Funding Proposal Explores MCON3 Locations Across the USA

[Yalor]

Executive Summary:

This proposal begins the journey towards MCON3, as we embark on exploring and documenting potential new hubs across the United States. The project will involve researching 10 diverse locations, where the global DAO community can engage with the local communities, we’ll be capturing the essence of each place through various mediums such as photography, video, and written content. The goal is to create a comprehensive cultural map that highlights the unique aspects of each location and fosters a deeper understanding of the cultural fabric of the USA.

Project Overview:

Step 1: Selecting Target Locations

We have identified 10 locations around the USA, each with its distinct cultural significance. These locations include:

• Detroit, Michigan
• Taos, New Mexico
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Austin, Texas
• Boone, North Carolina
• Los Angeles, California
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Washington, DC
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Phoenix, Arizona

The date of the event itself is TBD, with the caveat that it’ll likely happen Q3 of 2024.

Step 2: Location Evaluation

We are currently in the process of narrowing down the list to three final locations based on input from various key individuals and other major contributors. This step involves a gathering insights and preferences from individuals familiar with the cultural nuances of each location.

Responses from polled stewards

1. My preference - #1 Detroit / #2 Austin / #3 New Orleans (Confirmed attendance)
2. @JamesW - #1 Detroit / #2 Taos / #3 New Orleans (Confirmed attendance)
3. @pet3rpan - #1 DC / #2 Chicago / #3 New Orleans (Soft confirmation)
4. @Dekan - #1 Taos / #2 New Orleans / #3 Nashville (Confirmed attendance)
5. @ericarsenault #1 New Orleans / #2 Nashville / #3 Los Angeles (Soft confirmation)
6. @OKDuncan - #1 Detroit / #2 DC / #3 New Orleans (Confirmed attendance)
7. @vengist - #1 New Orleans (Confirmed attendance)
8. @samkuhlmann - #1 Detroit / #2 New Orleans / #3 Boone (Confirmed attendance)
9. @AlexMasmej - #1 Los Angeles / #2 Austin / #3 Las Vegas (Confirmed attendance)
10. @victorrortvedt - #1 Nashville / #2 Taos / #3 Austin (Confirmed attendance)
11. @jamesyoung - #1 Los Angeles / #2 Austin / #3 Las Vegas (Confirmed attendance)
12. @pETH - #1 Washington DC (Soft confirmation)
13. @META_DREAMER - #1 Austin / #2 Las Vegas / #3 Phoenix (Pending confirmation)
14. @garrett - #1 Nashville / #2 Boone / #3 Taos (Soft confirmation)
15. @tae - #1 New Orleans / #2 Detroit / #3 Los Angeles (Confirmed attendance)
16. @isaacpatka - #1 Los Angeles / #2 New Orleans / #3 Las Vegas (Confirmed attendance)
17. @Sky - #1 Taos / #2 New Orleans / #3 Boone (Confirmed attendance)
18. @burningfiat - #1 Boone / #2 Nashville / #3 Taos (Confirmed attendance)
19. @alexn - #1 Taos / #2 Boone / #3 Detroit (Confirmed attendance)
20. @Darren - #1 Vegas / #2 Taos / #3 Los Angeles (Soft confirmation)
21. @puniaviision - #1 Austin / #2 Detroit / #3 Nashville (Confirmed attendance)

Step 3: Project Implementation

Upon finalizing the three selected locations, the project will enter the implementation phase. This will involve planning and executing visits to the chosen locations, conducting interviews with locals, capturing visual content, and compiling a comprehensive cultural profile for each location.

Budget Breakdown:

The requested funding of 7 ETH will cover the following expenses:

1. Multi week process of scouting all suitable venues
2. Travel expenses (transportation, accommodation, meals)
3. Compensation for local contributors and guides
4. Deposit on the location once a suitable sight is located

Conclusion:

By supporting this proposal, you will contribute to the creation of a MCON3, with the added benefit of understanding and appreciation for the diversity within the United States. We believe that exploring these cultural hubs will not only enrich our collective knowledge but also foster a sense of unity and connection among the global DAO stewards and the locally curious residents.

Your consideration is appreciated and I personally look forward to the opportunity to bring the next phase of MCON to life with your ongoing input.

An on-chain proposal for the above budget will enter the voting period on Monday 13th, Nov, 2023 your comments and feedback are welcome between now and then

Thank you for your support.

[joseph]

Awesome proposal, I’m glad to see you back on it @Yalor and willing to kick off stewarding another mcon! I know its always a ton of work to pull off and all the past ones have been incredible.

I’m not sure where the poll was but heres my $0.02. In terms of uniqueness, I would cross my fingers that its not Nashville, LA, or Vegas - not very walkable or ideal for an unconference IMO. I would go to any of these others but probably not LA or Vegas personally.

Detroit could be sweet, New Orleans could be sweet, Boone (or even Asheville, NC) would be incredible (and easier to get to by train for me).

1. Detroit (most centrally located and probably easier to find unique venue)
2. New Orleans
3. Boone

7 eth if it includes a location deposit seems very reasonable to me. to budget from me. And I’m happy to provider other resources to get it off the ground if you want support there @yalor.

Thanks for putting this proposal together!!

[Sky]

I would look forward to seeing some new and some familiar faces at an MCON3.

I love:

• how far but limited @pETH is willing to travel
• the process for how MCON3 is looking to come together
• how you can tell who’s looking to party!
• and the commitment that people have in this community

[Yalor]

On-chain proposal - DAOhaus

[ddwchen]

will absolutely be there if it’s taos or detroit

also saw peter pan propose chicago - if that’s on the table, big +1 on chicago from me as well

missed mcon this year and stoked you guys are bringing it back!

[billw]

Personally, fwiw my top 3 would be:

1. Detroit – went to a RadicalxChange event here at A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education and was awesome

2. Taos – have only been there once long ago, but the town has the right vibes

3. Boone or New Orleans – Would be nice to attend a cool DAO event in NC (definitely biased) and App State probably means good facilities (though air travel’s a lot harder), New Orleans is lots of fun and has a cool vibe, just more distractions

[rika.sukenik6]

@Yalor Thanks for kickstarting this. MCON1 and MCON2 were amazing, so no doubt MCON3 will not disappoint. Fwiw, I would choose any of your proposed cities other than Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

Let me know how I can help.

[pETH]

Seeing the comments & votes are unanimously FOR with zero criticism or scrutiny (unusual in MetaCartel), allow me to red team it

Do you have a rough estimate for how much of those 7 eth are going to go towards travel expenses vs deposit for the venue itself?

And if 7eth is just scouting + partial deposit, how much do you expect the subsequent proposals to be for?

While I love that MCON3 is happening, 7eth sounds like a crazy amount for just scouting + partial payment for the venue, unless a significant part of the payment.
That’s $15k & last year’s venue cost like $20k in total…

Moreover if scouting is like 50% of the total venue cost, is you personally physically scouting locations even that crucial? I know some of the big conferences do that, but smaller ones usually either scout via calls with venue owners & videos, or the community… Personally know someone in like 50% of the cities you mentioned, I’m sure between 10 of us reading these proposals, we could pull some strings & save MetaCartel ~$5-10k + onboard a new member

[Yalor]

Hey @pETH sorry for the delay here,

Since this is MetaCartels event it makes sense that we front the cost to lock down the location in advance, sometimes that can be required up to 6 months in advance so I allotted an amount that was reasonable and consistent with our last venues while taking into account that this one might have an even higher attendance than MCON2 ( if the trend continues )

I will make proposals for as much as needed to get MCON3 done, the DAO has full autonomy to vote those proposals down or make other suggestions for funding but we will not sell our event out to shill happy sponsors as some have suggested we will continue to utilize the sponsors that have come from our ecosystem to offset the costs of running the event and this year we have a plan to introduce some ticketing cost to allow for more efficient programming.

I love your suggestion to invite new folks into help with venue scouting, please feel free to put them in touch with me and we can chat about the best way to work together.

Overall, I am not surprised that most people are enthused about MCON3, I have spent the last couple weeks polling people about their interest in seeing another MCON happen and the response has been unanimously positive. I hope you’ll consider making it this year, even though It’s very unlikely that the event will be held in Washington DC

Appreciate the comments here from everyone @rika.sukenik6 @billw @ddwchen @Sky and @joseph I’m looking forward to updating folks with photos and videos of our new locations soon

[MoneyMage]

during MCON2, Somewhere Street was invited to help organize a community game! We organized a 5 level relay race for 16 DAOs and everyone was laughinggggggggg so would love to do that again for MCON3. [relay race video]

[Christina]

@Yalor - LA, bc then you have 4 extra hands, 2 from me and 2 from Phoenix.

[Nock]

Hi, Nick from Serotonin’s events dept. here. I’m a Detroit native and have been organizing all kinds of events (mostly experimental music, raves, gallery openings, film fests, golf tournaments) here for 20+ years. Still call Southwest Detroit home.

Let me know if I can be of assistance in any way if you indeed land on Detroit, I know every venue, vendor, and production team in town.

email: nick@serotonin.co
tg: nickgeorge88

[Christina]

Is the intention that MetaCartel be revived in time for MCON3? Just thinking that when people go to MCON3 and have a great time, which I expect they will, based on previous MCONs, where will they be onboarding to?

[Yalor]

MCON has never really been about onboarding people into MetaCartel, it’s more about coming together to share ideas, gain alignment, and share insights of a global cohort of DAOists : )

[Christina]

That sounds like a good time, but we all really enjoyed the last one. Woulduv loved to be at the ones prior!

[Yalor]

This week I visited Detroit for the 1st time ever & gathered a series of options for venue rentals, catering companies, co-working spaces, and satellite events

Will drop links and photos below for you all to peep, but the overall impression I have is that Detroit is going to be a perfect city for this type of event, infrastructure-wise they have lots of options to choose from and easy access to public transit, loads of lime-scooters, and an abundant catering scene.

To ensure we can lock down all the particulars I am going to put a proposal into the DAO that can be reimbursed via sponsorship proposals, if we have sponsors that are aligned and in support of the event, the final total will vary based on the amount of attendees we receive, but expecting 400-800 this year which is the median of the last 2 events.

As an added bonus we discovered via @Nock was https://www.detroitmonthofdesign.org/ which is running from Sept 1st - 30th, perfectly coinciding with our proposed dates of Sept 25-29th

The Detroit Month of Design activates spaces all over the city with experiences ranging from exhibitions, installations, product launches, talks, tours, workshops and parties. As the only UNESCO City of Design in the United States, Detroit is a global hub of culture and creativity.

The 2024 THEME aligns perfectly with MCON’s mission of bringing together the most innovative researchers, developers, & creators who are pioneering a fairer and more equitable future for society using DAO’s & Ethereum technologies.

This year’s theme, Creative Currents, pays tribute to Detroit’s unique legacy of artistry and innovation, while emphasizing the importance of collaboration and collective action as we look to the future.

> Moving forward, shaping an equitable future where everyone can thrive .

Venue options under consideration:

• Berts Warehouse Theater & MoTown Lounge Map

• Chroma Coworking https://chromadetroit.city/ Map

• The Whiskey Factory Detroit https://www.whiskeyfactorydetroit.com/ Map

- Trinosophes Coffee & Records Map

• The Jam Handy Sound Stage and Recording Hall https://thejamhandy.com/ Map (MCON II vibes )

Partners we are looking to activate

• https://detroitblockchaincenter.org/
• https://globaldetroitmi.org/
• https://www.detroitcommunitywealth.org/
• https://www.c2be.org/

The following Proposal is to update and inform DAO members of the use of funds as it regards hosting MCON III in Detroit:

Event Overview: We propose organizing a multi-day event in Detroit 25th - 29th of Sept that celebrates the rich cultural heritage, innovation, and resilience of the city. The event will encompass various activities, including panel discussions, workshops, live performances, art exhibitions, and culinary showcases. By showcasing Detroit’s unique history a cornerstone of American culture, Architecture, Music, Manufacturing, Art & Vibes + more , we aim to attract both a local residents and visitors from the global DAO curious by highlighting the intersection of technology, community innovation, advancement of sovereignty preserving technologies against the rich resilient story of Detroit city, offering a cultural exchange between the multiple attendee types.

Event Objectives:

1. Promote Detroit as a hub of creativity, innovation, and cultural diversity.
2. Showcase local talents, businesses, and initiatives to a global audience.
3. Foster community engagement and pride among Detroit residents.
4. Stimulate economic growth by attracting visitors and generating revenue for local businesses.
5. Facilitate networking and collaboration opportunities for participants.

Cost Breakdown:

1. Venue Rental: $45,000

• Selecting a centrally located venue capable of accommodating various activations, 100’s of attendees, and catering to the needs of our global attendees.

2. Website Design and Attendee Curation: $12,000

• Developing multiple media types, website, forms, twitter (flyers, posters, digital advertisements).
• Promotion of event, & on-boarding of potential attendees
• Collaboration with members of MetaCartel to execute reviews and final selection of applicants.

3. Event Production: $25,000

• Stage setup, lighting, sound equipment rental.
• Hiring event staff (ushers, security, technicians).

5. ** Artist & Musician Costs:** $12,000

• Hiring local DJ’s and musicians to perform at the various venues
• Hiring artists and designers to decorate the space for the 3 day event, including light projections, physical & digital installations around the city.

6. Catering: $15,000

• Providing refreshments, snacks, and meals for attendees, speakers, and staff.

7. Scavenger Hunt: $6,000

• Staff, materials, design, and prizes for the half-day city wide onchain Scavenger hunt

9. Miscellaneous Expenses: $5,000

• Insurance, permits, and licensing fees.
• Printing materials (event programs, badges).
• Administrative costs.

10. Participant Accommodations: $0,00

• Negotiating discounted rates with local hotels for out-of-town participants.

Total Estimated Cost: 33 ETH / ~$120,000 ( buffer for price fluxuation)

Benefits to the Local Community and Global Audience:

1. Community Empowerment: By showcasing local talents and initiatives, the event will empower Detroit residents and foster a sense of pride in their city’s cultural heritage and achievements.
2. Economic Impact: The influx of visitors will boost local businesses, including hotels, restaurants, shops, and transportation services, thereby contributing to the city’s economic growth and revitalization efforts.
3. Cultural Exchange: The event will provide a platform for cultural exchange and dialogue, allowing participants from diverse backgrounds to share their experiences, ideas, and innovations.
4. Global Visibility: Through extensive marketing and promotion efforts, the event will attract attention from a global audience, positioning Detroit as a dynamic destination for tourism, investment, and collaboration.
5. Networking Opportunities: Participants will have the opportunity to network with industry professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, and thought leaders, facilitating potential collaborations and partnerships that extend beyond the event itself.

In conclusion, hosting an event in Detroit presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the city’s cultural richness, promote economic development, and foster community engagement on both local and global scales. With careful planning and execution, MCON Detroit has the potential to leave a lasting impact on Detroit’s reputation and vitality.

[victorrortvedt]

Dig it. Thanks @Yalor for the super detailed scouting trip! I support MCON III: The Detroitening, and think there could be some wondrous serendipity with the Design Month folks and the other Motor City orgs you found. As for venues, Jam Handy spoke most to me.

This thing figures to be epic. Let’s form group!

[Sky]

This looks dope and Detroit seems like a great spot for the next MCON.

Would the plan be for MC to fund the entire event to start? And then as other aligned supporters contribute/support the event, the overall cost to MC would be reduced as possible?

[Yalor]

Yup, that is exactly right. We have some pre-committed sponsors like Collab.Land & Fire_Eyes that will certainly jump in to support, but funding the entire amount from the DAO allows us to lock in all the details mentioned in this proposal in advance of the rest of the sponsors coming on-board.

We are in discussion with various orgs about supporting & open to suggestions of more potential sponsors, but they must be aligned with the best interest of the event itself.

I’m personally amped to bring together the various ecosystem leaders to discuss a whole range of new innovations from Social graph ventures, experimental governance design, & onchain gaming, programmable trust and so forth !

[samkuhlmann]

Top notch scouting @Yalor ! Feels like a great fit for MCON III to me. Excited for it. Detroit is the birthplace of Motown, Techno and J Dilla - maybe a move from Denver can invigorate and inspire a renaissance / reinvention / resurrection for the MC community.

Looks like this price tag is a good chunk of the DAO treasury - so just want to surface the desire for max attendance. Timing not too close to devcon I suppose? Had good signal on that yet?