Consensus Hong Kong Rare Social Cardano Event with Media & Marketing - Powered by Rare Network / Rare Evo

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Wes Parkinson - Rare Network

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

Entity (Incorporated)

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

Rare Network, hosts of Rare Evo, will produce a Cardano community side event & related media at Consensus Hong Kong '25, to cross-pollinate and further showcase the strength of the chain in China.

[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

While we will share many metrics and content being transparent in our approach, we cannot guarantee we share every aspect of our business as a privately owned and operated company.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Rare Network, creators of RARE stake pool, and hosts of Rare Evo, a Cardano originated events and media production company, are seeking 100,000 $ADA to produce a side event for the Cardano community at Consensus in Hong Kong occurring on Feb 19-21st 2025. In addition to the side event that will strengthen community presence and onboard new members within a multichain space, Rare Network will also produce media highlighting the entire trip showcasing Cardano projects, SPOs, and community members missions along side conference, side event, and afterparty coverage.

Consensus Hong Kong 2025 is the leading blockchain industry event in the China region. Ensuring that the Chinese Cardano and worldwide communities have a place to network is paramount to maintaining relevance in the eyes of some of the world's most dedicated web3 and blockchain audience.

With 4+ years of Cardano community involvement, two annual conferences (soon to be 3 with Rare Evo 2024 in Las Vegas on Aug. 15-17th), and 5 Rare Social side events with successful outcomes back to back, the Rare Network team is qualified to produce high quality events and media coverage. Not only do we have professional production, but we also have a powerful network of media partners/KOLs and customers who power the Cardano ecosystem to collaborate with on this effort.

The Project Catalyst funds will allow our team, including known Cardano representatives, to attend Consensus Hong Kong 2024, while covering the expenses to film and produce a vlog of the event experience and highlighting the participating Cardano community. The funds will allow us to also produce and host a Cardano community side event in a multichain atmosphere during the week of the larger conference.

With 10+ months until Consensus in Hong Kong while submitting this proposal, the team is eager to secure funding and beginning to produce a memorable and high value Cardano community social! With the timeline at hand, we believe we can market this event to the point where we get a huge amount of hype leading up to and following the side event to strengthen community exposure amongst partners, competitors, and customers. Our past Rare Socials average 2k+ attendees registered per event.

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

Between, the Cardano Summit, Rare Evo, and memorable larger side events such as Input Output's Consensus kick off party in 2022, time and time again it has been proven that live events are healthy for the Cardano community. Whether it is a full blown Cardano conference or a side event leveraging a blockchain industry event, allowing community members to network, build trust to collaborate, and party in person leads to a flourishing ecosystem. Rare Network has seen first hand the value that these in person networking opportunities can lead to and are confident that we have the skillset and network power to assist in hosting yet another social. Our team can ensure a successful marketing campaign to fill the house, with a high quality production covering the Audio/Visual, Food & Beverage, programming, and venue selection.

Not only will we grow within by hosting the most dedicated Cardano leaders and members in style, but we will also onboard new members by inviting other multichain communities, media organizations, content creators, influencers, and project leads to join us, making new friends and business partners along the way.

The media produced by the Rare Network team such as the travel vlog covering the main conference, side events, and community participants, will showcase the strength of Cardano community collaboration and the power of Project Catalyst funding. This will be shared online through multiple social mediums and have a massive network effect as we will be highlighting many projects within the vlog, while tagging them on social media to our multichain followers.

[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?

Our team hosted the first all encompassing Cardano community startup event in North America, highlighting the initiatives of the chain's founding entities to its most impressive projects. We have attended 10-15 blockchain conferences as a team per year, representing our Cardano originated startup company. As an events company we take pride in the power of blockchain conferences and practice what we preach, by selling Rare Evo booth to booth and taking notes on the general production from some of the best events worldwide. Each year we host our own conference, Rare Evo, where we have over 700 IRL attendees, Cardano leadership such as Charles Hoskinson (CEO - IOG), Frederik Gregaard (CEO - Cardano Foundation), and Nikhil Joshi (COO - Emurgo) on our mainstage w/ 50k+ live stream views, nearly 1M post production views on related content, 60+ booths on our expo hall floor, and 20 workshops, including a Hydra masterclass. Beyond the annual conference, we have Rare Socials at events like Blockchain Life Dubai, ETH Denver, Consensus, Token 2049 Dubai, Paris Blockchain Week, NFTxLV, and others.

Check out our latest successes for Rare Socials, powered by Project Catalyst, at Paris Blockchain Week & Token 2049 Dubai in 2024!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTJ_3HbcUXQ&t=155s

Additionally we produced the Fund 12 Catalyst Working Groups including the launch of F12 in Barcelona! Looking for more great Cardano content powered by Project Catalyst?! Take a look below at our journey from Token 2049 Dubai to the Fund 12 launch in Barcelona!

https://youtu.be/csP2Uz_Qm7o?si=du2AtLtyLnbp5zeU

You can check out all the side events we've produced this year by referencing our Luma page: https://lu.ma/u/usr-OhNXVJIwCJP28Lq -- we average 2,000 sign ups per Rare Social through our strategic marketing and 250-600 in actual attendance.

At Rare Network we have many trusted partners and high value customers, this allows us to have an advantage on collaborating successfully on networking and educational events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6jw33X21Mc

The team had our first successful Rare Social in Dubai at the Blockchain Life conference in partnership with SingularityNET well over a year ago. We were able to execute on the side event in a very tight time frame and have over 100 high value blockchain industry professionals join us. Now we reach over an average of 250 in attendance per Rare Social maxing out our venue space consistently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNnBBemH8os

In addition to larger conferences, we also make sure we have presence at Cardano events! Showcasing a side of the eco-system that is not the key focus of the primary event.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rare-network-presents-a-rare-social-blockchain-life-dubai-tickets-511335988707?aff=oddtdtcreator

We had a full house theatre film premier of Chasing the WADA Dream as a Rare Social at NFTxLV with the Cardano community last year (we have since merged with NFTxLV and are now the largest Cardano conference in North America):

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/technotainment-web3-family-presents-vegas-party-film-theatre-premier-tickets-725762855237?aff=oddtdtcreator

Lastly, the team has utilized Project Catalyst funds successfully in the past to benefit the wider Cardano community through live events and media, such as our annual full scale blockchain industry conference, Rare Evo (formerly Rare Bloom), and media production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIe1O43LYA&t=5s

Can't get enough? Check out the recap of our past two annual conferences! The largest Cardano originated event in North America!

2023 Highlights of Rare Evo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6jw33X21Mc

2022 Highlights of Rare Bloom Promoting Rare Evo 2023:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzsTOZ0FVlU

You can find more of our media, including project interviews, on our YouTube!

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

Produce budgetary documents including estimated cost breakdown and quotes from candidate vendors.

Deliverables:

Document: Full Trip, Event, & Media Estimated Budget Breakdown

Document: Supplemental Documents (Quotes, etc.)

Milestone Based Payouts for Project Catalyst Funds in ADA to Spend per Milestone:

• M1: 60,000 $ADA Side Event Down Payment, Cardano Summit Dubai Tickets, Travel & Lodging

Provide trip itinerary. Provide storyline for vlog. Provide side event agenda and details.

Deliverables:

Document: Trip Itinerary

Document: Vlog Storyline

Document: Side Event Agenda

Milestone Based Payouts for Project Catalyst Funds in ADA to Spend per Milestone:

• M2: 20,000 $ADA Remaining Venue Payment, Side Event Production Expenses (Audio & Video), Food & Beverage, and Marketing, Remaining Travel Costs

Deliver the produced trip vlog. Deliver a document breaking down the side event's outcomes.

Video Upload: Travel Vlog

Document: Trip & Event Summary

Milestone Based Payouts for Project Catalyst Funds in ADA to Spend per Milestone:

• M3 (Final Milestone): 20,000 $ADA Pay Final Vendor Bills, Video Editing Services

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

Rare Network Leadership Team:

WES PARKINSON (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-parkinson-8591526a/ or https://twitter.com/RareEvo)

Co-Founder of Rare Network, Wes has a decade of global software sales and services experience within the Content Services industry. Wes created the RARE stake pool with Rand in 2020. Wes has a bachelor’s degree in Information and Telecommunication Systems with a minor in Business and Marketing. Bonus fact: Wes has lived a combined half decade plus in Singapore for work as an expat, making him very familiar with some of the best venues in town and understanding of the local business culture.

RAND MCHENRY (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rand-mchenry-126b25145/ or https://twitter.com/RandCorp_eth)

Co-Founder of Rare Network, Rand has 15 years experience creating live events and has been working in the crypto space for 7 years. Rand was an award winning pioneer in the cannabis industry. Additionally, he was a Sales Director for a $40M annual revenue logistics company. He is the one full-time employee at Rare Network.

EVAN FISCHER (https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-fischer-01a9a6113/)

Core member of the Rare Evo team, Evan heads business operations at Rare Network, with 10 years experience in live events production and co-founder of Lucid Investments with a focus in Web3 gaming.

Rare Network Core Team:

LIAM WORSDELL (https://twitter.com/LetsTalkWerz)

As the Creative Director at Rare Network and entrepreneur in web2 with a background in property development, Liam brings a unique perspective to his role. Prior to his current position in real estate, he was a travel vlogger, proficient in producing and editing media content. Now, as the Creative Director at Rare Network, he is tasked with leading and creating all aspects of content and social media. Liam's responsibilities include crafting strategies and implementing creative solutions to drive engagement and brand growth. He finds joy in meeting new people and contributing to the growth of Cardano's remarkable individuals within its ecosystem.

NATHAN MANTIA (https://twitter.com/D3vryn)

Nathan is Rare Network's Cardano account manager and content coordinator. With over 2 decades in hospitality management, Nathan is a seasoned professional known for crafting exceptional guest experiences. He's been immersed in blockchain technology, particularly the Cardano ecosystem, for the past 8 years. He has a bachelor's degree in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. 

CLAIRE PARKINSON (https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-parkinson-120940284/)

As the customer relations lead at Rare Network, Claire helps onboard our exhibitors and sponsors to our main conference and produced side events. Additionally, she assists in content coordination, partner relations, and vendor communication. Claire has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati and has invested in crypto since 2019. Prior to her work at Rare Network, Claire built her decade long career as a professional child caregiver raising the next generation, a teacher, and also has past sales experience.

The Rare Network team also consists of members, Vincent, Kevin, and Shafiq, who are the co-founders of VCD Studio, the media and development wing of the organization.

Vicario Communications & Design Studio (aka VCD Studio) is an international software development, video production and marketing specialized firm. Since 2013, the company's focus has been on increasing business efficiency through robust software integration and marketing strategy. This well rounded focus and experience ensures a positive user experience and project viability.

Regarding software, the team has developed the RareEvo.io Wallet Connect, RareEvo.io Website, E-Commerce Website Platforms, Event QR Ticketing Platforms, Rental Equipment Software, Inventory Management Systems (IMS), Customer Relation Management (CRM), API Database Integrations i.e. Shipping Label Propagation and much more.

Regarding video production and marketing, the team specializes in video advertising, interviews, short and long form content, Pay Per Click (PPC) and digital and print graphic creation.

VCD Studio is owned and operated by Vincent Vicario, Kevin Vicario and Shafiq Pasha. This core team has a combined experience of more than 75 years in computer technology. The team is continually committed to pushing the boundaries of all things digital.

Vincent Vicario is an entrepreneur, owner/partner and President of Vicario Communications & Design Studio, an international software development, video production and marketing specialized firm. 

Vincent has a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from University of Cincinnati, and an impressive knowledge and experience in front end/back software development, video production/editing and digital advertising. Vincent uses his skills to produce user friendly and robust software integrations and other digital interactions. 

Kevin Vicario is an entrepreneur, owner/partner and Creative Director of Vicario Communications & Design Studio, an international software development, video production and marketing specialized firm. 

Armed with a Bachelor's degree in Strategic Communications from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a specialized focus on marketing and journalism, Kevin uses his skills in crafting compelling narratives to provide impactful digital and physical marketing strategies and software.

Shafiq Pasha is owner/partner and Technology Director of Vicario Communications & Design Studio, an international software development, video production and marketing specialized firm. 

Shafiq has his Master of Computer Applications - MCA focused in Computer Software Engineering from Al-Ameen Institute of Information Science, and manages a team of software developers for VCD Studio’s entity in India. He has a significant amount of experience in front end/back software development. Shafiq is skilled in LARAVEL Frameworks, SQL, PHP, also Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), C, and C++ and uses his knowledge to coordinate the production of robust and quality software integrations.

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

Expense Breakdown (in $USD):

• Side Event Venue & FB Budget = $25,000

• Consensus Hong Kong Tickets x 6 x $1,349 = $8,100

• Airfare $2000 x 6 = $12,000

• Lodging for 6 nights = $300 per night per 6x individuals = $10,800

• Event (Vendor Selection) & Media Production (8 Days of Footage and Editing) + Marketing Services (Flyers, Street Team, E-mail Blasts, Eventbrite-like Platforms, etc.) = $7,000

Total: $ USD = $62,900

Note: With the open ecosystem category funding being cut in half in F12, Rare Network will likely be additionally funding this project with out of pocket costs dependent on $ADA price fluctuations.

Milestone Based Payouts for Project Catalyst Funds in ADA to Spend per Milestone:

• M1: 60,000 $ADA Side Event Down Payment, Consensus Hong Kong 2025 Tickets, Travel & Lodging
• M2: 20,000 $ADA Remaining Venue Payment, Side Event Production Expenses (Audio & Video), Food & Beverage, and Marketing, Remaining Travel Costs
• M3: 20,000 $ADA Pay Final Vendor Bills, Video Editing Services

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

This project allows us to have a high value and impactful Cardano networking event to strengthen and grow the ecosystem during the experience, along with producing media surrounding the event and participating Cardano community to showcase on social media. The funds will aid Rare Network, a Cardano originated events and media production team, in getting to participate in the renowned Consensus Hong Kong 2025, to grow our business and give back to the Cardano community simultaneously with valuable marketing within the content.

We have successfully executed on events by budgeting accurately ahead of time and have followed the same practices while scoping this side event. We have based our costs per event strategically on the venues surrounding the areas of the main conference, travel and lodging estimates based on the dates and locations, tickets (factoring in tiered pricing, taxes, and fees), and researched vendors for the needed production services.

In this day and age, travel and attending conferences is one of the biggest expenses a project can take on. In Rare Network's (hosts of Rare Evo) case, travel is undoubtedly the highest expense, yet most valuable in return, that we have each year. Many are unaware that our business is 50/50 owned and operates with a small team that has no VC funding at the time of writing this proposal. Planning and hosting events responsibly in order to succeed takes up a ton of time and energy, along with heavy up front costs in association. Therefore, each side event we host, we take a financial risk not only to the expenses at hand per event, but also to our mission of successfully producing our annual blockchain conference Rare Evo. Securing funds from Project Catalyst will allow the event to be a better guaranteed success, while growing the Cardano community in the process, along with protecting a Cardano originated events and media startup company, Rare Network (hosts of Rare Evo), from the risks and costs of international travel, lodging, and side events production.

The team will provide value by producing and hosting a high quality side event, while filming and editing media content highlighting the Cardano community and projects within a high value multichain atmosphere at one of the world's premier blockchain conferences. The content will be shared on social media and show the power of the blockchain conferences and the participating Cardano community.