Requested Amount: 1,000,000 DOT top-up for Bounty 17

Date: 14-05-24

Short Description

A 1,000,000 DOT top-up for the Events Bounty, with a change in operating structure & compensation with the objective of significantly boosting the efficiency of the bounty. Removal of the cost cap on extraordinary events, introduction of more strict approval timelines, introduction of fishermen & proactive speaker funding.
Linked to: Referendum #758 & Referendum #765 to change the curator set of the Events Bounty.

Summary

The Events Bounty’s purpose was to issue funding for Meetups and larger, “extraordinary events” mostly geared towards ambassador funding, with the occasional exception for ecosystem teams. What we learned is that there is a massive interest specifically in extraordinary events funding from all sides of the ecosystem. With the restructuring of the Ambassadors Program on-chain, and the inclusion of a wider audience of stakeholders participating in OpenGov, since 2023 the Events Bounty has pivoted and the bounty financed proposals from various community organizations and individuals outside the ambassador program itself.

In 2023, the Events Bounty V2 expanded the curator set, after one of the three main curators voiced the wish to step down while the number of proposals was surging.

The Events Bounty V3 aims to expand even further, by including marketing, speaker expenses and evaluation. This expansion of tasks has become a clear need since Parity’s decentralization, and we are identifying that our responsibility now includes funding event activations and almost all associated expenses that come with them, for the benefit of Polkadot’s long term image and impact at prominent industry events.

After recurrent criticism from the community that fundamental issues are not addressed by the current setup of the bounty or response time by main curators, below proposed changes address that criticism in a productive way to move forward.

Beyond requesting a top-up for the bounty and updating the rules, the proponents are requesting a change of curators in order to align with the new direction of the Events Bounty.

Additionally, the proponents have designed a novel system for removing curators in case they do not adhere to their duties. This is an ecosystem wide issue which makes it difficult to dismiss curators, and we hope that it will assist other bounties in their decision making process and organizational structure.

Events Bounty V3: Key Changes

• Increase the curator set from 5 to 7 curators.
• Reduce proposal review times.
• Assign specific tasks to each curator.
• Implement a mechanism to dismiss curators if they neglect their duties.
• Clarify the vision for positioning Polkadot at global events.
• New specific focuses on BD & speaker placement.
• Introduction of “Fishermen” and “Advisor” roles.
• Appoint dedicated Events Bounty curators.

Please read the full proposal here.