A very interesting and necessary idea I first saw brought up by @0xSword — Ape Ambassadors. Some thoughts on it:
The WHY — When people say that gaming or fashion will be the bridge from web2 to web3, IMO what they mean is that culture will be the bridge. E.g. A big web3 entity I’ve seen do culture well is Dapper Labs (Flow blockchain). They maintain a growth trajectory during the bear market because they are creating a culture around the brand, selecting a target audience, and marketing effectively to them.
The HOW — ApeDAO empowers ambassadors — defined as trusted ApeDAO contributors from a particular community — to perform outreach to those communities.
Get the ball rolling with well-recognized communities that are underserved in web3: BIPOC, women, LGBTQ, International. I considered dividing Ambassador roles by professional specialty, but Working Groups have that covered. And there’s no reason that an Ambassador couldn’t also serve a working group. AIPs can be proposed to create a new Ambassador position.
Ambassadors should be subject to reporting at least a minimal list of KPIs, although there are of course qualitative assessments. But the most important KPIs according to what I’ve seen around: New wallets, overall DAO participation.
Ambassador responsibilities — The ambassador is responsible for creating ecosystem-level programs between ApeDAO and an audience; activation coordination between the DAO and institutions serving the audience; associative partnerships for such activations; reporting to the DAO the needs of the audience; consolidating the efforts of value-aligned DAO members towards the audience.
Just general thoughts! Feel free to add. This idea is necessary and will be incredibly successful, because it organizes DAO outreach in a way that I haven’t seen anywhere else in web3 outside of Flow.
When @0xSword mentioned this in Discord a few days ago, I was immediately drawn to the idea but I hadn’t created the proper structure to put it down on paper… it’s been on my mind quite literally this entire time, so thank you @Mantis for creating this.
For my part, creating a relatable and accessible culture by which we can expand the Ape ecosystem is clearly a top priority for me. The need for an inclusive and diverse culture where individuals around the globe both understand what it is we’re doing here AND can feel at home to contribute their ideas for improvement is very much real.
I’m personally active in several various groups and have reached out to countless others: Bay Area Apes, East Bay NFT, BAYCkada (Filipino Apes), FAYC (French Apes), Chinese Ape Club, Ladies of BAYC, California Bored Apes, and presciently enough I started an interesting Twitter thread yesterday calling together any and all black Apes (anyone identifying as “black”) and many have stepped forth… more than I might have expected.
There’s an incredibly diverse Ape culture already here, people with the resources and the connections to tap into their non-Ape communities but lack the resources to engage those communities in a richer DAO participation. Our numbers are going up and that’s excellent, but I’d love to see more communities of color and various geographies’ voices being represented.
I fully support this notion of an Ambassador program. If we could brainstorm a clear set of objective, achievable and measured outcomes for these positions, I’m happy to help lead the charge on an AIP (or at least lend a hand in any way I can).
This screenshot taken of notifications to my Twitter post last night lends credence to the sheer number of people who are here and clearly want to have their presence known.
There are some significant legal things that need discussed as it pertains to various ideas of what an Ambassador could look like. For both my newsletter & larger proposal initiative, Ive had to receive legal guidance. This is something that cannot be avoided, else it poses a risk to the Ape Foundation & individuals involved. 2 options for this: 1) do a short “scope” aip w/ tiny legal budget 2) pay out of pocket.
Additionally, I recommend having strong experienced members here @ apedao before inviting others in. The original idea for ambassadors was to retain talent, particularly nominees for Special Council that might otherwise fit into future working groups if unelected. Give people the ability to work their way through the organization, and open up new opportunies besides simply running for council seats.
I’m not sure how we’d go about finding fresh non-web3 people to turn them into ambassadors. There are a lot of considerations when it comes to that. Even simply encouraging people to purchase governance tokens to participate comes w/ significant risk. That’s not to say these ideas are not possible, however.
Sorry, meant to reply directly to Sword here. If those legal costs were to be paid out of pocket, do you have any ballpark figures as to what that might look like given your prior experience?
As an update: the tweet reaching out to black and brown Ape holders and supporters was so well received that just a few hours ago I’ve started a group I’m calling ApeTribe Worldwide. The goal of the group is bringing together BIPOC web3 enthusiasts from around the globe in an effort to share our collective talents, experiences, connections and ideas for moving our presence and voices in the space forward. My thinking is that with a greater network of talented people, collectively represented, we have a powerful pool of resources by which we can support each other and grow our respective local communities and beyond.
In just a few short hours, we’ve got 20+ members and quickly growing, including folks from the US to Africa, the Middle East, Portugal and more.
Also, Franklin AND his lawyer have both joined and commented already, alongside GotrillaGorilla, ProfitsOverWages and illaDaProducer. Bullish.
I admit, I’m not sure what’s happening here. I only have barely 1k followers, but it seems like things are reaching the right people regardless.
Anyway, I apologize as I’ve entirely derailed the original spirit of this post. Again, I’d be incredibly enthusiastic to pursue the possible implications (legal, procedural, and otherwise) of this proposed Ambassadorship program. I’d want to have something put together that generates real, tangible results… whatever that might look like.
Thanks again for putting your words together on this, Mantis.
You may want to consider incorporating other projects that have DEI as a core component such as Expansion Punks - I was part of the core team, and while a noble mission, the challenges were and are still there:
A community-led expansion to the CryptoPunks phenomena that empowers everyone to feel welcomed, valued, and represented in the emerging metaverse. Honoring the ethos of the original collection’s design philosophies and trait principles, ExpansionPunks are fully unique and diverse additions to the Punkverse.
Great idea, duly noted. I also tried to make clear that anyone with a passion to build, connect and expand in web3 is welcome, and that they need not be limited to the Yuga or ApeCoin ecosystem. So far plenty of contributors from other communities are invited and/or onboard. Next step will be to reach out to projects themselves now that individuals are joining up.
I’m 100% on this idea. Having an ambassador program would be a great benefit to the DAO. But besides the legal concern that @0xSword has mentioned, the rules to select ambassadors and who would be the judges to control the process would be important. The special council could do this job but I’m not sure if this is within their working scope.
If choosing candidates for ambassadors, I also agree that experienced members in ApeCoin DAO should be a requirement. I will not suggest BAYC/MAYC communities being in this position (though I love those communities) because 1) there are too many of them and everyone is an ambassador equals to no ambassador; 2) this is ambassadors for ApeCoin in the end and should set ApeCoin as the first priority. Overall, I’d love to see a proposal for it.
I like this idea and think it could managed by the Special Council.
Due to the current state of ApeCoin, what would an ambassador offer to a audience/community aside from a funding opportunity? Dapper is at a different stage - they have a product to offer.
We should take a step back and ask what the value prop is for ApeCoin. What is our ambassador endorsing or promoting?
I like this idea and think it could managed by the Special Council.
This is definitely what I would NEVER do. Ambassadors are elected; keep the process decentralized.
I’m thinking the first step is to define the word “Ambassador” as an official term in an AIP. I would define it as a position with 1. defined responsibilities, 2. a defined term, and 3. a defined budget to get that done.
Once the term is defined, ANYONE can open an AIP and say “I want to be an Ambassador to XYZ.” That AIP will allow for challenges Wakanda style, so others who want the job have a certain amount of time to post their interest. If there is more than one person that wants the job, an election is held. If only one person wants it, then the AIP is voted on just like any AIP to see if he gets it or not.
We should take a step back and ask what the value prop is for ApeCoin. What is our ambassador endorsing or promoting?
Dapper’s actually not promoting product. It’s promoting the opportunity to build, which is the same thing for Apecoin.
Thoughts here?
But yeah, I will not be involved with this idea if the DAO thinks Special Council should appoint Ambassadors. That’s totally against everything in the OP and what I stand for in crypto.
I think we have a disconnect in what an ambassador is. Are we aligned that ambassadors endorse or promote something? I agree that they should be elected/selected in a decentralized manner, but will we allow them to endorse/promote ApeCoin in any manner they wish? Council’s responsibility is to serve the vision of the DAO and should have oversight to the ambassador within their elected role & responsibility.
This is literally every position ever created ever. It needs more definition. What is the ambassador endorsing or promoting?
Dapper sells NFTs to buyers. Are you referring to Dapper Creators? To my knowledge it hasn’t launched.
but will we allow them to endorse/promote ApeCoin in any manner they wish? Council’s responsibility is to serve the vision of the DAO and should have oversight to the ambassador within their elected role & responsibility.
No, of course not. That’s why I would actually define the role once we get the format down.
The DAO’s responsibility is to serve the vision of the DAO. It should have a vote on every Ambassador, because I plan to leave it open as to what communities Ambassadors want to focus on. Can you imagine leaving the communities for Ambassadors to focus on in the hands of a centralized body when there is an alternative? It’s a completely wasted opportunity and ripe for problems if we do it the old way.
This is literally every position ever created ever. It needs more definition. What is the ambassador endorsing or promoting?
Yes, and that’s ok at this stage, because we’re still talking about format, not what the actual responsibilities are. What’s most important is that I get out the idea that Ambassador is to become an official term with responsibilities and a budget, and that position is voted on through individual AIPs.
Dapper sells NFTs to buyers. Are you referring to Dapper Creators? To my knowledge it hasn’t launched.
I’ve been through a grant program and built a dApp with Dapper and did a tour of their entire infrastructure. The Creator program, along with many others, have launched (some completed) and are going to actually be at Art Basel showing off what was produced.
Yes, Dapper also sells NFTs but this is not what I’m talking about. You don’t need NFTs to attract talent, and that’s good, because ApeDAO doesn’t have any. We need to attract builders to create.
Yes, but also and direct from the website, “The purpose of the Board is to administer DAO proposals and serve the vision of the community.”
This prop is VERY similar to AIP-36. In that prop, Guy wrote: “I will consult with the Board about potential deals.” That prop passed with 94% in favor. Council engagement is already happening.
Again, I think we’re largely in agreement. Thanks for this suggestion I hope to see it move forward. Will be my last response in this thread.
I def think this is a great idea! Just some feedback from an outsider coming in from other DAO’s and metaverses this is what has truly drawn me to ApeDAO a bunch of feedback and communication which lacks a ton from other DAOs. People coming in here wanting to help and I think more people like this outreaching with open arms will continue to help grow this community.
Cool; I still need to use your reply to make a few points of order for everyone else.
“The purpose of the Board is to administer DAO proposals and serve the vision of the community.”
Yes, and the vision of the community should be to keep power in its hands. The SC can coordinate how to distribute funds.
This prop is VERY similar to AIP-36. In that prop, Guy wrote: “I will consult with the Board about potential deals.” That prop passed with 94% in favor. Council engagement is already happening.
That prop was the worst example of… put it this way, there is no equivalent to just giving Guy Oseary 1%… I haven’t heard a peep from this arrangement, by the way… and it definitely doesn’t deal with any sort of Council engagement, because no one else has that access to that Council
I will not support another election of ambassadors. We have the special council election already and it takes a long time. If we go through another process of selecting candidates and election campaigns, we are making another council. For me, a massive scale of beauty pageants is a lack of efficiency.
SSP
and it definitely doesn’t deal with any sort of Council engagement, because no one else has that access to that Council