Plats - A Cardano Event Platform

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Marcus Nguyen

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

nvh@plats.network

Additional applicants

Thomas Le - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-le-3b3498146/ - https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/profile/190665/activity

Harrison Nguyen - Business Manager - https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/profile/190548 - https://twitter.com/elonm0nk - harris.mindful@gmail.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nguyenhoanghn

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

8

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

The source code of the event platform will not be open source. However, all the blockchain-related coding (smart contract, CrowdSponsor) will be open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

dApp

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

PROBLEM:

Hosting a Cardano Coffee local event involves several steps and tools. Initially, event organizers must propose an idea to the Catalyst Fund, which may take up to 3 months for approval. There is a risk that established events may not receive a grant and may have to cease operations.

If the proposal is funded, the organizers need to use platforms like Eventbrite, Mailchimp, Facebook Event, or Luma to create event listings, sell tickets, and send invitation letters. Additionally, they need to utilize platforms such as Gleam to create social quests, like following someone on Twitter or joining Discord or Telegram. For interactive elements, organizers may employ tools like Kahoot for quiz games or random Lucky Draw Web Apps. They could use a random QR Code app as well, which might stop working or force users to watch an ad after 20 scans without notice.

Moreover, if the organizers want to distribute rewards in native tokens like ADA to attendees, it must be done manually.

Moreover, attendee data is collected and managed using spreadsheet apps like Google Sheets connected with Google Forms.

Hosting a hybrid event that combines in-person and on-chain technologies, such as a local educational Cardano Coffee event, can be time-consuming and necessitates the coordination of multiple apps.

Imagine they could do all that in one place.

SOLUTION:

Plats offers an all-in-one event platform for the Cardano Ecosystem that aims to streamline the organization of hybrid events for the Cardano Ecosystem, reducing costs and simplifying the process.

We will offer two main products:

1. A Web Service for Event Organizers and Sponsors.

• Link to test our previous MVP: https://cws.plats.network/auth/cws (feel free to create an account and tinker with the MVP as you wish)
• MVP Included Event Creation, Tasks Creation, QR code Creation

(picture of previous MVP)

2..A Mobile App for Event Organizers, Attendees, and Sponsors.

• Link to test our Mobile App MVP of previous iteration: Android & iOS (with QR code scan, check-in at location) (feel free to create an account and tinker with the MVP as you wish)

(picture of previous MVP)

Detailed functions we expect to develop with Project Catalyst Funding

1. CrowdSponsor in ADA:
2. Organizers can create and customize a Sponsorship Section to attract sponsors within the Cardano Community. (ADA CrowdSponsor works globally in theory but will need to comply with the region's legal system before being applied.)
3. ADA Depositing and Rewarding:
4. ADA rewards are distributed on-chain. Organizers deposit ADA into a smart contract, and winners of minigames receive their rewards automatically to their wallets. Plats integrates with wallets like Yoroi or ADALite.
5. ADA NFT Ticket Generation.
6. Customized Invitation Links with Analytic Tools:
7. Organizers can generate unique links for different communities, allowing them to assess community activity for future events. Attendees who register using these links receive Invitation Letters with QR codes as their tickets.
8. Social Tasks for Marketing:
9. Event organizers can set up social tasks such as Asking attendees to follow their Twitter, retweet a tweet, tag a friend, join a Discord, or Telegram Community. Organizers could also customize the eligibility of attendees to participate in the minigames via these social Tasks.
10. In-person Tasks with QR Code Set up and Management:
11. Organizers can easily generate QR codes for each session or booth. They can set conditions for attendees to participate in minigames, such as requiring them to scan a specific number of QR codes. This engagement strategy enhances attendee attention and involvement.
12. Integrated Minigames:
13. Plats offers in-app minigames, including Lucky Draw and Quiz. Organizers can define the criteria for participation, and eligible attendees automatically receive lucky numbers."
14. Attendees Management:

• Comprehensive attendee management function including:
• Attendee list page
• Search attendee
• History of attendance

Miro board link

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

We intend to apply for Fund 11 for the following functions:

1. ADA Ticketing and Payment, NFT-gated events
2. Standalone Sponsor Staking Pool prioritizing fast decision-making.
3. Post-event Report/Statistics
4. Matching between Event organizers and Venue owners
5. Event Membership Card

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Plats is closing the business gap between Sponsors and Event organizers, as well as promising to reduce the costs for Event Organizers by 50% while promising to bring more global users to Cardano Ecosystem.

Plats addresses the F10: Products & Integrations challenge because it creates value for the Cardano community and wider ecosystem by solving event business problems through a comprehensive set of event-specific tools, offering more use cases to ADA with the use of ADA as rewarding and sponsoring currency.

In details, the benefits that Plats will bring to the Cardano Ecosystem include:

Event platform with integration into the Cardano Ecosystem:

• Plats will help save a lot of time and effort to organize a hybrid event, integrating in-person event elements with Cardano Blockchain on-chain data access, for all classes of events from small (<50 attendees), to medium (50-200 attendees), and large events (over 200 attendees).

• Those who host Local Cardano Events such as Cardano Coffee Local events could use Plats as their one-stop solution for everything related to event-hosting and Cardano Blockchain.

• Currently, no other blockchain or blockchain community has an event platform dedicated to them yet. This would be a big plus for the Cardano Community.

• Our previous MVP iteration has successfully shown the capability of serving an event with over 1000 attendees.

Onboard more Web 2 users to Cardano Ecosystem:

• Billions of people are attending traditional events every day. With the capabilities of supporting both Web 2 and Web 3 events, Plats can reward native tokens like ADA, as well as NFTs, directly to new users' wallets without a hassle. This would benefit walk-ins, as well as those never heard of Cardano. This would increase the number of new users and new wallets.

• Aside from supporting a global audience and customers, Plats will be able to attract Vietnamese and Japanese users by offering the platform in Vietnamese and Japanese alongside English. The Vietnamese Market ( ranked #1 in Chainalysis Crypto Adoption 2022 Ranking) is a very potential market for Cardano Blockchain. Vietnam, yet the Cardano Blockchain community in Vietnam, namely Project Catalyst is not yet well-known to Vietnamese. Meanwhile, the Japanese Market is also where Cardano held its ICO.

• The Plats Team's CEO is also the founder and CEO of VAIX Group, an outsourcing company based in Vietnam with strong connections in Japan, South East Asia and East Asia region. Therefore, we have the resources to attract users in the South East Asia and East Asia regions.

ADA Usage in Plats Events will increase liquidity, trading volume and use case for ADA;

• The use of ADA as fuel for rewarding and sponsoring will increase the liquidity and trading volume as more participants engage within the platform.

Fluid and Uninterrupted Brand Recognition for Products built on Cardano Ecosystem as well as traditional non-blockchain brands.

• Plat's built-in Web 2 Social Tasks (QR code generation, minigames such as Quiz, Lucky Draw, check for Twitter follow, retweet, tag, Telegram, Discord onboarding...) and built-in Cardano Blockchain Tasks (NFT generation, native-token hold check, and reward distribution...) plays a crucial role in boosting brand value for products on Cardano Ecosystem.
• With Plats, Event organizers do not have to switch and use multiple, unreliable and fragmented platforms anymore.

Strengthening Cardano Communities Connection in all over the world

• Plat's ADA CrowdSponsor allows anyone to sponsor an event from anywhere in the world, as long as it accepts ADA. Interested parties from developed countries could sponsor Cardano Local events in developing countries, and vice versa.

If you are a business selling Cardano-related merchandise based in the US and you want to sell globally to customers in Vietnam, or in Tanzania, you could sponsor a Cardano Local Event in Vietnam or in Tanzania with ADA and showcase your company in that Event.

• By breaking down geographical barriers and facilitating direct connections, ADA CrowdSponsor strengthens the collective efforts of Cardano communities, fostering a vibrant and inclusive ecosystem that thrives on collaboration, innovation, and shared success.

Positive Perception and Reputation for Cardano Communities:

• The integration of ADA as fuel of all the system enhances the perception and reputation of Cardano Ecosystem. It showcases the platform's versatility and ability to be used in real-world applications, adding credibility to Cardano's ecosystem.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Upon being funded, the brand of Plats Event Solution will go alongside the brand of Project Catalyst and Cardano Blockchain.

All of Cardano's logos and branding will be shown on our platform across our web service and mobile app.

We will track our success and contribution to the Cardano Ecosystem by the following specific metrics:

5 Main Quantitative measures:

For both Cardano Ecosystem and Plats:

1. Number of global Cardano-related Events Organized using Plats MVP Globally
2. Number of global Cardano-related Event Attendees using Plats MVP Globally
3. Number of Cardano-related Events received sponsors via Plats MVP Globally
4. The number of attendees received ADA rewards for the first time via Plats MVP Globally (increasing # of unique wallets)
5. Costs saved for Event Organizers using Plats

1 Qualitative measures:

1. Level of Ease of Use of Client Web Service, Mobile App and Event Feeds (Customer Reviews with and a sample scoring from 1 to 10)

The metrics are realistic because they are indicative of what Plats are striving to achieve as well.

Detailed final goals and monthly indicators to keep track according to each metric are available in the next question.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Project duration: 8 months

Target audience and customers:

• Cardano Community Members Globally
• Blockchain Early Adopters and Veterans Globally
• Traditional Event Organizers and Sponsors Globally
• New users curious about blockchain

Channels to publish our latest development updates:

• Documentations:
• On all of Plats's Social Media Outlets:
• Direct MVP public testing:
• Mobile App MVP: Android & iOS
• Web Service MVP: https://cws.plats.network/auth/cws
• Event Feeds Website: https://event.plats.network
• Online Report with video/audio on Zoom, Community Call:
• SWARM After Town Hall on the closest Wednesday after the end of a Milestone 18:00 UTC
• Or, Catalyst Town Hall on the closest Wednesday after the end of a Milestone 17:00 UTC

Results generated from the project in further research and development activities will continue to be utilized into the next phase of development. Fund10 does not mark the end of our product. We will continue development until we fulfil our goal of having a complete all-in-one event platform.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

These are some of our capabilities to deliver the Cardano Event Platform with high levels of trust and accountability:

A Talented and Dedicated Team of Builders with Expertise in both Web2 and Web3:

The Plats Team was founded in December 2021, by our founder and CEO Marcus Nguyen, the founder and CEO of VAIX Group, an IT outsourcing company in Vietnam with strong ties with Japanese Clients. He invited Thomas Le, the man behind the backend infrastructure of Topica, Vietnam's largest EdTech Group, to help as the CTO.

Plats was their first product in the Blockchain x Event Industry. Plats's initial mission was to build an Event Solution that could integrate Blockchain Technology, allowing attendees to receive NFT rewards while attending events.

Plats Team has been working on this product ever since.

We never called for VC funding, never ICOed or IDOed. All of the development was done part-time with money out of hackathons and out of our own pocket. All members of the team are volunteer contributors and not paid for by VAIX Group or any organizations. The team has a great passion for this product and believes in its ability to serve a wide range of audiences.

Minimum Viable Product Released and Tested by real customers. One of the missions of our project is to bring transparency to event organizations with blockchain technology. To do that, we are also aiming for transparency in every aspect of our project. We are already providing free testing for all of the released functions of the system. We have released our early iterations prior to Project Catalyst and have received valuable feedback from our customers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHdEl48CHd8

Now you could also test them and try them out:

• Mobile App MVP of previous iteration: Android & iOS (with QR code scan, check-in at location) (feel free to create an account and tinker with the MVP as you wish)

• Web Service MVP: https://cws.plats.network/auth/cws (feel free to create an account and tinker with the MVP as you wish)
• MVP Included Event Creation, Tasks Creation, QR code Creation

• Event Feeds Website (Where all events created on Plats will be shown): https://event.plats.networ

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

For this proposal, we focus on Product Development. Therefore, the most important goal is to develop an easy-to-use and secure product. The growth indicator comes second. This will be reflected in the way we set up our measurable goals.

The main goals of our project for this funding are as follows: (Goals also serve as monthly indicator)

GOAL 1: Develop an easy-to-use Web3 and Web2 Event Platform

• Final goal: Receiving favorable reviews from Early Adopters across main modules: (Users' score from 1 to 10 as "10" being very easy to use)

1. CrowdSponsor in ADA: 8/10
2. ADA Depositing and Rewarding: 9/10
3. ADA NFT Ticket Generation: 9/10
4. Customized Invitation Links with Analytic Tools: 9/10
5. Social Tasks for Marketing: 9/10
6. In-person Tasks with QR Code Set up and Management: 9/10
7. Integrated Minigames: 9/10
8. Attendees Management: 9/10

Method: Via a Feedback functionality right inside the app.

GOAL 2: Reduce Costs and Increase Engagement for Event Organizers within the Cardano Ecosystem as well as non-blockchain Event Organizers

• Reduce cost for Event Organizers by 60%
• Reduce the number of personnel needed to organize an event from a team of 10-20 people to a team of maximum of 5 people.
• Increase Engagement rate by 100%

Method: Via Customers Reporting

GOAL 3: Increase user base for feedback as development progresses (not business metrics)

• Final goal (and Monthly Indicator):
• Number of global Cardano-related Events Organized using Plats MVP Globally:
• 20 Events, including 10 small events (0-50 attendees), 7 medium events (50-200 attendees), 2 large events (over 200 attendees)

• Number of global Cardano-related Event Attendees using Plats MVP Globally:
• 5,000 attendees

• Number of Cardano-related Events successfully received sponsors via Plats MVP Globally
• 1-2 Event

• Number of attendees received ADA rewards for the first time via Plats MVP Globally
• 500 attendees

Method: Collected right in app

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Our project completion is divided into 6 Milestones and carried out over a duration of 8 months.

We implement an incremental development approach: working on one functionality (one module) such as the In-person Tasks on both the Client Web Service and the Mobile App at the same time to guarantee seamless system synchronization.

Please refer to this Google Sheet link for a detailed view of the acceptance criteria.

Milestone 1 - 1 month (01/10/2023 - 01/11/2023) - ₳42,075 - 15,00%

Client Web Service

• Attendee Management (Attendee list page, Search attendee, History)

Mobile App for Attendees

• UI/UX Design

Mobile App for Event Organizers

• UI/UX Design

Website Design

• Mockups

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Milestone 2 - 2 months (01/11/2023 - 01/01/2024) - ₳70,125 - 25,00%

Client Web Service

• Invitation
• Standard Ticket
• VIP ADA NFT Ticket

Mobile App for Attendees

• Coding 
• Testing

Website Development

• Coding

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Milestone 3 - 1 month (01/01/2024 - 01/02/2024) - ₳42,075 - 15,00%

Client Web Service

• In-person tasks integration (Session/booth QR Code Scan) 
• Online Tasks (Twitter, Telegram, Discord)

Mobile App for Event Organizers

• Coding 
• Testing

Website Development

• Coding
• Testing

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Milestone 4 - 1 month (01/02/2024 - 01/03/2024) - ₳42,075 - 15,00%

Client Web Service

• Lucky Draw Game integration (Lucky Draw Game has been finished in the MVP Version, just need to integrate into the whole system)
• Quiz Mini-game UI/UX Design
• Quiz Minigame Coding
• Minigame Testing

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Milestone 5 - 1 month (01/03/2024 - 01/04/2024) - ₳28,050 - 10,00%

Client Web Service

• ADA Depositing & Rewarding
• Reward Management

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Milestone 6 - 2 months (01/04/2024 - 01/06/2024) - ₳56,100 - 20,00%

Client Web Service

• ADA Crowdsponsoring
• Testing of the whole system

Basic Marketing (Product Update on Social Media Outlets)

Final Delivery, Project Close-out Report Date: June 1st, 2024

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Details of the Milestones:

Again, please also refer to this Google Sheet link for a more comprehensive view: here

Progress Public Reporting After Each Milestone:

• Documentations:
• On all of Plats's Social Media Outlets:
• Direct MVP public testing (Community could check the updates going live on our MVPs)
• Mobile App MVP: Android & iOS
• Client Web Service MVP: https://cws.plats.network/auth/cws
• Event Feeds Website: https://event.plats.network
• Online Report with video/audio on Zoom, Community Call:
• SWARM After Town Hall on the closest Wednesday after the end of a Milestone 18:00 UTC
• Or, Catalyst Town Hall on the closest Wednesday after the end of a Milestone 17:00 UTC

Outputs and intended outcomes:

• Milestone 1: App Design & Web Development (1 month)
• On CWS:
• Comprehensive attendee management function including:
• Attendee list page
• Search attendee
• History of attendance
• On Mobile App:
• User-friendly, easy-to-use interface
• On Event Feed Website:
• New Mockup Design to Transition from Landing Page to Website.

• Milestone 2: App & Web development (2 months)
• On CWS
• Successfully set up VIP ADA NFT Ticket function
• NFT Ticket Generator with Image QR Code
• Event Organizers can generate VIP ADA NFT Tickets by themselves and send them to event registrants via email using Plats.
• On Mobile App
• Link TestFlight of Mobile App for Attendees with following functions:
• Event list page
• Search event
• QR Code Scan
• Profile Setting
• On Event Feed Website:
• Smooth basic functions:
• Search events
• Event detail page.

• Milestone 3 - App & Web development (1 month)
• On CWS
• Clients can successfully create IRL tasks (Session/booth QR Code Scan) and Online Tasks (Twitter, Telegram, Discord) through CWS;
• On Mobile App
• Fully functional and tested Mobile App for Event Organizers with functions like Ticket QR Code Scan, Attendee management.
• On Event Feed Website:
• Official Event Feed Website with full function

• Milestone 4 - App & Web development (1 month) 
• on CWS
• Improve the Lucky Draw Game, and make it more customizable.
• Quiz development
• on Mobile App
• Sync Client Side and Server side of Lucky Draw and Quiz

• Milestone 5 - Web development (1 month)
• On CWS
• ADA Depositing & Rewarding function with the following activities:
• Create/Import reward by ADA tokens;
• Create/Import rewards by ADA NFTs;
• Create rewards with Vouchers,
• discount QR code...;
• Reward Management with the following activities:
• Search reward;
• List of rewards by Event.

• Milestone 6 - Web development (2 months)
• on CWS: ADA CrowdSponsoring.
• ADA Sponsoring function (CWS) is equipped with the following features: sponsor package creation/management/detail status...

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Short Answer:

Product Management: ₳ 83.500

Mobile App (iOS & Android) Development: ₳ 27,500

Web and backend development, DevOps: ₳ 38,000

Blockchain development: ₳ 42,500

UI UX Design: ₳ 25,000

Testing & Business Analysis: ₳ 27,000

Infrastructure (8 months): ₳ 14,000

Marketing Package: ₳14,000

=> SUM: ₳ 280,500 

Detailed Answers with hourly rate and a Tentative Statement of Milestones will be provided in this Google Sheet: here

This budget is designed with the exchange rate of ₳1 =$0.35

It would still be feasible when the ADA price fluctuates around $0.25 to $0.45

If ADA price plunges below or above thresholds and stayed there stably (for at least 1 month):

Below $0.2:

• Report to Catalyst to postpone SOM's deadline.

Above $0.5:

• Hire more people to work on functions previously in Future Plan.
• Report to Catalyst to change SOM

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of the project is determined by estimated hours of work for each department.

Project Management - 450 hours - $65/hour

Mobile App (iOS & Android) Development - 240 hours - $40/hour

Web and backend development, DevOps - 330 hours, $40/hour

Blockchain development - 250 hours, $60/hour

UI/UX Design - 290 hours - $30/hour

Testing & Business Analysis - 380 hours - $25/hour

This is the average cost of outsourcing development in Vietnam.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept