Provide the UK Cardano Community with a years worth of IRL events.

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Christopher Warren

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co proposers and Additional applicants

Upstream SPO team:

Mark Hall

Ben Deverson

Luke Aldrich

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

10

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

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Three specialised Cardano events we will provide the UK Cardano community with a space to discuss their projects, collaborate with peers and grow their networks.

[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] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

As a UK based Ltd. company we cannot have complete visibility relating to company matters. That said, we will act in a completely transparent way with regards to the events planning, management and execution - including use of sub-contractors, suppliers or agents - with transparency of invoicing, billing etc. available upon request.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

We have witnessed first-hand the influence ‘in-person’ community events have, and believe that by driving this forward and providing the community with a dedicated space to grow and thrive, then that is exactly what will happen.

By providing the UK community with a variety of events where they can meet others working and building in the space, we can assist in the acceleration of Cardanos growth, help onboard new users and help showcase the networks developments to others working in the wider web3 space.

We have a thriving and varied UK community consisting of Projects, Developers, Marketers and SPOs that we want to build upon by providing three specialised events over a calendar year.

These events will have differing focuses and expected outputs, but they do share a common goal; to promote accessibility, cohesion and understanding of the Cardano ecosystem. This goal will be achieved by:

-       Coming together as a community to discuss relevant matters, and report outputs back to the relevant bodies.

-       Promote and display advances within the network by using new tools in a real-world setting. (e.g. NFTPass ticketing solutions for all events).

-       Broaden builders’ personal networks and help speed-up growth.

The main focus of the three separate events, along with examples of what they will involve and their purpose are:

-       Technical Workshop (e.g.. Stake Pool operations, CIP discussions, DRep workshops).

The exact topics of this workshop are to be determined, closer to the events date, depending on any significant topics in the space at the time. We encourage this to be a community decision through a voting mechanism.

All outputs from this workshop will be recorded and submitted to the relevant body(s) and should provide valuable insight regarding the communities shared values.

-       Project Showcase (e.g. NFT Projects, Artists, Gaming etc.)

This will be an event where project owners can demonstrate their projects/artwork/games to the attendees. They will be encouraged to promote and market their projects using any interactive means that they see fit.

If required, the option to demo their product through a presentation should be achievable and recorded interviews will be published as a means of further promotion.

This event will be marketed at both the Cardano and wider London web3 community.

-       Community day.

A 'family friendly' day where Project and craft workshops will be available, coordinated with input from some of our favourite Cardano projects; the UK based element of ClayNation are involved and we're currently in discussion with others to help make this as interactive and engaging as possible.

We will continue with the social aspect of our previous events and host three ‘London Cardano Socials’ to coincide with the other – more specialist – events. These will be open to anyone and will be more appealing to those who aren’t directly involved in the technical side but still like to meet the community and discuss Cardano in a more relaxed environment.

Additional notes;

These events are as much about showcasing Cardanos uses as it is bringing people together, and with that in mind, we will incorporate all on-chain tools available to us in the management of the events.

We plan to film all relevant aspects of the events, interviews and demonstrations to allow for further marketing and distribution.

To widen the impact of these events we plan to contact prominent, local web3 press and to use the cross-chain contacts that we have developed to highlight what’s happening on Cardano to the widest audience possible.

We plan to create a specific 'Community Event Hub' (web-page/YouTube channel) to display our community event videos, interviews etc.

This will be open to all other global Cardano community event hosts to use as a way to ensure as much info as possible is available to as many people as possible.

Notable partnering/contributing projects confirmed to date include ClayNation and NFTPass. The connections that we've made over the last few years through hosting events will allow us to approach projects that will add real value to each event.

Proposed dates for the events are to be confirmed, however a rough guide would be; May, July and October 2024. The events will take place on a weekend and care will be taken to ensure that these events are accessible to as many interested parties as possible.

Our aim as a community focused SPO has always been to provide value to the Cardano community. We believe that by taking an approach that covers such a variety of events, we can do just that.

Please support us in our goal by voting for our proposal.

Chris & the Upstream team.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Positive impact and value to the Cardano community will be realised through the completion of three specialised events. Each will add value in a slightly different way to the one before, but value will be added generally by creating an environment where projects and individuals can meet, discuss, learn, market and collaborate - helping to build foundations for further extension of the network.

We will complete and publish a recap to all events, detailing key outputs while also continually looking for ways to improve the next event through attendee feedback.

The first measure of impact will be the growth of the current Meetup group which will help us gauge 'new' interest. The number of attendees and their feedback of the events will also provide us with a way to record sentiment and make improvements as required.

The long-term value and impact will be evident by the future collaborative efforts of individuals and projects who meet at these events.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We have a proven track-record for providing community focused events for the UK community. These include the '22 & '23 community-led London Cardano Summits, the London CIP-1694 workshop and a number of 'London Cardano Socials'.

Previous events have either been financed by ourselves or involved managing the process on behalf of the CF/IOG who financed the event. In all cases budgets were set and adhered to while providing an event as described.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Planning -

Confirm venues for three events.

Confirm collaborators/projects for three events.

Technical workshop community poll published and results received.

Ticketing methods confirmed.

Create Meetup events for 3no events, publish the 1st one ready for onboarding.

Broad marketing for the events.

Execution - Technical Workshop

Completion of the event will be the key means of verification.

Recorder outputs to be submitted to relevant party (determined by final discussion subjects)

Post-event review and recap completed.

Execution - Project Showcase

Completion of the event will be the key means of verification.

Post-event review and recap completed.

Execution - Community day

Completion of the event will be the key means of verification.

Post-event review and recap completed.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

The Upstream Stake Pool team:

Within the team we have specific roles but as in any small, dynamic company we share these responsibilities to ensure that our goals are met.

Chris Warren - Community

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-warren-144b5a6a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Coordinating projects and themes for the events.

Managing the venue and services.

Marketing.

Mark Hall - Technical

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-h-b3ba0247?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

All technical elements.

Ben Deverson - Design

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-deverson-508a2336?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app

Print and digital media.

Product/merch design and resourcing.

Luke Aldrich - Operations

Administrative operations and marketing.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Total - £39,080 - A 156,320

Event 1 - Technical workshop - £6,460

Venue and refreshments - £3500

Filming, editing production - £2000

Travel & accommodation - £460

Logistics - £220

Consumables - £40

Printing - £40

Ticketing and minting - £200

Event 2 - Project Showcase - £12,080

Venue and refreshments - £6000

Filming and editing - £ 2600

Travel & accommodation - £460

Logistics - £220

Consumables - £100

Printing - £200

Projects travel contribution -£1000

Ticketing and minting - £400

Display equipment - £ 1100

Event 3 - Community Day - £7,660

Venue and refreshments - £3500

Filming and editing - £2000

Travel & accommodation -£460

Logistics - £220

Consumables - £400

Printing - £80

Projects travel contribution - £800

Ticketing and minting - £200

Overheads - £12,880

Project management - £9,000

Branding and displays - £750

Meetup group - £130

Merchandise and giveaways - £1200

Marketing - £800

Community engagement - £500

Reporting back to the community - £500

The ADA value for this proposal was decide by using the average value from the previous 6 month period - 1 ADA = £0.25.

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

The above proposed costs are in-line with current resource/service costs for London (where the events are to be held).

A large element of the planning involved for these events is research to ensure that the most cost-effective options are available. We will try to reduce these cost wherever possible.

We have budgeted at the higher end of the quotes/estimates as we'd rather have capital left over, than not enough to cover costs of whet we're proposing.

In the event of ADA value increasing between application and receipt; we're happy to return unused funds/donate to a Cardano specific social impact project (at IOG/Catalyst communities discretion) .

In the event of ADA value decreasing between application and receipt; we will scale back the plans proportionately bet keep general ethos of the proposal. We hope that by budgeting slightly high that this won't be an issue.

We're happy to provide supporting evidence/justification for any costs provided, and to be transparent with all invoicing etc.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund 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