AIP-128: Ape Kickback and Tutor Program

[Mantis]

Proposal Name: AIP Draft: Partner Apecoin DAO with Riot Games, Prime Gaming, Ripplebox & Cxmmunity through the Cxmmunity Kickback Cup

Proposal Category: Core: Brand Decision

Abstract | Two or three sentences that summarize the proposal.

The Apecoin DAO sponsors the Cxmmunity Kickback Cup, a Riot Games sanctioned and sponsored exhibition League of Legends tournament featuring $1.4 million in production value from Riot Games, Ripplebox & (Amazon) Prime Gaming, including a concert from an A-list popular artist.

Motivation | A statement on why the APE Community should implement the proposal.

Aside from the immediate value and exposure of sponsoring a AAA web2 gaming event, the sponsorship also includes inclusion of the Apecoin DAO into Cxmmunity’s 5 month event trail at Cxmmunity partnered colleges around the US.

Apes that attend the live Kickback Cup will be treated as VIPs complete with swag and introductions to all attending sponsors/talent, to the extent that Cxmmunity can control this. (Should the proposal pass, there will be a FCFS mechanism for attendance in place to ensure that we don’t overcommit too many seats if too many Apes want to come.)

The Apecoin DAO will achieve A-list exposure and syndication across multiple high value online social networks (and possibly terrestrial exposure) from the original event for weeks after the initial filming.

The Kickback Cup does not rely on the Apecoin DAO for anything. This event will take place whether or not the DAO participates, so the DAO can be sure that 100% of its sponsorship will go towards providing maximum branding value to the DAO, not into production costs or technical infrastructure.

Aside from maximizing the immediate brand value uptick, the sponsorship money will go towards incorporating Apecoin DAO into the university infrastructure that Cxmmunity is growing (6 computer labs built by us on HBCU campuses, connections to 50+ schools and staff, including the first professor to write an accredited esports college level curriculum in the US). Cxmmunity plans on providing a consistent schedule of events to introduce students from our 50+ partnered HBCUs to web3, a process in which motivated Apecoin DAO members will play a substantial role.

Rationale | An explanation of how the proposal aligns with the APE Community’s mission and guiding values.

Boldness — We don’t shy away from the weird, the hard or the new. Truly focusing on underserved communities is weird, hard and new. Good news is, Cxmmunity’s done the legwork already. The opportunity: Apecoin & Cxmmunity is the team that can bring true mainstream adoption to web3.

Equality — Helping the underserved? Nuff said.

Transparency — Cxmmunity is fully doxxed with chronicles of its activities online on its own channels and in Forbes and other tier 1 publications (not fake PR set up to look like coverage; actual coverage).

Collective Responsibility — We’ve already set up the hardware on campuses to bring in millions of web2 gamers into web3. Help us bring them over.

Persistence — We believe Cxmmunity x Apecoin DAO will make the journey to web3 mainstream adoption maybe not a straight line, but perhaps not so cannibalistic as an ouroboros.

Key Terms (optional) | Definitions of any terms within the proposal that are unique to the proposal, new to the APE Community, and/or industry-specific.

The Kickback Cup — The Kickback Cup (TKC) is a Cxmmunity-led event in partnership with Riot Games, Ripplebox, and Prime Gaming. TKC focuses on educating underserved audiences on opportunities in the gaming industry through IRL educational events featuring celebrity hosts and expert speakers from the gaming industry. Riot Games is backing the event with a $1 million sponsorship, and Prime Gaming is offering $400,000 of value including a filmed concert with an A-list music artist.

HBCU — Historically Black College or University

Prime Gaming — Amazon subsidiary focused on subscription gaming

Cxmmunity — Cxmmunity’s mission is to increase participation of underserved communities in the gaming industry, using esports as its primary vehicle. Cxmmunity is an Amazon partner. Led by CEO Ryan Johnson , Cxmmunity has brought together students and sponsors on an unprecedented level on behalf of underserved college students at HBCUs. Cxmmunity currently runs 3 huge sponsored programs, HBCU eSports League , the Mtn Dew Real Change Challenge, and the Kickback Cup. HBCU eSports League has a Twitch front page partnership and counts Verizon, Discover, Nike and Hot Pockets as foundational sponsors. The Mtn Dew Real Change Challenge boasts the largest prize pool ever given out in a collegiate esports tournament ($500,000). That leaves the Kickback Cup, which is already off to a fantastic start thanks to the $1.4 million sponsorship of Riot Games and Prime Gaming.

Cxmmunity has used some of its profits to build up esports infrastructure at HBCUs, with 6 esports labs currently built. The company will have 10 by the end of the year, with a final goal of 50 in 3 years. The labs are used as hubs for IRL gaming outreach programs. Sponsors like Red Bull also use these labs as marketing hubs (every time the students come into the lab, they have to pass by a Red Bull fridge).

Cxmmunity is the team that goes down into the podunk colleges in the middle of nowhere to give budding devs and gamers a chance to compete. These are the places no one else will go with the students no one else wants to bother with. They were the forgotten ones. Not any more.

Cxmmunity also brings top notch production value, authentic care and fun to these students as well. In terms of outreach, there is no better team. And this is where the motivation of Apecoin DAO should come in.

Specifications | A detailed breakdown of the platforms and technologies that will be used.

Ripplebox, Prime Gaming and Cxmmunity will handle 100% of production and tech.

Steps to Implement | The steps to implement the proposal, including associated costs, manpower, and other resources for each step where applicable.

There is no manpower required of the Apecoin DAO either at the Kickback Cup or any event after. We simply want participation from relevant DAO representatives based on the events being planned. For instance, we hope to host Apecoin DAO members as web3 topic specialists during edutainment events like this one (featuring Offset of the Migos) or this one (ft. Grammy nom. rapper Cordae).

We’ve got Baker Hostetler — the top crypto firm in Atlanta — for any legal issues (not that we’re expecting any, just to set everyone’s mind at ease).

We also hope to integrate our network with that of the DAO. Cxmmunity believes we have access to many personalities that web2 gamers listen to — relevant personalities that are truly integrated into web3. The possibilities are endless for Apecoin mainstream adoption when we introduce those people to Apecoin DAO-associated web3 experts and enthusiasts.

Timeline | Relevant timing details, including but not limited to start date, milestones, and completion dates.

Kickback Cup live event/filming — Oct 26-27
Kickback Cup pop up events — Jan 2023 - May 2023
Monthly Twitter Spaces — Jan 2023 - May 2023
Monthly lab sessions during the school year — Jan 2023 - May 2023
Summer game development labs — May 2023 - Aug 2023
Weekly Discord gaming tournaments — ongoing
Monthly hackathons — ongoing

Overall Cost | The total cost to implement the proposal.

The ask is $100,000 in $APE for the sponsorship.

Thank you so much for reading the proposal.

[Waabam]

This is a really cool proposal. I appreciate the targeting of minority students, as well as the larger picture focus.

I am curious to learn more about the Ape Tutors program. You describe it as “a tokengated mentorship program that will incentivize BAYC/MAYC/BAKC holders to share their talents with underserved college students interested in gaming.”

Can you be more specific about this. How will BAYC/MAYC/BAKC members share their talents? Are we talking about BAYC/MAYC/BAKC gamers? Will there be a cap or how will you decide which apes/doggos get to participate?

Again, super cool idea. Really solid partnerships. Thanks for posting it.

[Mantis]

Waabam:

Thanks for the question, and thank you for reading through it all.

There was a core element of Cxmmunity I need to explain to finish how the idea of Ape Tutors will work.

Cxmmunity has curated its most active and talented Twitch content creators under the hashtag #Bigcreatxr. The criteria: 1. Show loads of promise, 2. be from a traditionally underserved audience, and 3. have less than 1,000 Twitch followers. Aggregating nano-creators in this way is a criminally underused way to market products, and we’re jumping on that train early. The idea being that ManyNanocreators = 1 BIG creator, with actually more reach than a big creator of the same subscriber base because the nanocreators are in many places at once. These are the tutees.

MyX is where the connections between tutors and tutees will take place. As explained above, MyX is the place where many of our sponsors like Microsoft will house certification programs. Apes may not have certificates (who knows? maybe someone in the Apes actually does), but the point is that mentor-mentee relationships can be easily found here because MyX will be a direct and precise line straight to HBCU gamers.

Cxmmunity is based around gaming, so we want Apes who are gamers. But not just players — devs, audio designers, animation designers, tokenomics experts, marketers, gaming biz dev, 3d modelers — anything that has to do with games. Because Ape Tutors will be connecting with students at colleges that are studying this stuff anyway. Issue is, many of these colleges don’t have resources when the kids say they’re interested in one of the less commonly-known gaming professions. That’s how Ape Tutors can bring education to normie gamers that will take web3 mainstream. There is even opportunity to validate it within the curriculum of the schools we’re connected with. One of our core advisors, Prof. John Cash, wrote the first esports curriculum in North America. <— (55 minute video, but it’s GOLD about how esports/web3/uni are ALREADY joining together through Cxmmunity). We want this to proliferate, and with the knowledge Apes have, it can.

So once tutors-tutees meet on MyX (and through other social media), lessons can take place around the material the student wants to learn.

Lessons can take place on a private stream, Zoom, Twitter Space, whatever is comforable for the tutor-tutee. The STUDENT/#Bigcreatxr is the one that determines success and payout to the tutor. (Bigcreaxtrs are curated, so you won’t get freeloaders who just learn & leave). Part of the MyX system will be a rating system for the tutor so the great ones will attract more mentors and more lessons.

How are Ape Tutors rewarded? Could be many ways. Cxmmunity is creating a token structure, $CX, that will eventually have LPs. But until that happens, the $CX token will be a rewards token to trade for sponsor rewards on the MyX marketplace. It’s Cxmmunity’s job to get great rewards from sponsors, and the company does have a history of that, as shown above. And I’d honestly love to have suggestions from Apes about sponsor rewards to seek out. It would a challenge for the team.

MyX is also built as a revenue driver (sponsors pay to be in the marketplace, CPC model). We’re doing legal on whether we can simply flow a percentage of MyX revenue directly to $CX holders without getting called a security. Still doing research on that, and would love ideas. We’ve already calculated in giving out 33% of MyX revenues to early sponsors. Only thing stopping us is that pesky Gensler security thing.

So basically, Ape Tutors who want to participate just show their skills to #Bigcreatxrs, and the #Bigcreatxrs decide which Tutors they want to work with.

Eventually, the tutor program will extend to other curated communities, but they’ll have to buy an NFT. Ape Tutors can be airdropped this NFT, which Cxmmunity plans to bring value to through an HBCU-based metaverse buildout (but that’s down the road, so I won’t go into it deeply here).

Hope that answers the question. Glad to answer any more.

PS - In the Prof Cash video, he talks directly about Cxmmunity at 39:35. The video was a month ago, but the interview was from further back than that. The company has grown substantially since then, expanding to 15 employees and a for-profit and web3 arm.

[Galleon]

This is a heavy hitting proposal. As I read it, it has both short-term defined benefits and long-term nebulous benefits. Although harder to quantify and difficult to predict, the longer term positives are likely more important.

Immediate benefits:
- IRL exposure in events not exclusive to BAYC/MAYC
- Displays Apes in a positive light among gamers, web 2, and the underserved
- Altruism that extends beyond monetary support to one-on-one intereaction
- Volunteers are rewarded (wen $CX token?!?)

Long term benefits:
- Achieve broader awareness and appeal
- Dissolve the gamer/NFT barrier; ie, “bring education to normie gamers that will take web3 mainstream” – bingo!
- Rectify an incorrect image: Apes are entitled, rich crypytobros → apes are involved community leaders
- Volunteers are introduced to a new platform that may open additional opportunities

Mantis queried for possible rewards beyond possible $CX token. Tickets to esports/other IRL events. Everybody likes merch.

There are some additional questions:
- How to attract current Ape gamers to be involved? Ie, ideas for Ape community awareness to drive involvement? I imagine that more details will emerge upon approval, but worth some thought.
- Are there ways for Apes who are not devs or gamers to be involved?

[Amplify]

Hello Mantis!

I’ve spent the last day reading and researching everything you went over in this AIP Idea and it’s… A lot. Haha

Would you be open to setting up a call sometime with myself and a few other community members to go over everything?

Let me know, thank you!

[Mantis]

For sure. Should I drop a Calendly in here or how do we do that?

[Amplify]

I sent you a message.

[Mantis]

Galleon:

Thanks for the review and the questions. I think you’ll be happy with these answers. Let’s take em:
Tickets to esports/other IRL events. Everybody likes merch.

We got merch! And soon to be upgrading that merch with art/branding from this guy (Family Guy alum, Nickelodeon current). We can definitely do that.

We got events! Mostly based around Atlanta; that’s where the company and the industry is, but if Apes want to make the journey, could hobnob with some A-listers every now and again. Also plenty of virtual events, mostly centered around Discord gaming tournaments.

How to attract current Ape gamers to be involved? Ie, ideas for Ape community awareness to drive involvement?

Hopefully the economic incentives driven through $CX ownership will drive involvement (tokenization, possible direct flow revenue stream from MyX app if Gary Gensler will STFU and GTFO), but we can and should conduct a virtual campaign to really integrate the two communities. Because Cxmmunity is at its core a media production company, there’s some great opportunities for AAA production quality sit-downs along with more serious work to be done through Twitter Spaces meetups, etc.

Are there ways for Apes who are not devs or gamers to be involved?

MyX is primarily a marketplace to connect students with sponsors. So any Ape that has a business with an offer to put on this marketplace can get involved and potentially benefit by hooking new customers. We fully expect to have sponsors that have nothing to do with gaming putting offers in the marketplace.

And I’m sure more ideas will come with meetings of the minds. Actually, I’m sure that’s where most of the ideas will come from.

Thanks again for the questions!

By the way, for everyone, the Kickback Cup is scheduled to take place Oct 27th. That’s the huge event that is getting all of the production value from Riot Games, Ripplebox and Cxmmunity. I hope that’s enough time to consider the proposal.

Short description of the actual Kickback Cup event: 6 schools will compete on 10/27 in a League of Legends tournament for a six-figure prize pool. The event will get AAA production from Ripplebox and Cxmmunity and be broadcast and syndicated online with a TV possible.

[Mantis]

Huge update:

Cxmmunity closed the deal with Prime Gaming to sponsor the Oct. 27 Kickback Cup event. Prime Gaming will be bringing $400,000 of value to the production including an A-list music concert.

In total now, that’s $1.4 million in production value that ApecoinDAO could benefit from, plus association with Tier A brands.

I just voted for my own proposal. Couldn’t hold back after this news

[Amplify]

This is awesome, thank you!

Love this change, I think its easy to understand and I know a lot of us are excited to see ApeCoin sponsored events.

[Galleon]

Love the edit. Exposure to a college-based gaming tournament alongside that caliber of sponsorship seems like a golden opportunity.

Any clues as to what sort of pop-up events are to follow? Primarily additional gaming tournaments or are there other types of events on deck?

[0xSword]

I really enjoyed the conversation on Zoom about this proposal. You have a rockstar set of sponsors and partnerships. It’d be a really good thing for ApeDAO to get involved with this. I’m glad that you decided to split the Mx app from the tournament sponsorship. Makes this proposal much easier to understand!

I would be glad to connect you w/ community members to host Twitter Spaces with!

[Mantis]

@0xSword Appreciate the support. I added you on Twitter on the MyX app account. Hit me up there or here; I’m happy to have the conversation!

@Galleon Thanks for the kind words. The events we have planned after the Oct 27 event include IRL edutainment popups at our Unis where we combine celebrity/entertainment with STEM development/outreach. It would look sort of like this event we did with rapper Cordae (skip to 6:28). The format can change based on what speakers we get. This is when Apes who wanted to come talk to students about web3 opportunities could have a huge impact.

[Novocrypto]

Thank you for this very interesting proposal! I’m not much into gaming but could understand your project and think it’s very cool and could be beneficial to the wider ape ecosystem. Love the education part and also really like that there are other sponsors who actually outweigh your ask from the DAO! That’s very promising and encouraging! Congratulations on getting those funds in place. Overall, I really like what you’re proposing to do and wish you best of luck with it.

[Mantis]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Novo. I do hope the DAO considers it in the next phase, because I believe all of the same things you just said. Cxmmunity and Apecoin is a beautiful long term relationship that could help usher in the mainstream era of crypto.

Anybody else have any questions before this topic closes? Happy to answer anything.

[Pearson]

Hi @Mantis,

Your topic will be automatically closing in less than 24 hours. Are you content with the feedback received, or do you wish to extend community discussion for a further 7 days?

If we do not hear from you within 48 hours after your topic closes, your topic will be moved straight to the AIP Draft process.

We look forward to hearing from you.

-Pearson

[Mantis]

@pearson:

I am content with the feedback received.