sub0 25 Polkadot Flagship Conference in Buenos Aires
Main prop: sub0 - BA 25 Flagship Conference
Polkadot is stepping into a new era.
That’s why we’re proposing a new flagship Polkadot conference in Buenos Aires this November: a 3-day, deeply immersive edition of sub0 that includes a main product stage and grows into a annual global flagship conference for the ecosystem.
Set against the backdrop of Devconnect, in one of the most vibrant Web3 regions in the world, this is Polkadot’s chance to open its doors to the global ecosystem and show what we’re really made of.
This proposal falls outside the scope of ecosystem bounties because of scale. We are happy to bring Polkadot's flagship event to OpenGov!
Check out the full 35-page proposal here.
Review the detailed budget here.
The plan:
- 3,000 attendees over 3 days
- 2 main stages (Product + Development), plus 18 immersive rooms
- 24/7 hackerspace, 2 hackathons with min. $15K in Polkadot bounties (plus sponsor bounties)
- Major activations across gaming, governance, identity and art
- 70% of attendees expected from outside the Polkadot ecosystem
We’re ready for it.
This conference will bring the whole ecosystem together to build, collaborate and move the Polkadot mission forward. All of it free to attend, fully catered, and designed for maximum real-world impact.
We’re inviting the community to help shape this event from the ground up. The proposal is now live.
Location: Bubble Studio
Before Devconnect, BA, Argentina
Dates: 14th, 15th, 16th November 2025
| What | 3 days, 2 stages: a product stage and a development stage, 18 highly immersive themed rooms, 24hr hackerspace & full catering, morning, noon and into the evening activities. |
|---|---|
| Where | Bubble Studio12 minutes from the main tourist area, Palermo.15 minutes from the Devconnect venue, La Rural.Regular shuttle buses to and from the conference. |
| When | 14, 15 & 16 November 2025.24 hours, with main conference times from 10 am to 6 pm, plus an evening agenda and hackathon. |
| Guests | 3,000 guests over three days, including students, Polkadot eco and ecosystem outsiders. |
| Themes | Resilient infrastructure, Polkadot Hub, Bringing the world to Polkadot, JAM |
| Budget | Total budget: 738,749.00 USDC - Tickets will be free of charge and include access to a 24-hour hackerspace, side events, immersions, food and beverages, morning, lunch and PM. |
FAQS
Why not go to the Events Bounty?
Flagships have been historically community-driven initiatives, and a proposal of this size should be as transparent as possible.
Why do you have a success fee?
The budget accounts for 19.5% for WebZero agency fee & salaries, including the success fee if targets above 60% are met. It’s important to add that WebZero salaries are also key functions that save us from outsourcing: social media & content manager, DevRel and hackathon coordination, logistics, set design, creatives & agenda management.
Why Devconnect?
Devconnect is set to be the most significant Web3 conference of the year with 25,000 visitors descending upon Buenos Aires from Nov 10. Timing sub0 during Devconnect captures an already-assembled, highly technical audience, multiplies media reach, and makes travel logistics easier for speakers and sponsors who plan to attend both weeks. This offsets speaker costs to zero, as many high-level figures will be in town.
By running concurrently with Devconnect, we gain significant leverage. This approach amplifies our attendance and allows us to focus our budget on enhancing the event experience, rather than on extensive marketing. Crucially, we still deliver a powerful, uniquely Polkadot-branded presence.
For Polkadot's senior leadership, attending Devconnect is essential, even with many of our representatives based in Europe. Devconnect stands as the world's largest developer conference in web3 and attracts thousands of teams. Therefore, it's strategically vital for our key players to converge during the initial three days to solidify connections, then fan out to capitalise on those relationships within the broader ecosystem.
sub0 Bangkok cost less than 500k, why the price increase?
We're upgrading the experience to include concert-grade immersions, professional-grade livestreaming that will reach thousands globally, new scholarship initiatives, and a refined focus on one of the biggest hackathons on Polkadot. This will be extraordinary and unprecedented.
sub0 Bangkok was our first time organizing a major conference, which severely impacted team health due to a lack of staff and resources. Done in just eight weeks end-to-end, several corners were cut to make the event a success. Agency fees were not included. The venue was an abandoned warehouse without toilets or electricity. Police were called multiple times.
It’s important to add that Argentina is significantly more expensive than Bangkok due to inflation dramatically impacting the country; therefore, costs are much higher.
All quotations have been heavily negotiated, with multiple quotes requested from different vendors per budget item for a full assessment.
Please note that we are aiming to send 10% or more back to the treasury via sponsorship revenue and aim to be well under budget.
Comments (12)
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Nay (11)0.0 DOT
Such amount for event🤔
@Anda it is definitely not a low amount. We did a lot of work to negotiate the best deals (will tell next AAG, it was intense), which will result in a flagship event that can compete with leading L1 conferences globally, which are above a million usd budget up to several million. Compared to sub0 reset in Bangkok, Argentina is more expensive, but it's still a comparably low amount if you count in all of the extra things we are doing this time (2 stages with live stream, translations, more food for more people etc.).
Rest assured, we will try to optimize leading up to the production and try to stay under budget.
Happy to explain further,
Roman
Webzero is household name in the Dotsama space, they make great events, mega AYE!
One question:
Is there a more detailed budget breakdown?
for example:
Here, the treasury pays 100k and 15k goes to prices, what happens with the rest of the 85k? its split in to different other prices or?
~flipchan
@Rust Syndicate thank you for your vote and the kind words!
We tried to be very granular and transparent with the budget, pls see line 16 in this budget sheet which states the 15k USD. We have this set as "seeding" for the prize pool and will seek out additional sponsors to fill the prize pool towards a goal of 100k. Similar to the Blockspace Synergy hackathon during Web3 Summit (20k USD seeding, around 80k in additional bounties). We are confident that this will be the best place to hack before Devconnect!
-Roman