Thesis & Dysmorphia - Cardano City Challenge: Croatia MeetUp

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Matea Sedlaček

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

Individual

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

Tena Sedlaček

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

12

[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)

Organize event in Croatia to onboard participants with no prior blockchain knowledge. Cardano projects will present themselves in the MeetUp venue and Croatian Cardano community will be established.

[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 dependancies.

[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

This is a non technical product with no code to be shared.

[METADATA] Horizons

Events

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

We will organize a Cardano City Challenge and MeetUp - an event in which prior blockchain knowledge is not a prerequisite, but participating in the challenge will by itself onboard people to Cardano. Easy-to-use Cardano native app will be utilized (Cardano Beam) for the activities and different projects will present themselves in the event venue. Successfully organizing this event can open doors to many more such events in the future. Follow-up online meetings will be held to nurture the Croatian Cardano community further.

Why will people want to participate:

• It is free 
• It is fun
• They love creative tasks
• They love prizes

Cardano Beam is a “place asset on map and retrieve it” application, which uses Cardano technology in the background. It screams: “use me for such live events” and it has been used by its creators on several occasions - but we think it should be used much more. It is ideal to organize event like this:

EVENT RECAP

• 1-day-event in city of Kutina, Croatia
• Newly built venue for such purposes will be rented out
• Venue will be used as start/finish point for the City Challenge
• Booths for projects and presentation stage
• Event highlights
• Up to 50 teams of 2-4 people competing in Challenge (general public) for free (money-back when they attend), using Cardano Beam app
• 10 Challenge spots dispersed through the city, each with its tasks/stories/intricacies - each has to do with Cardano (prizes from projects)
• Each participant will receive a “Cardano Starter Pack”
• Cardano native projects will present themselves by reserving the booth (free for them)
• Speakers will be presenting on stage - Cardano onboarding themes and topics
• Food/drinks/merch/photo booths
• Technological booth for all questions/interests in learning more about Cardano - how to use wallets/ how to transact/ crypto security
• Possibility for outside sponsors and investors to join with sponsor packages (sponsor certain Challenge spot/sponsored speaker)
• Possibility for any Cardano project to take part in the challenge by providing prizes in terms of tokens/NFTs for certain Challenge points

EVENT FOLLOW-UP

In follow-up to the event, we will host online meetings with Croatian community to further deepen the connection and communication. Those will be held by Teodor Petricevic, experienced business accelerator lead.

Why is this event so important?

Organizing an event equally interesting for lay public and Cardano enthusiasts could bring important changes in perception and adoption. We think this is a perfect combination of that. How will we market it to the general public?

• Use marketing in channels which general public uses most (might not be X, as crypto users, but Instagram/Facebook/TikTok)
• This engaging event attracts people and such are usually widely attended in our country (up to 100 teams can easily be found participating in similar City Challenges - plus they are never free to attend)
• Also use marketing strategies which work best in crypto - X/discord to make this event widely known in Cardano circles

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

We know that crypto people in general (and Cardano especially with its great community) love to organize IRL events. Also, we know that the general population loves events of competitive but fun and relaxed character. Combining those two? Ideal and extremely positive impact!

Some of the impacts of this event:

• Output: Onboard 100-200 people to Cardano.
• Outcome/Impact: Number of new active Cardano users who remain engaged after the event.

• Output: Participants learn to create wallets, transfer funds, use Cardano tools, and explore DeFi.
• Outcome/Impact: Percentage of participants continuing to use Cardano wallets and tools post-event.

• Output: Participants discover Cardano projects.
• Outcome/Impact: Number of participants interacting with or investing in Cardano projects after the event.

• Output: Event brings new energy to the Cardano ecosystem.
• Outcome/Impact: Number of similar events organized and increase in community activity.

• Output: Internal reflection on onboarding and NFT/dApp use.
• Outcome/Impact: Improved onboarding strategies and new projects initiated based on event feedback.

• Output: Number of registered teams.
• Outcome/Impact: Long-term engagement of teams in future Cardano activities.

• Output: Number of participating Cardano projects.
• Outcome/Impact: Growth in collaboration opportunities and user engagement for these projects.

• Output: Social media and marketing success.
• Outcome/Impact: Sustained growth in social media followers and website traffic.

• Output: Final satisfaction of attendees (survey).
• Outcome/Impact: High satisfaction leads to increased retention of new users and participation in future events.

Measuring the impact 

We will follow each step of the organization process in detail and finally measure the success with several items:

• Number of registered teams
• Number of participating Cardano projects
• Social media/website marketing success numbers
• Speakers/presenters quality
• People visiting technical booth
• Final satisfaction of attendees (survey)
• Degree of interest from sponsors from outside and inside of Cardano

Sharing results

Results will be diligently shared on all our media outlets. The plan is to establish social media presence months before the event, sharing the process. Of course, the final event will be carefully photographed and video material will be created, to have “the thing” captured in full.

[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?

Capabilities and accountability

The team of Matea & Tena have vast experience of delivering such events together or individually in the past, and are the perfect team to do so for this event. In the images below you can get a glimpse of their past organizations.

Marina is the lead accountability manager, taking care of all the accounts, finances, and high level organization. She has vast experience of working on high profile management positions in tourism and owning two companies.

Teodor is in charge for handling Croatian community on the event and in the follow-up. He excells in promoting blockchain education to tackle challenges in developing regions.

Feasibility

Since the ground on which it would be happening is very familiar to the proposers, and it would be an event of great value for their hometown, it is not only very feasible to be very welcomed by the city council and tourist board, but it will likely get help from many more sides and interest from potential sponsors outside of Project Catalyst.

We know that organizing this kind of engaging event attracts people and such are usually widely attended in our country (up to 100 teams can easily be found participating in similar City Challenges - and they are never free to attend). In that sense, it could be an event of great value and future potential for Cardano itself.

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

PROJECT PLAN & TEAM SETUP

Milestone outputs (2 months):

• Team meetings and team setup
• Establishing a high-level project plan 
• Cardano collaborations plan set in motion
• City council and tourist board contacts set in motion
• Visual identity brainstorming and design set in motion
• Creating sponsors outreach invitations

Acceptance criteria:

• Successful team meetings and team successfully setup in its final form
• Successful start of contacts and collaboration talks
• Visual identity agreed upon

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Delivery of team meetings summaries
• Delivery of high-level project plan
• List of contacts/collaborations established 
• Delivery of visual identity preliminary concepts

COLLABORATIONS, SCHEDULES & VISUAL IDENTITY

Milestone outputs (2 months):

• Final organization date and reserving the venue
• Website development
• Visual identity establishing
• Opening social media outlets
• External organizational partners plan and sending out inquiries for offers (expo equipment, booths, video/photography, food/drinks, merch and print partners, etc.) 
• Detailed marketing plan
• “Cardano starter pack” and establishing collaborations for it
• Finalizing some of the collaborations opened in milestone 1, defining some of the prizes for participants 
• Games/challenges brainstorming
• Invited speakers/topics preliminary schedule
• Technological booth team further talks
• Finalizing the number of booth presenters (vacant spots) 
• Croatian community set-up plan

Acceptance criteria:

• Venue reserved
• Visual identity finalized
• Social media outlets opened and running
• Agreed upon plan for external partners
• Agreed upon marketing plan
• Successfully finalized some of the collaborations opened in milestone 1

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Delivery of final date
• Delivery of final visual identity
• Delivery of external partners and marketing plans
• Proof of social media outlets opened (links)
• Proof of collaborations established
• Showcasing projects presenters confirmed till now

MARKETING & COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Milestone outputs (3 months):

• Website finalization
• Social media outlets running: designer - marketing communication working
• Finalizing collaborations, confirming presenters
• Games/challenges finalization - pairing them with prizes
• Marketing for exact date starting
• Registrations process establishing
• Technological booth team finalization including content to cover
• “Cardano Starter Pack” contents finalization
• Invited speakers/topics confirmation
• External organization partners confirmation
• Filling out all the presenters booths

Acceptance criteria:

• Website finalized, social media outlets fully functional following marketing plan
• Games/challenges mostly finalized
• Registration process successfully started
• Technological booth team confirmed
• “Cardano Starter Pack” contents finalized
• Successful confirmations from invited speakers, presenting projects, external partners

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Website link functional
• Delivery of games/challenges/prizes plan
• Showcasing registration process
• Showcasing “Cardano Starter Pack”
• Delivery of technological team information including high-level overview of content which will be covered/presented in there
• Delivery of speakers/presenting projects/external partners information

FINALISATION

Milestone outputs (2 months):

• Strongest marketing period
• Confirmations:
• Venue
• External partners
• Event staff (in venue and city staff)
• Projects presenters
• Speakers
• City and tourist board
• Final satisfaction survey creation
• Marketing outlets running
• Final announcements before the event
• Communication with registrants
• Photo/video team following certain parts of organization in this period

Acceptance criteria:

• Successful confirmations with all sides
• Final survey created
• Successful marketing campaign - all team spots taken
• Registration process working
• Photo/video documentation of this parts of process taken

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Showcasing the final survey
• Delivery of all confirmed participants and schedule of events on the day
• Delivery of photo/video materials (preliminary)
• Preliminary number of teams

EVENT ORGANIZATION & FOLLOW UP

Milestone outputs (2 months):

• Final team meetings in week of organization
• Final rehearsal with all staff members
• Venue set up 
• Organization of the event itself
• Photo/video team capturing the event
• Live stream 
• Conducting final satisfaction survey
• Croatian community follow-up meetings (2)

Acceptance criteria:

• Event organized!

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Event report and video
• Photo material delivered
• Links to media coverage

POST-EVENT

Final milestone outputs (1 month):

• Post-event reports:
• contact with projects, onboarding data
• survey data
• Follow-up meetings reports

Acceptance criteria:

• Follow-up meetings report
• Post-event data collected

Evidence of milestone completion:

• Project Close-Out report and video
• Post-event data and reports delivered

Total project length: 

• 12 months
• We are putting the maximum time duration in the project because of the complexity and several moving parts which will have to be handled step by step. Some of the factors taken into consideration for that decision:
• Collaborations with many Cardano projects and external teams must be established months prior to the start of marketing
• Finding optimal date for the venue to be available, and for it to preferably be warmer part of the year
• At least 2-3 months of proper marketing campaign on all social outlets should be done prior to the event itself

The whole process is explained in detail in Milestones above.

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

The team is comprised of:

• Matea Sedlaček, PhD, Physical Activity Centre owner, Thesis & Dysmorphia Cardano based project co-founder
• Project manager
• X, Linkedin
• Entrepreneur, successful business owner, researcher, PhD in the field of physiology, with great interest in blockchain and crypto
• Experienced in organizing IRL events, in character similar to this proposal - sport activities and team games, group trips
• Tena Sedlaček, mag.ing.arch., successful architect and interior designer by profession, organizational expert by vocation
• Design and visual identity
• Games manager
• Linkedin
• Experienced in organizing events, both professionally and privately
• Marina Minko, co-founder of Thesis & Dysmorphia
• Accountability manager
• X
• Her extensive professional journey includes positions in general management, financial management, strategic development and foreign agency contracting.
• Experienced in Cardano ecosystem as project co-founder and manager
• Teodor Petričević, UNDP, business accelerator, Accelerating (Social) Innovation in Europe, Asia and Africa
• Croatian community lead
• Linkedin
• expert in community building, social innovation, and impact entrepreneurship with over 20 years of experience. As the CEO of different development orgs and Digital Partnership and Accelerator Lead at UNDP, he has spearheaded innovation initiatives using blockchain, AI, and other technologies to support civil society and startups globally. Teodor has organized international conferences and social business accelerators across Europe and Central Asia, with extensive experience in project management and organizational development, driving social impact and sustainable development through collaborative ecosystems.

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

TOTAL FUNDS REQUESTED: 99,800 ADA

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

This project delivers significant value for money by onboarding 100-200 new users to Cardano, equipping them with practical skills in wallets, NFTs, and DeFi, while spotlighting a dozen Cardano-based projects. It directly strengthens the ecosystem by fostering user engagement and project collaboration, driving sustained growth within the community.

The event’s scalable format is designed for global replication, ensuring its impact reaches beyond the local level, expanding Cardano’s presence across regions. By attracting both crypto enthusiasts and the general public, this initiative broadens Cardano’s reach, accelerates adoption, and fuels long-term community engagement, making it a highly cost-effective investment for the future of the Cardano ecosystem.