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SPOCRA - Stake Pool Operators Collective Representation Assembly:

Protocol health demands Cardano stake pool operators are well educated and well prepared to operate and maintain their nodes effectively. Significant gaps exist relevant to the technical and operational resources currently available to Cardano stake pool operators.

SPOCRA is a unified collaboration of Cardano stake pool operators seeking to implement a structured content deployment infrastructure to address existing and future content gaps as they arise. SPOCRA also intends to establish bidirectional communication bridges between engaged Cardano SPOs and SPOCRA as well as communication channels between SPOCRA and the Cardano Foundation.

Establishing the framework for these communications channels will assist with both addressing and mitigating the urgency of future content gaps - while ensuring the Cardano Foundation maintains an adequate broad-range pulse of the Cardano stake pool operator community. SPOCRA also aims to influence protocol health via SPO education while promoting a positive commercial ecosystem on behalf of participating SPOs.

SPOCRA will use funds to actively engage in the following initiatives:

establish a transparent organization to manage funds and to facilitate day-to-day operational activities

maintain the health of the Cardano protocol via producing and disseminating high quality educational content targeting Cardano stake pool operators

establish viable communication bridges to enable bidirectional dialogue to occur between the wider stake pool operator community and the Cardano Foundation

advocate for, and promote, a healthy and sustainable commercial environment on behalf of participating Cardano stake pool operators

Specific Educational Goals:

SPOCRA will produce educational content addressing the following topics:

- linux: linux basics; operations and commands SPOs will need

- linux: security basics for SPOs; locking down nodes, firewalls

- linux: advanced security

- GitHub: usage

- cardano: cold key management; secure transaction signing

- cardano: building a node

- cardano: operating a node

- cardano: monitoring nodes

- cardano: up- and downgrading

- cardano: marketing basics; web, SEO, social media and content production

Specific Communication Goals:

Establish funnels to build up email mailing lists, organized into interest buckets, consisting of Cardano stake pool operators, delegators and wider community stakeholders. In building the foundations to engage targeted communication channels establishes effective outbound communication channels and enables ability to engage in interest-specific campaigns. Such targeted campaigns would include urgent updates for stake pool operators, and campaigns targeting delegator interests such as broader urgent education, SPO marketing, support for stake pool bootstrap, and women involvement initiatives as example.

Establish formal communication bridges between SPOCRA and the Cardano Foundation and between SPOCRA and significant ecosystem stakeholders such as IOG and Emurgo.

Establish formal communication channels between the broader SPOCRA operator community and SPOCRA.

Establish informal communication channels between SPOCRA and the broader Cardano stake pool operator community willing to contribute feedback.

Funding:

SPOCRA will pursue funding in stages. For this first stage, SPOCRA is seeking 100k Ada for the following:

1. Legal; establish the SPOCRA organization (15,000 Ada)

2. Establish a reusable framework for video content production: reusable graphics, templates, intro and outro video segments (5,000 Ada)

3. Produce urgently needed educational content series targeting SPOs to address the critical gaps relevant to linux security and cold key management education:

- Initial SPO "Best Security Practices" document (20,000 Ada)

- "Cold Key Management" tutorial video (10,000 Ada)

- Basic Linux for stake pool operators tutorial video (5,000 Ada)

- Linux Security and best practices for stake pool operators tutorial video (10,000 Ada)

- Advanced Linux Security for SPOs tutorial video (10,000 Ada)

4. Establish a communications framework and begin building out all target communication lists and channels (10,000 Ada).

5. Operational costs and tools (15,000 Ada).

Timeline:

SPOCRA expects to have successfully produced and deployed no less than 75% of target content within 60 days following receipt of funds. SPOCRA also expects to have completed any remaining target content and objectives outlined in this proposal no later than 90 days following receipt of funds.

The process of accepting and awarding bids for content and operational deliverables under this proposal will be refined and determined by the SPOCRA community following the conclusion of the SPOCRA Creation Committee election which is currently active.

Upon reaching milestones, SPOCRA will pursue subsequent funding rounds to continue executing upon SPOCRA's content and communications strategies.