OxBAT Conference Oxford University

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Organisation of OxBAT, an academic cross-chain NFT conference at the University of Oxford, that brings together students, academics, and industry experts from different fields in an open forum.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

Eva Gentner: post-grad at Oxford University; organising OxBAT Conference: bridging academia and Cardano; partner programmable.art; engaged with CNFT space; ADA Café host & contributor.

Mateja Sela: CEO, product lead and full-stack developer Artano; engaged with CNFT space.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

The intention behind OxBAT (Oxford Blockchain, Art & Technology), one of the first academic conferences hosted at a university on this topic, is to marry academia and industry by initiating a multidisciplinary debate amongst students, academics, and industry experts. Through coming together for an inclusive and expansive discussion, we look to establish a foundation upon which further academic research in the field of NFTs and blockchain as a medium can be used as a springboard. It will allow professionally and creatively diverse attendees to build bridges between their research, practices and businesses, creating what we hope will be a valuable network of connected individuals who are passionate and innovative in the field, and whose position within the growing space we hope to enhance. Our conference will offer an opportunity to introduce, discuss, and actualise projects and research questions, to grow networks and create a fertile soil for their subsequent success. Cutting-edge research and cutting-edge creation must happen simultaneously for generating exemplary outcomes. The conference will offer an environment for fostering cross-discipline, as well as cross-chain pollination and collaboration, with a vision of moving beyond silos. 

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Organising the OxBAT Conference inherently addresses the challenge as it is hosted at the University of Oxford and it will be open to students from here but also from other universities. Academic conferences are important networking events and they bring together experienced researchers with young people who are keen on entering this path. The main goal behind OxBAT is to provide an inclusive platform for exchange, not only for researchers and experts from different fields but also for students who wish to enter the blockchain and NFT space.

The OxBAT Conference will take place in any case. With this proposal, we wish to specifically address the issue that it is hard for students to participate in bigger networking events. We expect the OxBAT conference to be a melting pot for ideas, discussions and innovation, influencing how the NFT space as blockchain art is perceived today and creating the foundation for its future development. We look forward to discussing various ideas with creatives, academics, entrepreneurs – and those who will continue this path in some years: the students!

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Organising academic conferences require a lot of work and their quality depends on the preparation that takes place beforehand. Therefore, the main challenge is to allocate enough time and resources to the preparation. We also rely on external funding.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

The organisation of the conference has already started months ago. These are our current action points:

July:

• Call for Papers published
• Outreach to other speakers
• invite keynote speakers, guests
• Review applications
• Update conference websites
• Outreach to other funding opportunities
• Setup ticketing system
• Finalise venue hire
• Coordination with University

August:

• Draft conference agenda
• finalise agenda
• coordination speakers
• coordination listeners
• Ticket sale
• plan IT setup for live stream
• organise logging
• Finalise room booking
• Finalise catering

September:

• Final adjustments agenda
• coordination speakers
• coordination listeners
• coordination helpers
• coordination students
• Ticket sale
• Setup locations
• 26–28 September: host conference

(Many more sub-tasks existing that are not relevant in this context)

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

A conference has to cover different types of expenses.

We would use the Catalyst funding to sponsor the meals. During the breaks, networking will take place between students, academics, and industry experts. Cardano would sponsor these events.

3x Lunch

Sandwich lunch: $16.40 / person

Participants: 150

total: $7,380

3x2 Bevarages

Coffee / Tea: $3.60 / person

Participants: 150

total: $3,240

3x Pre-dinner Drinks

fixed price: $400

total: $1,200

Overall: $11,820

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Eva Gentner

Art historian exploring the intersection of art, blockchain technology, and community

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-gentner-a46413140/

Mateja Sela

Connecting the fashion, tech, and art worlds with Web3 and NFTs

Joshua S. Bamford

Musician, psychologist, and academic nomad

David Hochhauser

Digital anthropologist and artist, interested in the new boundaries of both fields

Aonia Traxler

Web3 engineer passionate about promoting open and inclusive economic models through crypto and NFTs

Fabienne Saurer

Cultural anthropologist, studying fan communities

Josiah Thiagarajah

An engineer exploring how the blockchain will change art forever

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

No.

The project will be completed at the end of September 2022.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

• weekly meetings: entire organisation committee meets once a week to discuss issues and track progress
• various deadlines: there are external deadlines (e.g. other funding opportunities) we have to stick to which force us to stay on track
• We are giving regular updates on the conference on Twitter
• Catalyst reportings from a previous funding round
• The conference has many dependencies including speakers, venue hire, etc. which means that we are 'forced' to deliver

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Successful organisation of the OxBAT conference which includes

• initiating an exchange between students, academics, industry experts and artists
• emphasising the importance of interdisciplinary exchange, also across different chains
• strong concept covering and reflecting the diversity of the NFT / crypto space
• speakers and guests from different blockchains, research fields, and at different levels of expertise
• Cardano as representative of a sustainable blockchain, investing in future builders and thinkers

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

continuation of the funded F8 proposal: Cross-Chain NFT Conference OxBAT

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/404533?utm_source=notifciation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=26436&utm_term=idea-status-change&utm_content=c48088.m3070489.rus