusive in the past.

Even thought by themselves it has proven more helpful in seasons past (18 have take the step to move forward to bounty-able tasks) versus less than in seasons past, that is not the end all be all for the “activity”.

The idea is to use the quizzes as the barrier to entry. This shows the intentionality of the contributor to complete a task to be able to have access to bounty able tasks.

As we are not terribly far into the season, the experiment has not had enough time to play out to the fullest extent.

However, as we continue forward with this season, more tasks will be available, and we can continue to move forward with activity. (Which is the rest of the checkboxes in that form)

I’d also take a brief moment to touch on the projects that are in the beginning stages.

The guest passer survey has been a large undertaking. We’ve coordinated creating the survey, and obtaining 73 responses. We’ve also created a data presentation thanks to @Oracle . Next, we are working on a more in depth interview to gain understanding on some of the responses gathered. It has been an undertaking, so we have not had the chance to expand further on the other reports.

Next, we will work on a project that investigates active membership. I realize that in order guilds, we have seen fluctuations in active membership, which will give us insight on the general fluctuations of activity across the branch.

Finally, @Aloy has discussed the idea of governance research that is beginning to work out as well.

While not as much as some other areas. I believe that the work that we have completed (which by nature can take a bit longer in scope) has proved fruitful and will be beneficial to the DAO as a whole.

I will defer to @Aloy , @Crown and @ETrinity007414 for more or a response.

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Thank you for your question @links i will be answering this, the project was brought to research guild as a request from the Daostewards (Jengajojo) in which we’re to conduct research and prepare interviews with authentic leads, the idea was to create a content stream on the topic “How banklessDao onboards people to DAOs and crypto companies” whereby the need to generate the lists of people who are willing to go on record either written, audio or video format to talk about (a.) How they started their crypto journey in banklessDao

(b.) then how they went on to start their own crypto projects/businesses or found a job in crypto. The project’s objective is to document and highlight the experiences of BanklessDAO members who have transitioned to other decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), crypto communities, and related ventures. The project aims to showcase the impact and influence of BanklessDAO as a stepping stone for its members to explore and contribute to the wider crypto ecosystem. The project is championed by the Research Guild. We are responsible for conducting the research, interviews, and gathering relevant information from members who have made transitions to other DAOs and crypto-related projects.
The Research Guild’s Contribution:
We play a central role in the project by facilitating and coordinating the entire process. Process such as: Identifying Participants, Conducting Interviews, Recording Testimonials, Ensuring Anonymity and Consent, Compiling the Documentation, Analyzing Trends and Patterns, Publication and Communication. By spearheading this project, the Research Guild aims to shed light on the success stories of BanklessDAO members and how the DAO’s ethos and support have contributed to their growth within the wider decentralized finance and crypto space. And this in turn benefits banklessDAO by reinforcing its reputation, promoting adoption, fostering collaboration within the ecosystem, improving community engagement, and providing valuable insights for continuous improvement and growth. It demonstrates the real-world impact of BanklessDAO’s mission and values, creating a positive feedback loop that attracts new talent and strengthens the DAO’s position within the crypto space. I hope this answers your question best?

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We used both Notion and Dework to keep track of tasks done in the guild, every tasks being done on dework by every members in the guild is also being documented on Notion here on our Contributor Active Pages: https://www.notion.so/bankless/55cb47b5b5064762978718c5c3949f29?v=5c7dd9f4b8f94213885ce07639b93502&pvs=4
Other tasks such as meeting facilitation & notetaking are being documented on dework which is refined from time to time. By implementing both tools we are able to differentiate between the lurkers and the active members.

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I don’t understand this document you have linked me to. Can you please link me to a list of tasks completed by each member?

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You can see each task that is completing by using the properties at the top of the active list. I’ve fallen behind in updating, because we have had a few more tasks completed that I have missed.

We are getting things on the road. We’ve had issues with members who had control problems, and spent an exorbitant amount of time weeding out treasury hunters who have spent time depleting the treasury. Take a look at the properties. And that will give you a clearer picture.

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Update on this:

  • I met with @Aloy and @homie on Discord to discuss this on Aug 2, 2023. During that discussion, my main concerns were that it was not possible for me to trace individual members to tasks they worked on, and that many individuals were being counted as active member because they took a survey (which take <5 mins to complete). I took the time to review the tasks with them, and said I saw 6 active members, not the 20 that were reported.
    • I gave the guild a choice: take the funding for 6 active members, or retroactively create task-tracking for S8 which ties individuals to work they did. They chose to re-do their task tracking
  • On Aug 4, 2023 @Aloy updated the RG Notion page as per this Discord message: Discord
  • On Aug 8, 2023, I reviewed the Notion page and left them this message: Discord

Still in talks w/ RG about this.

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I believe there is a new update of suggested active members.

The calculation is still not 20, however. I believe it’s 15 now that was calculated from @Gahbby and @SpiritedF .

Am interested in that review.

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This document gives accountability as requested
R.G S8 Active Members - Google Sheets showing all our active members and what they did to be considered as an active member in the current season

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We revamped our Notion as per your request as well, here is the link to that Notion – The all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.

So kindly review and get back to us if you have any further questions

1 Like