ArbitrumDAO Off-site - Directional proposal

Proposals
1

ArbitrumDAO Off-site

Non-Constitutional (not even a proposal yet, just a temp check)

Should we explore an offsite?

The Problem

We’re missing structured platforms for delegates and key stakeholders to engage deeply and collaboratively on key topics around DAO strategy and organisation design, leading to bottlenecks and slow and painful decision-making.

Solution

Over a few informal conversations during EthCC, I got positive sentiment around the idea of organizing an Offsite for delegates, key stakeholders, and high-context DAO members.

But many questions need to be addressed:

  • What’s the specific agenda? (what do we include/exclude? discuss current initiatives or only big-picture stuff e.g. strategy, org design? single track or multi-track? etc.)
  • when should this happen?
  • how long should it last?
  • Who facilitates it?
  • What’s the location (online/offline, which platform/venue)
  • Budget
  • etc etc.

Answering those questions will require engagement from the top delegates and project management work to take this from a loose idea to a refined proposal.

So before we commit to discussing the details, this temperature check aims to confirm whether delegates believe:

  • an Offsite proposal is something that should be explored
  • or we should shelve the idea, avoid wasting everyone’s time and focus on something else.

IMPORTANT

This proposal is about polling whether top delegates are interested in the initiative. Unless we get the majority of top delegates voting that they will get involved in shaping this initiative, we’re dropping it.

A vote in favour of this proposal does NOT mean an offsite should be executed. A vote in favour will NOT result in a Tally proposal being the next step. A vote in favour only means an offsite should be EXPLORED through conversations with top delegates and key stakeholders.

If this proposal receives significant support from the majority of top delegates: we’ll have a series of calls (group and 1-1) with the delegates and launch a couple of polls to agree on the details of the Offsite. And only then, we’ll draft a proposal with the details.

8 Likes
2

nice idea. Have you synced with Hack Humanity on this? @KlausBrave

5 Likes
3

I like this proposal.
I would love to participate. Our issues can be resolved much faster this way live.
However, there are several important points:

  1. Travel expenses are not included in the Budget totals; they can constitute a significant portion of expenses due to the cost of the flight.
  2. It is quite difficult to evaluate the result of the conference. It seems to me that this issue needs to be raised when we have a list of controversial issues that we must resolve within the framework of this meeting.
4

Hi @danielo this is a very good proposal, but I would love to learn more about the size of the event. How many people do you expect to join? I’m based in Thailand, so maybe I could help optimize the cost of this event.

5

This seems a good idea.

A suggestion: We had 2 GovHacks generating new inputs/ideas and would be nice to have part of this Off-site to discuss proposals that are active or about to go to the forum by the time of the event - that would help to enrich the discussion about those, and generate a better alignment.

1 Like
6

After a successful snapshot vote, we could run an RSPV survey and then based on that better estimate the cost before the onchain vote.

1 Like
7

Hey,

  1. I’m confused, travel expenses are included (see travel scholarships). It’s a small budget because many delegates will already be traveling there for devcon for their own purposes. But then the budget can be refined after a snapshot vote.

  2. So I understand your point correctly, do you believe the DAO should not do strategy/planning proactively and should only gather/discuss when there are contentious issues?

8

Perhaps I have not expressed my thoughts correctly, but

  1. I simply believe that the expenses for this item will be significantly higher. Now you are counting on DevCon, but I would just go to the gathering of Arbitrum delegates.
  2. I just wanted to say that after we gather and discuss pressing issues, there may not be immediate results and we will not be able to correctly evaluate this conference. What I mean is that you should not place great hopes on the conference to immediately solve all the problems, and that’s all.
2 Likes
10

I support this proposal as it aims to enhance communication and collaboration among DAO delegates through a dedicated off-site event. By focusing on strategic alignment and problem-solving, it addresses current inefficiencies, leading to cohesive strategies and faster decision-making. The structured agenda and professional facilitation ensure effective use of time, generating actionable outcomes and increased participant engagement.

11

Can this be open for those who do not qualify in Top100 but are active in the DAO in some energy & are fine bearing their own expense?

2 Likes
12

we can discuss many options, but first need directionally some support of the idea. Hence the poll :slight_smile:

1 Like
13

We like this proposal and think that it is a good time to get ahead of this early so that we prevent any last-second bookings/planning like what was seen for ETHCC. However, we have some suggestions to further improve the proposal:

  1. Cost Justification: The proposed budget is good, but we are concerned about the possibility of underspending. We would like to know what items should be prioritized in funding. There’s a certain chronology to booking, sponsorships, etc., that we should think about for the cost.

  2. Hybrid Participation: In the prior ETHCC Govhack, there was a requirement for one IRL person per team to attend. Apart from likely continuing this policy, we would like to request that off-site summaries and recordings be available (if they are relevant to DAO progress).

  3. Security: We would like some security guarantees for DAO participants as delegates will be in an unfamiliar area during an extremely crowded event. Even a slight amount of security would go a long way.

1 Like
14

Hi Daniel, I have recognised and been talking about the need for a DAO offsite for a while now and been planning to run one when the timing is right, an offsite is a natural complementary pairing with GovHack.
Let’s speak about this and collaborate.

2 Likes
15

Draft updated to refine on the core question for polling and see whether there’s buy in and further work scoping an exact proposal is justified

1 Like
16

Adding my feedback on the DAO off-site - will update

17

Blockworks Research will be voting IN FAVOR of the ArbitrumDAO Offsite on Snapshot.

We would like to again highlight our concerns should this conversation continue:

  1. Cost Justification: The budget is good, but almost too good. There is a good chance we risk underspending with this budget, there should also be an itemized list for these things. Additionally, we need to start prioritizing venue booking, etc, sooner rather than later.

  2. Hybrid Participation: In the prior ETHCC Govhack, there was a requirement for one IRL person per team to attend. Apart from likely continuing this policy, we would like to request that off-site summaries and recordings be available (if they are relevant to DAO progress).

  3. Security: Security, either in the form of bouncers or otherwise should be priority as DAO members travel to an unfamiliar region.

18

@danielo you had a comment in this post a week ago with a Poll asking who would engage in a series of calls about this as the next step @DisruptionJoe, @raam, @Blueweb 14 or so people including myself replied yes.

I now see this poll/comment has been deleted, the original proposal that was the first post that had proposal specifics has been substantially altered (removing that history) and this new version has gone up to snapshot, more using snapshot as a means to gain visibility as an extended poll without the calls and collaborative stage of conversations happening.
Can you explain?

4 Likes
19

It’s a nice idea if it’s not gonna impose a huge cost on the DAO by sponsoring delegates’ trip to the event. Maybe a small side event at DevCon with a carefully curated agenda that excludes designing governance strategy. Also we need to think how we can get both anon and absent delegates involved or updated with the discussions.

I’m generally against off-site gatherings in web3 but DevCon side events are different. Cost effective for curators and accessible for participants.

2 Likes
20

I like the idea, but just worried about execution. In my opinion this has to be done online, because delegates are spread all over the world and there could be huge costs attached to it (travel expenses, etc.).

2 Likes
22

just host a side-event at a main conference, doesn’t need to be too much more complicated than that

1 Like