Plurality Labs: "Our Biggest Minigrants Yet" (JokeRace)

DAO Programs & Initiatives ThankARB by Thrive (prev Plurality Labs)
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Just under 6 hours to vote for our 8 weekly grants themes!

We have about 25% of eligible votes cast so far so if you haven’t voted yet or have been saving some of your votes, now’s the time to cast them!

Happy New Year!

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Who are the eligible voters?
Is it the 30 member council?

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Hey everyone, we just announced our 8 themes for our 8 weeks of grant giving on Twitter @ThankArbitrum and will be hosting a Twitter Spaces this evening at 7pm EST / 4pm PST to provide more context and information around these themes and answer any questions you might have.

8 grant categories for “Our Biggest Minigrants Yet”:

  1. Empowering Web3 Communities
  2. Play to Earn, Reimagined
  3. The Future of Identity in Web3
  4. Scaling DeFi for the Masses
  5. Bridging the Gap to TradFi
  6. Sustainability in the Blockchain Age
  7. Unleashing the Power of DAOs
  8. The Next Frontier of NFTs

Please join us on Twitter Spaces this evening to hear more and ask any questions you might have! You can find the link in our Twitter announcement thread (unfortunately unable to post links here).

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This is a great idea.

Are projects pre-selected to submit their proposals on jokerace?

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No pre-selected projects - anyone can submit a proposal and apply for a grant!

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Now accepting applications for Round 1! Deadline to apply is Thursday, January 18 at 9am EST.

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just submitted a proposal. Thanks

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Ok, so here are the rules of engagement agreed upon by council members as i thought

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So, to my surprise and in my opinion the following behaviour from
coinruay.lens is not ok

Animation.gif [optimize output image]

Simply because it brings the project first on the list at the cost of all the other more deserving projects that can not vote.

Besides, the council member absolutely wasted the opportunity to contribute in any meaningful way.

Personally, i think such behaviour should be accounted for and penalized.

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In a separate post, which we think is “the best way to inadvertently promote projects” and disclose conflicts of interests.

I do not think its ok to vote for yourself or your family members, spouses, girlfriends, etc.

My conflicts of interests: Dspyt because I have built the foundation of the codebase and because it is led by my family members.

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Applications for Round 1 grants have closed and voting is now open for the next ~24 hours

Voting closes at 6pm EST on January 19, 2024

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This is supported. I am also suggesting that those who have voting rights shouldn’t submit proposals to avoid bias and conflict of interest.

As spotted here - coinruay.lens allocated 400 votes to their own project and didn’t vote for any other project.

This isn’t ok

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Is there a code of conduct or guidelines for the voting committee?

The concerns raised by some members here should be answered for accountability purpose.

Also, I would like better clarity on how “Mini-grants” is operating.

  1. PL funded to whom?
  2. Who is the responsible person to answer questions from any potential applicant?
  3. Which platform use used for communication? Forum/Twitter/Telegram?
  4. Where can we find the list of all voting members and their disclosure or conflict of interest?
  5. Who checks for eligible applicants? As mentioned earlier this who have received some funding under different grant programs are not eligible for mini-grants, clarity on which grant programs are included and is there a criteria that an applicant who has received $50k/$100k they should not be considered for mini-grants?

Lots of questions especially when we are seeing 43 applicants participating it indicates many projects are looking out for support providing clarity will help at large.

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Glad to see this going on in the Arbitrum network to foster innovation, glad I could help with the theme selection and votes. Excited to see the new projects that will be applying.

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Big thanks to everyone who participated in Round 1 and made it a huge success!

Round 1 Recap:

  • Topic: Empowering Web3 Communities
  • Submissions open from January 15-18 at 9am EST (72 hours)
  • Voting open from January 18 at 9am EST - January 19 at 9pm EST (36 hours)
  • What went well:
    • Applications received (both in quantity and quality) exceeded expectations
      • Most applicants followed instructions when submitting proposals
      • Every proposal was legitimate (zero botting)
    • Voting turnout higher than expected (38% actual compared to our 20% goal)
      • Voters seemed to read and assess each proposal carefully based on active discussion in TG chat and comments on individual proposals
  • What didn’t go well:
    • Internal disagreement regarding whether or not council members should be able to vote for their own proposal
    • One council member discovered to have 2 voting wallets, effectively doubling their voting power
    • Some feedback about voting period being too short

Round 1 Results:

  • Applications received: 43
  • Voting percentage: 37.9% (8,035.689 / 21,200)
    • Our goal when creating this program was 20% participation from voting members
  • Winning grantees:
    • (1) Angela and Eugenia from Web3 Citizen (1,185.836 votes)
    • (2) Carlos Melgar from Web3 Beach (1,108.4 votes)
    • (3) Stefen Deleveaux from Oasis Onchain (931.245 votes)
    • (4) [DISQUALIFIED] CoinRuay from The Arbitrum Thailand Coworking Space (840 votes)
      • 400 votes from CoinRuay and 370 votes from MollySpace
      • It was determined by a council member during this time that the CoinRuay and MollySpace accounts are owned by the same person
      • MollySpace has since been removed from the voting council and the votes from Round 1 from MollySpace will not count either, which means this proposal received 470 votes (840 total votes - 370 votes from MollySpace)
    • (5) 10xdegen from RadDream (641 votes)
      • 4th grant recipient for Round 1 since CoinRuay’s proposal has been dropped to 470 votes

Round 2 is now live and accepting applications until Thursday, January 25 at 9am EST.

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Hey everyone,

Just read the recap of Round 1, and a couple of things crossed my mind:

  • So, with MollySpace losing 370 votes, should folks with voting rights skip proposing stuff to keep things fair? Isn’t a proper announcement should go from Thank ARB and Plurality labs that such people should refrain from submitting the applications?
  • Also, who’s keeping an eye on the proposals to avoid more issues like this? With seven more rounds, we want to ensure we’re not missing out on opportunities for other projects.
  • MollySpace’s Replacement - Is there any update on who’s taking MollySpace’s spot on the voting council? Or these votes will go wasted as they have been disqualified?

And big thanks to the community and the council member who spotted the issue.

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Thanks for your questions!

We’ve discussed this in the group and the consensus is that council members are able to apply for grants as well but should use their best judgment when voting (or abstain from voting) in order to avoid any potential impropriety or even image of impropriety

No one will be taking MollySpace’s spot on the voting council; MollySpace has simply been removed from the voting list so we have one fewer voter going forward.

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Applications for Round 2 of “Our Biggest Minigrants Yet” are only open for 24 more hours!

Theme: Play to Earn, Reimagined If you’re building in this category and utilizing Arbitrum technology in any way, we encourage you to apply!

Those who applied for a round 1 grant are encouraged to apply again if their project fits under this theme (or future themes) as well.

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“:rocket: Time is ticking for the ArbitrumDAO MiniGrants Round 2, and Crazy Goat is close to reaching 4th place! If you believe in a transformative play-to-earn platform that’s revolutionizing blockchain gaming, we need your vote now more than ever! Every vote counts as we head into these final hours. Let’s make it happen! :goat: #VoteCrazyGoat #ArbitrumDAO” jokerace

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Round 2 Recap:

  • Topic: Play to Earn, Reimagined
  • Submissions open from January 22-25 at 9am EST (72 hours)
  • Voting open from January 25 at 9am EST - January 27 at 9pm EST (60 hours)
  • What went well:
    • No internal disagreements this round like we had in Round 1; discussions seemed to be productive and everyone worked really well together
    • Four great projects selected to award grants to
      • Great job funding projects that (1) come from different areas of the world and (2) haven’t received prior funding of any kind
  • What didn’t go well:
    • Applications received were much lower than last week (11 this week vs 43 last week)
      • Our topic was more niche this week so that could be a contributing factor
    • Voting turnout less than last week (31% this week vs 38% last week) but still higher than our projected goal of 20%
      • We nearly doubled our voting period based on feedback from last week that our voting period was too short, and we had a smaller voter turnout this week, which shows the longer voting time did not benefit the results

Round 2 Results:

  • Applications received: 11
  • Voting percentage: 30.7% (6,400.296 / 20,800)
    • Down from 38% last week
    • But still above our goal of 20% when creating this program
  • Winning grantees (tweet):
    • (1) Stephen Ogbaje (Beningin) (1,265.951 votes)
    • (2) Dolor Vi (Smol Age) (1,103.8 votes)
    • (3) David Onyilimba (Play2Learn Games) (1,098 votes)
    • (4) Into the Dungeons: Machinata (903.936 votes)

Round 3 begins at 9am EST / 6am PST on Monday, January 29, 2024.

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Dear Arbitrum DAO Council,

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Chingun Amarbaatar, and I am the lead behind Crazy Goat, a participant in the recent ArbitrumDAO MiniGrants Round 2. First, I would like to extend my gratitude for your efforts in organizing this event, which plays a vital role in fostering innovation within the blockchain community.

While we are grateful for the opportunity to participate, I would like to express some concerns regarding the voting turnout and its implications. We observed that the total votes cast in the competition were 6,400.296 out of a potential 20,800. This relatively low turnout suggests that the voting potential wasn’t fully realized, which might have impacted the final rankings and possibly the opportunity for projects like Crazy Goat to be duly recognized.

Crazy Goat is a thoroughly documented and well-developed project, committed to enhancing the blockchain gaming experience. Our platform has shown considerable promise and aligns strongly with the ethos of innovation and community engagement that Arbitrum represents. Given the circumstances of the voting process, we are reaching out to inquire if there might be an alternative path or future opportunities for our project to be considered for support.

We understand the challenges involved in organizing such events and the complexities of ensuring active participation. However, we believe that with a more engaged voting process, projects with significant potential, like Crazy Goat, could have a better opportunity to showcase their value to the Arbitrum ecosystem. We are keen to explore any possibilities for support or collaboration that align with the goals of both Crazy Goat and Arbitrum.

Your guidance or suggestions on other grant opportunities, or ways to align our project more closely with Arbitrum’s objectives, would be highly appreciated. We are committed to contributing positively to the Arbitrum ecosystem and believe that with the right support, our impact could be substantial.

Thank you once again for the opportunity and for considering our request. We look forward to any possibilities of future collaboration.

Warm regards,

Chingun Amarbaatar
Founder/Lead Developer
Crazy Goat

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