[GCP 016] Gitcoin Team Coordination in Q1 2024

[CoachJonathan]

Note: Edits were made on Nov 30, 2023 to incorporate feedback.

TLDR

This proposal is asking for the GTC equivalent of $200,000USD $175,000USD to bring together Gitcoin’s global and remote core contributors in Q1 2024. The treasury funds would be used to sponsor 4 nights of accommodation, hotel, transportation to/from the airport, and several team activities for DAO core contributors, with an additional 1-2 (TBC) night/day of activities for the CSDO team.

Abstract

The event will include various activities such as:

• Team-building, Ideation, and Planning activities organized by workstreams and the organization
• Team dinner (excluding alcohol)
• Small welcome party (appetizers, etc.)

NB: Pre and post-event surveys will measure impact and gather feedback.

Motivation

The core motivation behind this proposal is the belief that annual in-person gatherings are crucial for enhancing team interactions, promoting team cohesion, and encouraging cross-workstream communication. Building a sense of community among our core contributors will help ensure we are thoughtfully conducting medium- and long-term planning for the organization.

Such interactions deepen our sense of humanity and offer an environment where the challenges and opportunities of decentralizing human organizations can be explored.

Details (still mostly TBC)

A survey was conducted internally to better gauge sentiment around timing/location of where to hold this event for our (very) international team.

Approx. number of attendees: 50

Tentative date: March/April

Possible locations (based on sentiment + affordability):

• Lisbon, Portugal
• Denver, CO
• Mexico City, MX

Sample Cost Breakdown

The amounts below are estimates, since costs will vary depending on the selected location and finalized plans. Regardless, the intent is to minimize costs while creating a great atmosphere for collaborative work.

• Flights: ±$55,000
• Hotel Accommodations: ±$40,000
• Transportation: ±$6,000
• Contributor Per Diem: ±$20,000
• Office/Gathering Space(s): ±$2,000
• Team Building: ±$5,000
• Welcome Party Gathering: ±$2,000
• Marketing Materials: ±$25,000
• Team Dinner: ±$5000
• Total: ± $160,000 $135,000

The request is for the GTC equivalent of $175,000USD to cover all costs and expenses.

NB: A 25% buffer has been applied to the grand total to account for the rapidity of proposal funding, fluctuations in flight prices, and other unforeseen costs. Any funds not used will be paid back to the treasury.

Tentative Schedule

Below is a rough draft of a potential schedule for the event.

	Day 0	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5
Theme	Arrival	Everyone	Workstream(s)	Workstream sub-groups	Departure/CSDO	CSDO Departure
AM		Breakfast - Welcome, Town Hall	Workstreams	Xteam Cohesion - Session (Idea sharing)	Farewell breakfast, Shared learnings?
AFTERNOON		Team Activity	Workstream sub-groups	Xteam Cohesion - Session	CSDO Session
PM		Team Dinner	Team Dinner	Xteam Cohesion - Session	CSDO Session + Dinner
EVENING		-	Evening activity	Free	Free

Other Considerations

• Planning of the event will be led by @deltajuliet and @CoachJonathan on logistics and CSDO for programming
• This offsite is for Core Contributors
• Members of CSDO can nominate additional individuals to join that they think will contribute to the programming and medium-to-long-term planning of the DAO
  • Nominees must be majority approved by the rest of the CSDO members

Timeline and Expectations

Upon approval and funding of this proposal, detailed planning for each activity and agenda will kick off. The community can expect a follow-up on costs/spend after funding approval, ad hoc updates on planning and a post-event wrap up that includes spending updates.

Benefits

• Enhanced Team Cohesion: Strengthening interpersonal relationships for easier and more effective collaboration.
• Cross-Workstream Communication: Facilitating dialogues across different workstreams.
• Innovation and Ideation: Conducive environment for brainstorming and ideation.
• Contributor Wellbeing: Activities contributing to mental and physical wellness.
• Community Building: A shared experience to build a stronger sense of community among Gitcoin contributors.

Potential Positive Effects on the Gitcoin Ecosystem:

• Increased Productivity: Improved team cohesion and well-being lead to increased productivity.
• Enhanced Quality of Work: Better understanding and communication among team members.
• Stronger Alignment with Organizational Goals: Cross-functional interactions for better alignment with Gitcoin’s overall objectives.
• Improved feedback loops & opportunity tracking: Pre and post-surveys for valuable insights into the event’s impact.

Drawbacks

• Resource Allocation: The proposal comes at a time when financial prudence is crucial. The funding request may raise questions about priorities.
• Distraction: The event may divert attention from ongoing projects or workstreams, affecting their timelines or quality.
• Measurement of Outcomes: The impact of the gathering may be hard to quantify immediately, given its focus on long-term team cohesion and productivity.
• Logistical Challenges: Coordinating a global gathering poses logistical difficulties that could potentially affect the event’s success.

Vote

Options for community members to vote on would be as follows:

1- Vote “Yes” to fund the entire initiative, including all activities and logistical costs.

2 - Vote “Yes” but with modifications to the proposed activities (please specify).

3 - Vote “No” to not fund this event.

4 - Vote “Abstain” to show indifference toward the outcome of this vote

[Jeremy]

While, I’m in favor of the DAO getting together in-person, I do want to be cognizant and careful of our spend. The one thing that jumps out is this:

@CoachJonathan

• Marketing Materials: ±$25,000

Can you provide a bit more context on what’s in this category? It’s 15% of the spend and I’m not sure what would be included?

[Yalor]

I’ve got to jump in here, I cannot support a proposal to dump $200,000 into a team retreat when prices of the token are at an all time low.

Besides that the budget seems extremely inflated for the amount of impact that will likely come out of it, I would much rather see an open retreat style experiment like the one in Boulder where members of the core team as well as members of the community we’re invited to come together and ticket sales offset the costs of the event.

If this has to happen now, I’d say allocate no more than $50,000 to run the whole thing and don’t be paying for peoples flights, this should be an optional event that you really want to attend, not a free for all.

Especially after the last curfuffle with the team literally loosing $464K worth of Gitcoin by not checking the receiving address…….

Apologies if my tone is slightly off putting, but this situation does not instill confidence that you’re focusing on the right things right now.

[deltajuliet]

Thanks, @Jeremy - I can prob hop in here as I have done some work on this GCP as well. In my initial research of the event as well as forming up the structure it wasn’t entirely clear if we would do any community facing work - This allocation was initially projected with the possibility of broader community engagement activities in mind. Given our refined focus on internal team activities for core contributors, we can prob adjust this number.

This line item would go towards things like swag that contribute to a unified Gitcoin culture during the offsite. We believe these are important for fostering a strong team spirit, but we will def be prudent and only produce what’s truly beneficial for our contributors.

And just to reaffirm, any allocated funds not utilized for their intended purpose will be reallocated back to the treasury. My goal here is to spend as little as possible while getting the team together to strategically think through the next 12 months.

[deltajuliet]

Appreciate your candor, @Yalor ! – your points are well taken

About token prices, we’re aware of the optics. This offsite, though, is not just about a short-term gathering; it’s about strategic planning for Gitcoin’s future, ensuring our team is aligned and ready to face challenges ahead. This offsite proposal comes from the perspective that investing in our people is key to long-term sustainability and value creation, even in bearish market conditions.

We’ve seen the power of in-person collaboration at events like the one in Boulder and agree that such models have merit. However, this event is intentionally structured differently to focus on deep work amongst our core contributors – something that’s harder to achieve in an open retreat format.

The budget is designed with a cushion due to the volatility of travel costs and to ensure we don’t need to ask for additional funds later. The aim is always to come in under budget, and any surplus will be returned to the treasury.

As for the loss incurred from the last curfuffle (love that you used this term btw) its a reminder of the importance of diligence and continuous improvement in our operations. However, it’s also crucial that we don’t let a single incident overshadow the broader narrative of investment and growth.

We recognize the incident has impacted trust. However, focusing on that alone misses the broader potential gains from a well-executed offsite. By investing in collaboration now, we aim to strengthen our operations and enhance overall value – not just in the immediate future, but long-term.

Limiting spending is an option, but not covering travel could exclude valuable team members who may not have the means, which doesn’t align with our values of inclusivity.

Your feedback is heard, and I’m keen to ensure this offsite delivers maximum return, not just financially but in the growth and development it can foster. Appreciate your insights and down to continue this convo.

[CoachJonathan]

This is for merch that we got the team like last year. I doubt we’ll need this amount, but I haven’t scoped anything yet, just estimates.

Happy to shift this amount if folks thinks this is too high/unnecessary.

[0xZakk]

I am very strongly in favor of this proposal and will vote Yes to fund the entire initiative

These kinds of team retreats are really important for globally distributed team, regardless of where we are in the market cycle. They build trust and cohesion and a few days together in person can easily result in a year’s worth of high-value work.

With that said, I’d be curious if there are ways we can reduce some of the larger line items from the budget. Specifically, Marketing Materials, Flights (by finding bulk discounts?), and Accommodations.

[CoachJonathan]

So far it sounds like costs might be too high and one area we can cut from is the “marketing budget” and forgo merch for the team (totally understandable).

I also appreciate @Yalor’s concerns and @deltajuliet’s response re-iterating the essence of the retreat of a focus on team building & mid-to-long-term planning.

In terms of the open retreat style experiment - the Community Gathering we ran in Feb was exactly that, a gathering for the community, vs. a team retreat with Gitcoin-focused business outputs.

The Community Gathering was great to bring together folks outside of Gitcoin core contributors. It took an initial investment of ±$200k, of which about $120k were recuperated (I don’t have exact numbers but this is what I recall). There were also only 1 or 2 KPIs and I don’t remember seeing any follow up on how it performed in terms of those KPIs.

Last year we ran a 2-day retreat and it cost around $70k-$80k excluding flights, though I also don’t have the exact number of this either.

Would love some more comments on this and hopefully this extra information adds context to this request.

[MathildaDV]

I am very much in favour of this initiative and will vote yes on this proposal. I think it’s of extremely high value and importance for the DAO to come together IRL and strategize together under one roof. It’s a good move for the future of Gitcoin and it will help set us up for the year ahead.

Regarding costs, I do agree and think we can cut costs on “marketing materials” and choosing the most affordable location (like the closest location to the majority of core contributors to cut down on flight costs?). If there’s a lot of pushback here I think there might be room to become creative on swag needs.

[jengajojo]

Interesting proposal @CoachJonathan

• Is it possible to clearly articulate the expected quantitive output of this ask?

• Is it possible for non-core members, who are interested in joining in to participate without expectations of being reimbursed by this budget?

PS: +1 on the locations in Europe

[FractalVisions]

I’m sure this is probably a given seeing as how Gitcoin started in Boulder but we would love to help out with physical printed merchandise at the ETH Denver event as a contribution to the ecosystem. Assuming that GTC will have their own booth.

[krrisis]

So, I would most definitely support this proposal, because as others have said, it is SO crucial to connect with the team irl, and we never have enough opportunities. So appreciate you enormously for driving this @CoachJonathan & @deltajuliet.

It’s during gatherings like these that we go high bandwidth, get deeply informed and build trust, and in this crazy always-on but also almost always-remote DAO world, we need this. On that note, I hope we can continue to also invite part-timers (I am one of them, and I hope I’ll be welcome )

I do understand the pushback on the budget in this bear market, and agree there’s for sure things on which we can save funds.

@CoachJonathan

Last year we ran a 2-day retreat and it cost around $70k-$80k excluding flights, though I also don’t have the exact number of this either.

First of all, the total cost of last years’ event (excluding flights) was 54K afaik (32.5K for the location, rest on food, entertainment and other incidentals). Next to this we prob had another $150/pp for transport and some extra hotel nights, so to be safe let’s add 7.5K, bringing us closer to 65K.* Although I might be missing something (Jodi followed up on this). But happy to hop on a call to go through the DAO Ops expense docs from last year.

*Note, here I’m counting the same team size as last year, where in reality the team probably was double (!) the size right?

Next to this there is the unknown of the flights, but I see all workstreams have between 1-6K/pp/season for travel in their budgets, can travel not be covered by the workstreams? On budgets between 400k-900k/quarter I think this should work.

On that note, in the context of cost saving, I would highly, highly recommend to again hold the retreat in the Denver area. Most Gitcoin contributors attend ETHDenver anyways, and like this there is only one travel expense - this is how we saved costs last year, where these flights were also paid by the workstreams following this exact logic.

Another cost-saving opportunity could be potentially to only pay 50% of the flight costs of part-time contributors if they want to attend (like myself), I see other teams doing this.

In order to decrease hours spend on location scouting and also for the simple reason that we had a stellar experience, I’d really strongly recommend to return to Chautauqua. It was so inspiring to be surrounded by nature, and being one of the 3 organizers I can let you know that our hosts were great, and our team was very enthusiastic about it on all levels. Next to this I do believe that the vibe and history of the place itself inspired us a lot as well (Chautauqua is basically a pre-blockchain DAO!).
It also includes all meeting spaces etc you need.
So all this said, why change a winning formula?

Some doing the exercise of cost-cutting here:

@CoachJonathan

• Flights: ±$55,000
• Hotel Accommodations: ±$40,000
• Transportation: ±$6,000
• Contributor Per Diem: ±$20,000
• Office/Gathering Space(s): ±$2,000
• Team Building: ±$5,000
• Welcome Party Gathering: ±$2,000
• Marketing Materials: ±$25,000
• Team Dinner: ±$5000
• Total: ± $160,000

• Flights could be covered by workstreams, especially because it could be linked to EthDenver, you could limit this to a smaller buffer of 10K for workstreams that did not foresee any events or people not linked to a workstream.
• Contributor per diems are supposed to cover food & transport, but you already have a line for transport. Last year we did not give any per diem (!), as food was covered every day at Chautauqua, we did reimburse transport, when it was not organized for the team.
• I would drop the marketing materials 100%, it is a bear market and I’m pretty sure the sweaters from last year are still looking great

Given the above rough calculations, (65K + 10K + 25% buffer) I think a total budget of 100K could suffice.

Hope this helps!

[CoachJonathan]

Thanks for the comments and clarifications, Kris!

The reason I’m suggesting we don’t go to Denver is multifold:

1. Chatauqua is significantly more expensive than alternatives I have found elsewhere - rooms are going for around 300/pp/night without food or beverage and I have found other options for around 100/pp/night including breakfast elsewhere. Room rentals are also $700/day whereas other hotels are offering it for anywhere from $200-$500/day. Right now the leading contender for costs/location/dates is Lisbon.

2. In terms of “most Gitcoiners are going to EthDenver”, I’m not 100% sure this is true. There are about 50 people who will attend our retreat. And though there are maybe many Gitcoiners (10? 15 at most?) that will attend EthDenver on their own dime, that does not encompass all Gitcoiners. There are also at least 2 Gitcoiners that cannot enter the US due to visa/Passport issues and it is easier for contributors from Africa/South Asia to get visas into the EU than the US.

Bonus: As an aside, we ran a survey internally and allowed contributors to choose any destination that they would like to have their retreat. These were the results.

3. In terms of embedding flight costs within workstreams, I would need to chat with @meglister @Jeremy @Viriya @Sov and @nategosselin to see if their recently passed budgets included these costs. If so, then I agree - a much smaller amount can be requested. Otherwise I think the amount stands. Imo - whether workstreams are paying for it or this request for funds is paying for it, it all comes from the same cookie jar (aka Gitcoin’s Treasury).

I will do some more sleuthing with contributors (once everyone is back from Thanksgiving holidays) to find out 1) who is planning to attend EthDenver on their own dime and 2) if workstreams have already earmarked costs for a retreat like this in their budgets.

Thanks for the comments, @krrisis

[meglister]

Confirming that I have not budgeted for these travel costs in the GS S20-21 budget that was recently passed. If needed, I could probably partially fund flights from our travel allocation in the existing budget – but to @CoachJonathan 's point, it’s all the same cookie jar so I don’t think there’s a real impact either way.

[krrisis]

Thanks for the extra context!

@CoachJonathan

Chatauqua is significantly more expensive than alternatives I have found elsewhere - rooms are going for around 300/pp/night without food or beverage and I have found other options for around 100/pp/night including breakfast elsewhere.

Okay, that is indeed pretty steep, great that you’re finding much cheaper!

@CoachJonathan

Right now the leading contender for costs/location/dates is Lisbon.

Oh interesting, does this also take into account the flight costs? I think it is still the case that 60-70% of the core team resides in the US, but maybe I got this wrong?

If most attendees are coming from the US it does feel to not be ideal to fly them all across the ocean for just a few days. Not doing this would not only be cost-saving, I think it would also be better for Gitcoin’s perception (climate wise this is not great).

On the visas: I think unfortunately you’ll always miss a few people (whichever location you pick), so wouldn’t let this be the deciding factor.

I see many exotic locations in that list that would for sure be fun, but 50% did vote for Denver. Again, this is a bear market, Gitcoin just let go of a big part of its team, the DAO is still spending +/- 1MM/month, plus 400K was lost recently as pointed out above, so showing the DAO can keep costs reasonable here might be a nice signal to the community?

Again, just my two gwei, appreciate checking in on this on the forum.

[wasabi]

@krrisis

On the visas: I think unfortunately you’ll always miss a few people (whichever location you pick), so wouldn’t let this be the deciding factor.

Minimum visa requirements, summer vibes all year around, great geolocation & maximum value per $, include D.R in your research

Getting Here

[CoachJonathan]

Hi everyone, I want to move this proposal to Snapshot today now that we’ve been live for long enough and have received enough comments.

A few key changes that I’m making to the initial proposal:

• Removing the proposed marketing budget entirely

• Dates and location have still not been finalized, but it is likely that it will take place sometime around Q1 2024 at a destination that is easy to reach for our almost 50/50 North American/European Core Contributor base

  • Flights for all 50 Core Contributors vary between destinations, but are generally within $10k of each other so I’m confident with this budget we can make sure everyone is covered

• Adding in that this offsite is specifically for Core Contributors and not Ecosystem Contributors

• Members of CSDO can nominate additional individuals to join that they think will contribute to the programming and medium-to-long-term planning for the DAO

  • Nominees must be majority approved by the rest of the CSDO members

[CoachJonathan]

This proposal has now been put to Snapshot for a vote: Snapshot

[CoachJonathan]

This snapshot has closed and option 1 “Yes” has won.

The full text for the option was: Vote “Yes” to fund the entire initiative, including all activities and logistical costs.

Metrics:
2,065 unique votes
~ 2.8M GTC tokens cast.

Thank you to all the Stewards and GTC token holders who cast their vote.