When I created this proposal today I linked it to the previous discussion document, but somehow Polkassembly is pulling in comments from unrelated, older proposals.  Please click here to see my previous discussion document and related, correct comments for additional context of this proposal.  I presume User Error on my part, as these are my first OpenGov submissions, and apologies for any confusion.

In response to this proposal I've received a few comments from the community (external to Polkassembly) with the shared sentiment of "Is this likely to get used? It looks like it's a conference space on the fifth floor of a library on the campus of a minor university in Fort Lauderdale."

My response to them, and now to the community at large, remains;

Thank you for your question [name redacted].

IMO a big part of activating a community, and building reputation, requires showing up. Having a presence, making contributions, and being consistent - i.e. do the hard work, every day, day after day.

That is one reason I am putting so much effort currently into attending events across South Florida, getting to know the leadership of the respective organizations, and asking the simple question ’How can I help?’. That leads to speaking engagements (I have three in the next six weeks), BD opportunities, IR opportunities, and other interesting partnership paths to explore for Polkadot.

Levan is where I personally will likely spend a lot of my time in the near term growing Polkadot. I don't need it, nor will I use it, for my day job w/ Kurkuma. Levan is where I will;

• Host monthly Polkadot-branded MeetUps. It is only one location where I will host monthly MeetUps. I’ll use other locations and formats as well. As I grow the Ambassador program (or whatever that evolves into) here, I will soon have more Ambassadors who can host their own Polkadot-branded MeetUps in other locations across the tri-county area.
• Serve as a Mentor (repping Polkadot) for their Innovator programs which produce Founders who are launching new businesses, a subset of which will be blockchain-related and hopefully elect to build on our protocol.
• Partner with their on-site cyber-security lab. I believe their lab curriculum would benefit from, for example, the related content we offered recently in a Berlin workshop and/or some modules from the PBA. The professionals who exit that lab, once they learn of our capabilities, will hopefully want to incorporate it into their respective organizations, or launch their own businesses, using our tech.
• Meet with government officials who have offices on site, to explore BD opportunities. Levan is pushing to be the tech hub of the tri-county area; Miami-Dade, Broward and West Palm. I will get exposure to the Mayor of Miami-Dade County next week for a project I hope to involve Polkadot.
• Meet with Levan sponsors (I.e. Enterprise prospects), who have offices on site, to explore BD opportunities across a variety of industry verticals.
• Meet with Universities as part of my outreach efforts to bring Rust + Substrate into the blockchain curriculums via PBA. While Levan is technically located on-site at NSU, is is located in an ‘education zone’ where other Universities are located, literally, across the street. I’m also in talks with those institutions and many others across the state.
• Network with the other members who attend various events, as Levan has a full and active events calendar.

Will I spend all of my time at Levan? No, I will not. My efforts to grow Polkadot will require me to spend time in other locations as well, like Miami proper. But I do think Levan is an excellent, cost efficient location to establish and grow our reputation in Florida.

This proposal (along with FBBA) is part my larger strategy to grow Polkadot in Florida.  I believe it is sound and will produce the outcomes we desire. More proposals will be forthcoming to address other opportunities I am discovering in the <2 months I have been here.

If you (or the community) disagree, by all means vote NAY. I support and endorse the NAY-first culture, and think proposals need to be compelling to receive an AYE. If you don’t feel I should be pursuing these activities in Florida, fine. You are entitled to your opinion, it is valid and I respect it. But if you vote NAY, I do ask for the common courtesy of an explanation, and ask that you tell me what efforts you think I should be pursuing. I welcome and want your feedback in that regard.

I often ask myself, broadly, are the actions that we take producing the desired outcomes? If not then we need to try new actions. Repeating the same actions, expecting different outcomes, is futile.

For Florida, with all of its economic potential, whatever we (the DAO - you, me, and all token-holders) have done in the past has not produced the growth that I personally want to see for Polkadot. Hence my refs.

I am extremely bullish on Florida. In the short time that I have been here all I see are opportunities, and I am very excited to get to work, hopefully with the endorsement of the community.

If you have any remaining questions or concerns, fire away! Thank you for your time.