Scam School: An insightful comic series to help avoid scams

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

John Moreland

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

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co proposers and Additional applicants

Tanatos

JoshJD

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

6

[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)

Scam School, helping the Cardano Community avoid scams one comic at a time. A funny-yet-insightful comic series that embeds simple lessons about security, blockchain, and avoiding scams and rug pulls.

[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?

Yes

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

The comic will be available for public use, modification, or adaptation under a creative commons license to encourage community collaboration, remixing, and an inclusive creative process.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

Our solution is "Scam School Comics", an online comic strip that will leverage humor and storytelling to engage and educate the Cardano community about recognizing red flags to avoid scams and rug pulls, as well as fundamentals of interacting with the Cardano ecosystem safely and securely.

The comic style is a blend of "xkcd" and "The Far Side", aimed specifically to appeal to the Cardano community. Drawing on previous experience developing the "Half-Baked" comic series, and lessons learned from a career in academia and software development, this series will feature characters from various prominent Cardano NFT projects interacting in the Cardano metaverse in and around a fictional “Scam School”. These comics will be both entertaining and educational, embedding short and easy-to-understand safety lessons within a comic narrative, using reoccurring characters to demonstrate how scams and rug pulls work, how to recognize red flags, and best practices for Cardano safety and Crypto safety in general. 

To let readers know about the educational nature of the comic, the series will use the catch phrase "School is now in session."

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

The "Scam School Comics" project will:

·        Educate the community on scam prevention in a unique and engaging way, increasing their resilience against fraud.

·        Enhance the broader understanding of crypto security, particularly in the context of Cardano and NFTs.

·        Foster a culture of vigilance and smart investing within the Cardano community.

Impact Measurement:

·        Tracking community interaction (comments, shares, likes) on each comic.

·        Surveys to assess the increase in scam awareness before and after engaging with the comics.

·        Requests for collaboration or endorsements from other Cardano and crypto-related projects as a measure of the comic's influence and reach.

Sharing Outputs:

·        Regular updates on Cardano community forums and social media, ensuring wide accessibility.

·        Creating downloadable versions of comics for community members to share.

·        Hosting webinars or live sessions to discuss comics and related scam prevention strategies.

[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?

The team is a blend of artists, developers, and crypto-enthusiasts with professional careers in web development and academia.

The team has previous experience developing online comics, Cardano dapps, NFT projects, and working with the NFT rug alliance (a group focused on scam and rug-pull education and helping victims recover).

We are well-equipped to deliver the "Scam School" comic series. Trust and accountability will be ensured by:

• Transparent progress reports to the community and maintaining a public repository on GitHub.
• Regular publishing schedules.
• Open feedback channels for continuous improvement based on community input.

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

·        Development and release of the first batch of 10 comics focused on basic scam awareness.

·        Metrics: Publication on schedule, high engagement and positive feedback.

·        Further development and publication of second batch of 10 comics, focusing on more complex scam scenarios.

·        Metrics: Consistent publication and increased understanding evident in community feedback.

·        Completion of the series final batch of 10 comics with advanced lessons in scam prevention.

·        Metrics: 30 comics published, survey showing improved scam awareness

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

Team Member: John Moreland

• Roles: Project Lead, Comic Creator, Lead Writer
• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrmoreland
• Responsibilities: Bringing the funny, Balancing run with education, engaging and informative content, maintaining the project timeline, and community interaction.
• Background: Professional software developer and project lead at a University research center, Previous web comic development experience, Strong foundation in Cardano fundamentals and Web3 game development.

Team Member: Tanatos

• Role: Security Writer
• Responsibilities: Research and generate comic ideas for security-related topics
• Background: Professional full stack web developer, Previous experience developing, securing, and deploying multiple Web3 and NFT projects

Team Member: Reverse Bones

• Role: Writer, Editor, Proofreader
• Responsibilities: Comic writing, editing, proofreading before publication
• Background: Professional editor, publisher, writer, higher education

Team Member: JoshJD

• Role: Writer
• Responsibilities: Generate Comic Ideas

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

Total Funding Requested: 30,000 ADA

 

Comic Creation Costs:

• Total for 30 Comics: 24,000 ADA
• Cost per Comic: 800 ADA
• Details: This covers all aspects of comic creation, including research, scripting, artwork, and finalization.

Marketing and Promotion:

• Estimated Cost: 4,000 ADA
• Details: This budget will be used for social media advertising, creation of promotional materials, and other marketing activities to maximize the reach and impact of the comic series.

Website and Hosting:

• Estimated Cost: 500 ADA
• Details: Costs for domain registration, web hosting, and website maintenance, ensuring a dedicated online platform for the comics.

Administrative and Miscellaneous:

• Estimated Cost: 1500 ADA
• Details: This includes any necessary software subscriptions, contingency funds for unforeseen expenses, and miscellaneous administrative costs.

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

The budget is strategically allocated to ensure maximum impact and value for the Cardano community. The costs are comparable to contracted costs in the U.S. for comparable work (research, script writing, art generation, publication and engagement with community.)

The comic series aims to provide both entertainment and essential education, enhancing the overall safety and knowledge within the ecosystem. 

[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