Hey everyone,

Alex Dimitrijevic here, and I'm thrilled to share that this June, Belgrade, Serbia will be the center of Blockchain events all over Europe for an entire week!

From June 2-9, a group of my colleagues and acquaintances are organizing 'Belgrade Blockchain Week,' (Link bolded) with the main event being ETH Belgrade from June 2-4. In addition to that, there are lots of additional events being organized such as Solana Day, Sui Day, etc.

I wanted to open a discussion and seek support to organize 'Polkadot Day,' which would continue to exist as a yearly event organized due to a lot of talent: Polkadot developers, but also product and growth experts coming from the Balkan region (cheers to Stefan, Andreja, Dino, Ivan, and many more), and also due to a huge growth in interest in the entire ecosystem.

Due to my involvement and connections in the space for the last 1.5 years, and alongside the support of the local community, I've wanted to facilitate a bunch of initiatives to make this happen, such as:

• Bringing keynote speakers, influential and knowledgeable individuals to share their expertise and experience from the entire ecosystem

• Event management activities

• Organizing a series of marketing campaigns and promotions

• Design/branding activities

• Organizing on-event activities revolving around the usage of Polkadot apps, features, and functionalities

• Partnering with ETH Belgrade and other BBW events

Polkadot Day 2023 would feature panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities. Attendees will have the chance to hear from some of the most prominent figures in the Polkadot ecosystem, including Parity, Astar, Moonbeam, and other popular & growing parachain leaders.

I believe that BBW and Polkadot Day promise to be groundbreaking opportunities to learn about the latest developments in the Polkadot ecosystem, connect with industry leaders, and forge new partnerships.

As our beloved ecosystem has been gaining immense popularity in the web3 community due to its unique infrastructure, interoperability, and building capabilities; this would be the ideal opportunity to focus on the Balkan region and prepare for the upcoming growth of the market and Polkadot's response this year and in all the following ones. :)

As we are striving to make Polkadot Day a grand success, we are looking for funding opportunities to cover some of the expenses associated with organizing such an event. We are estimating the total expenses to be approximately $25,000 (4,653 DOT at the time DOT is $5,37, May-14, 2023) which includes venue rental, speaker fees, catering expenses, marketing budget, and more operational costs.

I'd love to request your support in making Polkadot Day a reality. We believe that with your help, we can create a fantastic event that will benefit the entire blockchain community. Please let us know if you would be interested in contributing to this initiative, and we can discuss the details further.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and we hope to make this happen and see you at this year's Polkadot Day!

Cheers!