Decoded 2024 Sponsorship for active community members

Proponent: Team sponsorship Decoded 2024.

Beneficiary: 13F5tf1JivzHdpzM5SmenD13X36ZVUqNVxqCrZjEr4Rcqge

Requested: 80,704.91 USD / 12,562.80 DOT

Short description:

This proposal aims to fund a sponsorship for 40 active members to attend Polkadot Decoded 2024 in Brussels. This is mainly to cover the admission, transport, and accommodation costs. Also, we want to create an event in Brussels to improve engagement on the network.

Please note: Any financial assistance from this team is dependent on this proposal passing. Should it not be approved by the community, the team cannot be held liable for providing any sponsorship to anyone.

Context of the proposal

During 2022 and 2023 the Community Team sponsored active and reputable ambassadors to participate in Decoded and Sub0. In this transition period for the ambassador program, we want to continue to incentivize and involve the active members of our community.
For this reason, we thought of organizing the sponsorship for Decoded 2024 for a group of active community members voted by the Polkadot community, similar to past events.

In 2023, the Community team sponsored 32 Ambassadors with 8 Ambassadors based in Africa, 8 in APAC, 8 in the Americas, and 8 in Europe to attend Polkadot Decoded.
This year we’d like to sponsor 40 active members: 10 people based in Europe, 10 in Middle East / Africa and 20 further away in Asia and Americas. The funds are released after the event, against proper reports and receipts. Payments are controlled with a five-person multisig, with a threshold of three.

To incentivize the proposal preparation, implementation, and follow-up, the five signatories are each entitled to a sponsorship, and the maximum sum is based on their region, just like for everyone else. The cost of sponsorship of team members is quoted as a separate item in the budget, so it does not affect the total slots of the community.

Problem statement

Polkadot Decoded is a significant event for the Polkadot ecosystem, but some talented and active people can’t attend this event without a sponsorship to cover the cost of the travel, the hotel, and the ticket.

The absence of significant global representation at the largest annual Polkadot event represents a missed opportunity for the development and growth of the network. This situation has several negative consequences that are worth analyzing in depth:

1. It limits the exchange of ideas and knowledge:

• A global event should be a space where people from different cultures, backgrounds and experiences come together to share their ideas, knowledge and insights about the network. Lack of diversity limits this crucial exchange, preventing the community from benefiting from a broader and enriching perspective.

2. It reduces opportunities for collaboration:

• Collaboration between people from different regions is critical to the development of innovative projects and the growth of the network. The absence of global representation limits opportunities to establish connections and form collaborative teams that can drive the Polkadot ecosystem forward.

3. Affects the adoption of Polkadot in different regions:

• If the main event does not attract participants from around the world, there is a risk that Polkadot will not be perceived as a global platform. This could hinder the adoption of the technology in different regions, limiting its potential impact.

4. Ignore the diversity of the Polkadot community:

• The Polkadot community is made up of people from all over the world, with different interests and needs. An event that does not reflect this diversity is not adequately serving the community as a whole.

5. It misses the opportunity to showcase Polkadot's global potential:

• A successful global event would be an excellent opportunity to showcase Polkadot's potential as a platform that can unite people and projects from around the world. The lack of global representation limits this opportunity to demonstrate the reach and capacity of the network.

The goal of the proposal

We want to thank active community members for their work and give an opportunity for this select group of talented individuals to come together and participate in Polkadot Decoded 2024, the flagship event of the year. It will be an informative and exciting networking event for these active members of the community. These types of incentives improve engagement and good vibes in the community.

Proposed solution

We set up a team to coordinate the welcoming, networking and incentivization of active community members, using a transparent method of selection, guided by the community.

Meet the Team sponsorship Decoded 2024

The team is composed of a group of active community members. Here an individual team member introductions:

Patrizia De Bella:
Head ambassador, an active member of the Italian community. Member of the ANAMIX team. Web developer. Organized events in Italy with the Polkadot Arena group and participated as a speaker.
Polkadot address: 1AnamB4ZknHy7knpqevWFjQ7kWtdqLBFWie3AdBZaadEUUV

Tomi Astikainen:
Polkadot Ambassador, kickstarting the local community in Finland. An initiator of the uniFires cross-chain collaboration initiative.
Polkadot address:
13ug3JKbtky4qcZ2SR7kbCrk9tyZMymHxLhPBGLacPmonmEW

Lorena Fabris:
Head Ambassador since 2021, an active member of the Spanish community. Co-founder of Polkadot Hub, a member of the Spanish Community Bounty. Organizer of many large events in Latin America including side events of PBA in Buenos Aires and the first Polkadot Hackathon Latam in 2022.
Polkadot address:
12xRcHjvStkUYgzTh9vyqinN3tUpddgcPnSUcLXZ3ty44Mq1

Alex PromoTeam:
Polkadot Head Ambassador for Russian speaking community, PromoTeam member, Joined the Polkadot Ambassador Program in 2019. Created and Developed several communities with a total audience 60K+ Different languages and regions: Russia / Central Asia / International. 
Social platforms - Twitter / Telegram / YouTube / Medium. Invited thousands of new users, dozens of developers and projects to the Ecosystem. Organized and spoke at 2 big Meetups in Moscow, 6 in Tashkent, 1 Belgrade and numerous small meetups.Admin and owner of dozens telegram chats across the Polkadot Ecosystem
Polkadot address: 15G4hfDNtNhRc82As8Ep2YfvpM5xVdX7De3P9qSdHerGA6wC

Ezio Rojas:
in the Polkadot ecosystem since 2021. Lawyer, former Cointelegraph Editor in Spanish, and Former Community Manager for Latin America and Spain at Parity Technologies. Co-founder of the Caracas Blockchain Week conference.
Polkadot address: 14Gn7SEmCgMX7Ukuppnw5TRjA7pao2HFpuJo39frB42tYLEh

Budget of this proposal

Link for the full proposal: here