GovHack at ETH CC (Brussels)
Hack Humanity: GovHack at ETH CC (Brussels)
non-constituional
Abstract
Hack Humanity is seeking $309k of funding from the Arbitrum DAO to host an event and after-party coinciding with ETH CC in Brussels, Belgium. Arbitrum GovHack Brussels will take place as a 3-day event on July 5, 6, and 7, the days directly prior to the start of the conference. ETH CC is only 11 weeks away, so approving the funds ASAP is of the utmost importance to ensure that Arbitrum has a strong presence at one of the most important Ethereum-centric events of the year.
Hack Humanity intends to continue serving the DAO by planning IRL activations and will seek additional funding in the coming months. The time constraints for ETH CC have led us to propose funding solely for this event in hopes of an expedient proposal process prior to asking the DAO for a larger funding package that ensures a long-term and optimal solution for Arbitrum DAO’s event participation.
GovHack Brussels aims to:
- Build trust and deepen relationships between Arbitrum contributors
- Ideate and later implement proposals that benefit Arbitrum
- Attract new talent to the DAO
- Position Arbitrum as the go-to home for talent to build and the DAO as a world-class operation maturing and innovating at the forefront of decentralized governance
GovHack Brussels, improves on and expands GovHack ETHDenver with additional prize pool, the introduction of a subsidy pool for high-value contributors, enhancing and running a proper community showcase day, and adding a dedicated afterparty.
Motivation
In a world of remote work, decentralized technology, and decentralized finance, the human social-layer needs intentional facilitation and development to mature and enable building this next paradigm of technology and new ways of working together. Online collaboration can only get us so far. A key competitive advantage for the ArbitrumDAO is strategically investing in growing a high-trust network of talented contributors, delegates, service providers, and builders on Arbitrum. GovHack ETHDenver proved the thesis that in-person opportunities for the DAO to work together represent a significant competitive advantage for Arbitrum.
If you are aiming to learn more about what GovHack aims to achieve, please check out their ETHDenver:
Hack Humanity, was previously funded with a grant from the Arbitrum Foundation to host GovHack ETHDenver. Hack Humanity is looking to build on this success and momentum as an ecosystem development partner through IRL activations with the Arbitrum DAO for the long-term.
It is critical that Arbitrum has a significant presence at industry-leading events, and that contributors have regular and consistent IRL opportunities to grow high-trust relationships. It builds community and brand while attracting users, developers, and other important DAO contributors.
Hack Humanity offers deep custom work pre-event; with ecosystem mapping, facilitating community co-design processes to develop tracks & challenge statements most relevant to Arbitrum, identifying target talent contributor personas, skill gap analysis of who to market and recruit to the ecosystem. Hack Humanity drives innovation through unique custom IRL experiences that mature and evolve the DAO’s capabilities.
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A well-run event typically requires a minimum of 3 months of lead time, with factors such as securing suppliers, the team’s calendar, and venue down payments requiring capital upfront from the event organizer. We are less than 90 days out from ETH CC, and at this point Arbitrum is not well-positioned to have a strong presence in Brussels. Klaus (Hack Humanity founder) has exemplified his ability to host high-quality IRL activations on behalf of the Arbitrum DAO in the past, so we believe that getting funds approved ASAP so that Hack Humanity can begin organizing a governance hackathon and an after-party is very important.
Relevant Hack Humanity resources:
Rationale
The most successful crypto brands, such as Uniswap, LayerZero, dYdX, and others, prioritize brand presence at events to reaffirm their positions as industry leaders. ETH CC is an Ethereum-focused event, and Arbitrum should lean into that given its status as the leading Ethereum L2. These events provide substantial value, such as brand strengthening, community building, attracting developer talent, in-person ideation, and more.
Many hackathons cost north of $1M with smart contract base layers like Near, zkSync, Avalanche, and others throwing events/hackathons with more than 1000 participants. It’s important Arbitrum remains competitive with these other protocols to ensure its ability to attract talent.
Specifications
GovHack will run for three days, boast a prize pool of $20k for GovHack participants, have t-shirts and other swag for attendees to get their hands on, and pre, mid, and post-event media production and storytelling to represent the voice of the DAO and to amplify the event on social platforms.
GovHack is 3 events in 1: A 2-day hackathon-style bootcamp, followed by a 1-day Community Showcase, followed by an afterparty. Hack Humanity is looking to build on GovHack ETHDenver’s success and coevolve with the DAO over the long term.
For GovHack Brussels a full impact report and transparency around the event and its cost will be posted in the forum following its completion.
Steps to Implement
Once spending is approved by the DAO, funds will be sent to a ⅔ multisig to be converted into dollars. These dollars will be used to pay for the costs associated with running and organizing the event. Hack Humanity will provide event details on the forum so that the entire community can participate in the event’s scope and execution.
50% of the funds will be paid to Hack Humanity upon this proposal’s approval. An additional 35% will be disbursed the week before the event, and the final 15% will be disbursed after the event concludes.
The 3 multisig signers will be: Klaus + Abdullah Umar (Arana Digital) + Krzysztof Urbański
The multisig address is (arb1) 0x03D47B06Cc95bAFf2a408cD7c735ed7e7142Edb9
Any excess funds from the $309k that are not spent on the Brussels event will be rolled over and used to fund future Arbitrum events, but only if the DAO votes to spend additional funds on future events before the end of August. If the DAO votes against further spending on events, or a proposal fails to pass by the end of August, the excess ARB will be returned to the DAO.
Timeline
The event will take place July 5, 6, and 7 (2024) in Brussels, Belgium directly before ETH CC. Given the strict timeline, we are hoping to proceed to Snapshot on Wednesday, April 24th (if delegates approve), in order to hopefully have funds earmarked by the end of May.
More details will be shared with the DAO in the weeks leading up to the event surrounding the specifics of GovHack.
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With the expedited process as outlined, Hack Humanity will only have a ~5 week buffer to plan the event. It is paramount that if the DAO wants representation at ETH CC, we move with haste.
Overall Cost
Brussels is an expensive European city, and successfully executing a world-class high-quality IRL activation requires a significant budget.
The event’s research, preparation and delivery phase determines the exact event program design, local costs, the number of participants, any scholarships/stipends, etc. Getting the funds approved is the top priority so that Hack Humanity can begin to work out these details.
The all-in cost to execute this proposal is expected to be $309k, with a rough budget broken down in the following table:
Item
Cost
Venue, Food, Drink, Swag, room equipment, interior decor, printing, stationery
$85,000
Marketing, targeted contributor outreach, Pre/Post Event Media Production, AV equipment rental, hackathon management software and other licensing
$33,000
Hackathon Prize Pool
$20,000
Scholarships
$10,000
After-party + Contingency
$50,000
On-site living costs (5 days, lead in, lead out day + 3 delivery days for a team of 7): Flights, Accommodation, Ubers, Food
$13,000
Hack Humanity margin and fees. GovHack Director and assistant to design, organize, deliver the event. Designer, local Brussels event producer advisory, on-site GovHack delivery team (7). Post-event Impact Report, community engagement, handover.
$98,000
Total Cost:
$309,000
Any excess funds from the $309k that are not spent on the Brussels event will be rolled over and used to fund future Arbitrum events, but only if the DAO votes to spend additional funds on future events before the end of August. If the DAO votes against further spending on events, or a proposal fails to pass by the end of August, the excess ARB will be returned to the DAO.
The amount of ARB to be moved to the multisig will be determined in accordance with the dollar equivalent of the trailing 14D ARB TWAP with a 30% buffer. After the ARB is swapped to USDC, any amount in excess of $309k will be immediately back to the DAO.
The scope of this proposal to the DAO is specifically for ETH CC in Brussels. Hack Humanity intends to produce a subsequent proposal to provide a year-round program of events on behalf of the Arbitrum DAO, this will require a larger funding package, with a component to cover a full-time team & and a component for an event budget to cover a series of IRL events. Hack Humanity needs the ability to hire and maintain a dedicated team committed to Arbitrum, this uniquely enables high-context, up to date and relevant continual program design in lockstep with the needs of Arbitrum’s roadmap and community needs, it also enables Hack Humanity and team to commit and block calendar dates for future events 6-12 months in advance, secure venues, and team member’s time. This requires upfront funding.
Expect another proposal for further funding in the coming months. We need this GovHack Brussels proposal to be executed swiftly so that the event in Brussels can be organized as soon as possible, hence our decision to seek funding only for this event rather than trying to pass a larger DAO spend.
