Cardano local live events - Poland

Sum up/TLDR - 'elevator pitch' style

The aim of this Proposal is to organize a series of Cardano-centric blockchain events in various Polish cities. Cryptocurrencies have gained huge popularity in Poland but lack of basic education and knowledge of serious projects is overwhelming. Thanks to rich network of contacts and experience of the proposer carrying out such events should be flawless.

Introduction - where that idea comes from?

The world has changed dramatically since late 2019. Long months of lockdowns and restrictions took live, face to face meetings away from us. Even though the situation is far from great, our world needs to get back on track. Therefore we need to start socializing again. What can be better than real-life networking with people who have common interests? Like crypto, technology, trading, researching... 

I have recently been to a local event organized by a fellow crypto-YouTuber. It was at least 3x "oversubscribed" when talking about places on the conference hall. That clearly proves there is a huge need of meetups in "real life", no matter if metaverse becomes the new reality or not. 

Background / experience

As Cardano enthusiast since early 2018 I've co-founded the most popular Polish online venues for Cardano users, traders and HODLers - Telegram, Discord, local Twitter etc. (by the way: you can read more about our future plans on a complete Polish Cardano Center in dedicated proposal under Multilingual Resources section). I feel it's time to move forward and start a face-to-face outreach. The community demands it. And Cardano "demands" wider user base as we know the potential behind our ecosystem. We are bound to spread the good word to the masses, for them to realize there is more to cryptocurrencies and blockchain than just memecoins (Hosky, no offence! ;-) ).

Thanks to my assignments which, besides Cardano Ambassadorship since 2018 and expansion of Cardano local social media channels, include multiple cooperations with crypto projects throughout the years, working as an editor for one of the top Polish crypto media outlets BeInCrypto.pl - they all allowed me to gather a really diverse network of contacts which may help me in carrying out a series of successful and well-promoted crypto meetups in various parts of Poland.

My professional background is health & medicine which allowed me to gain experience in public speeches during various medical conferences - no overwhelming stage stress included ;-) 

Rationale - are such events really needed?

Small, really local crypto meetups are great - you meet true enthusiasts who often live just around the corner and thanks to such events you can evolve and eventually create great things together. On the other hand, bigger events have their advantages, too. Spreading adoption, showing that it is way more than "just a name on CoinMarketCap" (or - shhh! - "just a wallet") and that one can meet and talk to people who, let's face it, live Cardano - that's something. The plan is to create a series of events, possibly most of them in cooperation with external partners - other crypto groups, crypto companies which keep growing in Poland really fast, top exchanges where ADA is listed. This is not just a dream - I am already after a few talks and the future looks really promising as it's not just me who see there is a huge demand of live events.

Initial cities to cover during first months of 2022 could include:

- Warsaw - capital city 

- Krakow

- Katowice

- Wroclaw

- Poznan

- Lodz

- Bialystok

- Gdansk

Other cities or preferred order could be decided with Polish Cardano community or partners, where applicable. 

The aim is to hold at least one event monthly, depending on partners locally we could even host them more often - as they are in different parts of Poland there will be mostly separate pool of participants in each event. I am also certain there will be at least a few experienced people to talk about Cardano-related stuff and blockchain basics - there are really a lot of wise, professional blockchain-oriented people who are willing to share their knowledge for common good. 

Budget for this proposal has to include:

- venue rental - main cost which depends on the city and availability of friends' help out there

- marketing materials: rollups, banners, gadgets like stickers, pens, caps etc. - small things that make people happy and can be used as incentives for participants who ask question, take part in on-site quizzes or other activities, like random draws or awards for post-event recaps, photographers/video makers.

- travel expenses for organizers and prelegents ("cost" of speakers excluded - it's by community for community, I don't feel like speaker fees should apply in this kind of events)

- basic food and drinks (non-alcoholic beverages); 

Depending on the city, I estimate a cost of around $2000 per conference (marketing included). Leaving the first month as a month of preparations (see Roadmap section) the minimum I want to achieve is 5 events organized. Considering that every next event should be easier to coordinate and with possibly more partnerships included - the budget may be enough for even 2x more meetups. 

KPIs & auditability:

- at least 1 event organized per month

- social media activity around event announcement pages and local Cardano social media

- attendance during events

- events should be recorded and available to the public. That may be achieved via Polish Cardano Center webiste or simply via local Cardano social media pages (Telegram, Discord, Facebook). 

Roadmap - steps to follow:

- having this proposal approved

- community research: which cities would be the best places to hold blockchain & Cardano-related events? Voting on Telegram and Discord

- contacting potential partners

- local market research: expected attendance, appropriate venues in reasonable prices

- 1st event - around 1 month after Catalyst Fund approval

- next events - at least on a monthly basis, at locations (cities/regions) decided in community votes.

This proposal is undoubtedly complementary to another one - F7: Multilingual resources, Cardano Center Poland - web & socials: https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Cardano-Center-Poland-web-socials/381137-48088