AIP-273: ApeCoin to Co-Sponsor Encode’s upcoming University Hackathon!

Proposal Name: ApeCoin to Co-Sponsor Encode’s upcoming University Hackathon!

Proposal Category: Ecosystem Fund Allocation

Abstract | Two or three sentences that summarize the proposal.

On behalf of Encode Club, I’m excited to put forward this grant proposal for Apecoin to co-sponsor our upcoming four-week virtual Future of Blockchain University Hackathon. This global event aims to introduce sharp university students to leading blockchain protocols, providing the space for a four-week deep dive into the Apecoin ecosystem.

We anticipate driving greater engagement with Apecoin and promoting its adoption across an ever-expanding community. Apecoin’s involvement would include interaction with hackers during two 60-minute technical workshops and setting up to three challenges with accompanying prizes!

Author Description (mandatory if the AIP is requesting funds) | A brief background of yourself

We were thrilled to see ApeCoin’s involvement at ETHGlobal!
As for me, I’m Katerina, the Operations Manager at Encode Club and I handle some of the BD work as well. Given ApeCoin’s great track record, I am thrilled about the prospect of incorporating gaming NFTs and metaverse themes into our upcoming virtual hackathon, with ApeCoin’s co-sponsorship! Let’s make it happen! :sparkles:

Team Description (mandatory if the AIP is requesting funds) | A brief background of your team involved, if any

Katerina | Encode :sparkles:

Encode Club Team
Anthony | CEO and Co-Founder

Eomji | Head of Research & Programmes

Laura | Head of Talent

Vanessa | Marketing Lead

Yasen | Growth Lead

Katerina | Ops Manager

Our Track Record

Established in 2020, Encode Club has rapidly become a leader in web3 education. We’ve conducted over 100 programmes and trained a global network of developers. Our hackathons are our pride and joy, attracting between 250-2000 developers per event, each contributing to the growth and evolution of the web3 ecosystem. We’re confident that our collaboration with Apecoin will stimulate unprecedented innovation within the Apecoin ecosystem.

In partnering with Apecoin, we bring our legacy of excellence, our commitment to education, and our passion for the web3 space. We are confident that our collaboration will stimulate unprecedented innovation within the Apecoin ecosystem.

Here are a few examples of some of our recent hackathons:

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

Our goal is to nurture talent, cultivate an understanding of Apecoin amongst future developers and, in doing so, strengthen the Apecoin community. By introducing university students to Apecoin’s ecosystem, we aim to spur innovation, encourage digital ownership, and foster community-building within the ape communities.

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

Sponsoring this initiative offers Apecoin a unique opportunity to engage with a global network of young, creative minds. The virtual nature of our event ensures worldwide accessibility, while its co-sponsored status attracts interest from a diverse range of hackers and developers. This approach resonates with the inclusive, decentralised ethos of the Apecoin community and stimulates a sense of shared purpose and unity.

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

We propose for Apecoin to sponsor our Gold-tier package, costing $25,000 in total. This includes $12,500 for the package itself, offering Apecoin the opportunity to set three challenges and prizes, conduct two 60-minute technical workshops, enjoy dedicated marketing from Encode, have key speaking slots at the hackathon, and receive hiring support from our talent team. The remaining $12,500 is requested for prizes, boosting participants’ motivation to innovate.

Our target audience for this hackathon will be university students, however, we will not restrict anyone from joining! We hope that with ApeCoin’s participation we will be able to offer the chance to new and existing developers to use your technology to build fun projects!

The Gold package includes the following benefits:

  • set three unique challenges, accompanied by rewarding prizes for the hackathon. Prizes can be given in $ape :blush:
  • conduct two 60-minute technical workshops that will delve into the Apecoin ecosystem. Having someone from the ApeCoin team conduct the technical workshops will be key as it would offer the participants a chance to learn directly from the source, gaining direct insight into the ApeCoin ecosystem. We would be happy to get recommendations on who would be ideal to conduct these :smile:
  • and enjoy dedicated marketing efforts from the diligent Encode team
  • get prominent speaking slots at the start and end of the hackathon
  • receive hiring support from our great talent team to source the best minds that align with Apecoin’s ethos. Our hiring support is directly handled by our Talent Team at Encode. We have access to a vast pool of developers who have participated in numerous programmes, all keen to venture into the web3 space, putting us in a prime position to assist!

More details can be found in our deck here

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

  1. Finalise partnership, define roles and establish a multi-signature wallet for grant reception.
  2. Collaboratively create hackathon challenges centred around Apecoin and NFT communities.
  3. Develop technical workshop content focused on Apecoin’s unique ecosystem.
  4. Initiate a targeted marketing campaign aimed at snapshot voters, ape communities, and NFT enthusiasts.
  5. Execute the Hackathon, focusing on Apecoin’s ecosystem and its relevance to NFT communities.
  6. Judge submissions and award prizes.
  7. Post-event review and reporting, with transparency and accountability.

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

  • June 2023: Formalise partnership and set up roles.
  • Early July 2023: Establish hackathon challenges and prepare workshop content.
  • Mid-July 2023: Launch marketing campaign.
  • Late July 2023: Commence Hackathon.
  • August 2023: Judge submissions and award prizes.
  • September 2023: Conduct post-event review and reporting.

Overall Cost | The total cost to implement the proposal.

We kindly request Apecoin to sponsor our Gold-tier package, entailing a total commitment of $25,000. This sum is split between event organization, targeted marketing, hiring support, and other related costs ($12,500), and prizes to incentivise participants ($12,500).
This carefully balanced investment in event logistics and participant motivation will help to ensure a successful, dynamic hackathon that champions innovation and brings the Apecoin community closer together.

2 Likes

Are there any Tiers other than the Gold Tier, if you can list out all the Tiers and benefits of each. Also your deck shows links of hackathons in early 2022 but there are none for the later part of the year, could you please throw some light on why there were none held in the later part of 2022

3 Likes

It’s a noble idea for sure, sponsoring Hackathon or organizing one solely around Apecoin would be a thing soon and I hope you guys can do something like this.

I personally dont think it would benefit $ape as such unless the prizes given are in $ape itself. Wish to see a hackathon focusing on Apecoin all together by you guys too hehe
Good luck

3 Likes

Welcome to Discourse, and thanks for putting this proposal forward! I’m always looking at ways to reach new audiences and builders, so I’m intrigued by this proposal. I do have a few questions:

Who do you propose will lead these workshops? Will you be conducting them with in-house talent, or contracting with experienced members of the ApeCoin community?

Kinda same question here… do you have in mind as speakers?

To be clear, you’re looking to have hiring support available in service of the Hackathon attendees, correct?

2 Likes

Thanks a lot for the proposal @katerina !

Certainly very interesting audience you are addressing - young, driven and more than anything TECHNICAL.

Could definitely see the value in cultivating this peer group with the Apecoin brand and getting them into the Apecoin ecosystem early on in their developer journey.

Is my understanding correct that with the proposed package we’d be able to design the challenges/topics for the hackathon? In that case, I am sure we’ll have some smart ideas in the community that we wanted to tackle in any case…

3 Likes

Thanks for your questions @srinigoes ! We have other options which are at a lower cost but also come with less benefits as you might expect. I'll outline some of the differences below: 

Gold

  • Set 3 challenges/prizes
  • Two 60-min workshops 
  • ApeCoin's dedicated blog announcement 
  • ApeCoin's logo on our major materials 
  • ApeCoin gets speaking slots at the start and end of the hack 
  • Hiring support 

Silver 

  • Set 2 challenges/prize
  • One 60 min workshop
  • ApeCoin's dedicated blog announcement 
  • ApeCoin's logo on our major materials 
  • ApeCoin gets speaking slots at the start and end of the hack 

Bronze 

  • Set 1 challenge/prize
  • No workshop 
  • Announcement tweet 
  • ApeCoin's logo on our major materials 

In terms of other hackathons, we have done many many more! This section in the deck perhaps needs updating 😅 I'll share a list of our most recent hackathons below: 

Hope this covers your questions for now - happy to answer any more you may have!

2 Likes

Hey @CryptoLogically - thanks for your comments and questions, so glad to see the community is getting involved in the discussion 😊

Please find answers to your questions below:
  • Having someone from ApeCoin conduct the technical workshops as well as taking on the speaking slots at the beginning and end of the hackathon is key! It would offer the participants a chance to learn directly from the source, gaining direct insight into the ApeCoin ecosystem. This firsthand experience not only enriches the learning process but also provides a stronger connection between the devs and ApeCoin, a crucial element for sustained innovation and community building in the long run 💃
  • Our hiring support is directly handled by our Talent Team at Encode. With access to a vast pool of developers who have participated in our numerous programmes, all keen to venture into the web3 space, we're in a prime position to assist. We leverage these resources to provide top-tier hiring support to our Gold-tier sponsors, ensuring they connect with the most suitable and passionate talent!

Hey @Evil - so good news! We are more than happy to support all prizes set by ApeCoin to be given in $ape :money_mouth_face:

Also on this note, I wanted to add that we are also happy to accept the sponsorship payment in $ape as well!

And yeah - the idea of doing a dedicated ApeCoin hackathon is very much on the table… :sparkles: let’s make it happen? :eyes:

2 Likes

Hey @0xK, very happy that you see the value in our proposal :blush:

Your understanding is most definitely correct! ApeCoin would be able to design the 3 challenges/topics for the hackathon.

We are always happy to support and guide our sponsors when setting challenges as well if this is needed :sparkles:

Thank you for the clarification @katerina. I have voted

1 Like

Alright, thanks a lot for the follow-up and answers - vote is in!

Hi @katerina,

Your topic will be moving to the AIP Draft phase in less than 24 hours. Are you content with the feedback received or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 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.

@Lost.Admin

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed after 7 days. New replies are no longer allowed.

Hi @katerina,

Thank you for your ideas [and the ApeCoin DAO community for the thoughtful discussions]. A moderator will get in touch with the author to draft the AIP in the appropriate template. Once the AIP is drafted and meets all the DAO-approved guidelines, the proposal will be posted on Snapshot for live official voting at: Snapshot

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments. @katerina please see your messages for the next steps.

@Lost.Admin

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

The AIP Draft submitted is currently incomplete and feedback has been provided to the author.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Thank you,

@Lost.Admin

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@katerina has completed editing their AIP Idea to be their AIP Draft.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

@Lost.Admin

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

We have no further questions for @katerina. This AIP is now under Administrative Review.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

@Lost.Admin

Glad to see you have supported a hackathon in Africa, EthKenya 2022.

Being an avid web3 hacker and coming to the DAO via EthGlobal Scaling Ethereum 2023, I can only sing praises for these types of events.

They foster learning, growth, collaboration and support the next generation of web3 buildoors. LfGrow

3 Likes

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

After review, this Topic submitted by @katerina is ready for vote under AIP-273. The proposal will be posted on Snapshot at the next weekly release date and time, which is every Thursday at 9PM EST.

The AIP implementation is administered by the Ape Foundation. Implementation may be immaterially or materially altered to optimise for security, usability, to protect APE holders, and otherwise to effect the intent of the AIP. Any material deviations from an AIP, as initially approved, will be disclosed to the APE holder community.

Kind Regards,

@Lost.Admin