PEP 64 - ANON (A Nobly Operated News)

Proposals Ecosystem
1

ANON (A Nobly Operated News):*

Attributes

Author(s):* @Adrienne and @b3n

Recipient(s):* @PoktNews

Category:* Contract

Asking Amount:* $5K per month until the end of the Era

Summary

Socket’s have incubated their first “core contributor” in PoktNews and we ask the DAO to fund them in the same way they would any other major contribution. The asking amount is $5K USD in POKT at the monthly (trailing 30 day avg) price.

Background (optional)

Since incubating Sockets we’ve been really pleased to see the progress that multiple contributors have made in supporting our broader ambitions.

At all times PoktNews has been one of the most active, diligent and responsive resources. It’s not a stretch to say that they have been exactly what we hoped for when designing Sockets, and their work has made it as easy as ever to be connected to the latest happenings across the community. To be able to summarise so much into a consistent, measured but optimistic voice is truly a credit to their talent in this role.

However, Socket’s were never intended to be recurring income streams like a “wage”. Sockets were created to support contributors like PoktNews to quickly access resources so they can test their ideas and demonstrate their value through evidence, rather than getting stuck debating the merits of these experiments via proposals.

Now that PoktNews has demonstrated their value it’s time to ask how we can better reflect their value and role in the organisation?

Solution

We believe the the organisation should recognise PoktNews as a core contributor to the project through these three actions:

  • Funding PoktNews via the DAO
  • Increasing their compensation in line with comparable agency fees
  • Formalise their role as reporting to the Head of Marketing (Adz)

DAO Funded:

As stated above, Sockets are seed grants to incubate valuable programs rather than a recurring “wage”. They were created to incubate talent to bring value to market and to test their ideas in the real world. Given the PoktNews “experiment” has proven valuable to people both inside and outside our community, it is time to take this Socket to its logical conclusion which is to have it funded directly from the DAO.

The Socket has created the evidence that supports a proposal like this to pass. The final step is really just to pass the proposal that reflects this value.

Increase compensation:

PoktNews Socket currently pays them $3K per month. We believe that $5k is a fairer reflection of the value that PoktNews brings.

This aligns compensation with the lower end of the professional social media agency spectrum but above the level of a professional freelancer.

A social media specialist would be less embedded in our culture and ecosystem and their volume would be constrained far beyond what PoktNews contributes. Yet the amount still provides room for growth as PoktNews continues to grow with us.

Report to Adz:

So far, PoktNews has had full autonomy over their time and effort and has been highly accountable to seeking out opportunities to increase value.

We want to further support this by giving them the access and resources they need, which would happen most effectively by having them aligned with our Head of Marketing.

With their combined efforts we think we can significantly advance awareness of Pocket in the market and take the first steps towards having a truly community-led marketing function. As a core contributor and reporting to the Head of Marketing, they would provide regular updates via the quarterly transparency report.

In summary, Socket’s have incubated their first “core contributor” in PoktNews and we are asking the DAO to fund them directly as they would fund other major contributors. The purpose of Sockets is to build the evidence of accountability and value creation and this step reinforces the transitory role that Socket’s play in incubating talent. As we transition, it also provides a chance to more fairly reward PoktNews for the work they complete and the value they create, and to signal a first but meaningful coordination point for a community-led marketing function.

Deliverable(s)

Deliverables within the role of PoktNews will continue to reflect those outlines and completed within the Socket. Additional deliverables will be communicate via the transparency reports.

Budget

The requested amount is the equivalent of $5K month in POKT, paid at the monthly (trailing 30day avg) price

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

7 Likes
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Hey, as much as I love what PoktNews is doing, is now the best time to ask the DAO for $5K monthly? We just saw MSA’s reimbursement proposal get shut down for similar reasons. What sets this one apart?

The DAO’s treasury is running low, especially after passing those ERA budgets (which I totally supported, btw). We have to watch the burn rate now more than ever.

Also, is this a PNF proposal or is it straight from PoktNews?

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I just want to reiterate my respect and appreciation for the work of PoktNews. Under different conditions, these questions might not warrant discussion

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This seems to be a structural change as PoktNews moves from experiment to qualified institution.

While BT’s concerns are definitely valid- the DAO reserves have been pretty decimated over the last year, PoktNews has become a core contributor for Pocket and IMO time to move payment budgeting to what should be the longer term solution.

4 Likes
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Hey BT, thanks for the Q’s and I really appreciate you being cost conscious and thinking about burn rate (it’s a big part of where I spend my time too). Sorry in advance for the length of my reply!

PNF is making this proposal and here’s why:

  • Recognition: As Corn alludes to Sockets are mostly experiments that build evidence of impact/ROI so the DAO can make longer term decisions. In my opinion PoktNews has passed this experimental threshold and PNF makes this proposal to recognise that, and also to cover some of the questions we expected coming out of it. What sets PoktNews apart from the MSA proposal is that they have, month on month, created a historical record which evidences their work and impact in public. Anyone could speak up and question that work/impact and the level of rewards at any stage on that journey, rather than in MSA’s case trying to figure it all out at the end via a vote. Given most feedback provided to PoktNews was positive, we take this as general support.

  • Integrity: We would prefer to not be in a position of having essential services run through Sockets given that was not their original intent. Lifting the cap on Sockets (from $2.5K to $5K) to suit this case is also not ideal. There is no line item in the Era budget for marketing expenses so ultimately PNF will use its own budget if needed to find the right outcome for PoktNews. Maybe this is preferable to the DAO, but comes with the trade offs covered below.

  • Decentralisation: It’s preferable to align contributions through the DAO rather than PNF where it makes sense. One intent of the Era Allocation was to support this progressive decentralisation by funding the right things and opening up in a way that does not create misalignments. Given PoktNews is everything the DAO (and PNF) could want in a contributor we hope the DAO takes this first step towards a meaningfully decentralised marketing function. PNF can fund PoktNews to the right value via a Socket and top up from PNF, but this increases the centralisation of work under PNF further. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this btw - it’s just a trade off everyone should consider.

Regarding the burn rate, either way (most of) this will be coming from the DAO treasury or the Era Allocation, and both are funded via the DAO. While I’m acutely aware of the need to protect the remaining treasury I think the result here nets out and is a matter of accounting. Am very open to further feedback on this though because it sets some precedent that might be helpful as the Era progresses.

4 Likes
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This proposal is incomplete. It needs a summary of the work that PoktNews has done to date - perhaps also relevant links - and info on “their” background.

This is especially necessary for voters like myself who do not follow social media and are unfamiliar with “their” contribution. I know virtually nothing about PoktNews. My knowledge is essentially that “they” are usually the first person to respond with a “like” to all forum posts. (Based on this PEP, and correct me if I am wrong, I assume PoktNews is one person who prefers to be addressed as they/them.)

2 Likes
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Apologies, we did link to their work but appreciate it might not have been clear. See below but linking their work since March which can all be reviewed here: PoktNews plugs into the Socket 🔌

Please do comment with anything not covered that you would like to see.

PoktNews is anonymous and their true identity is unknown even to those of us collaborating with them regularly. Given we don’t even know if it’s one individual or a group of contributors we just go with they :+1:

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This proposal is now up for voting Snapshot

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Though PoktNews is diligent and undoubtedly a valuable asset for marketing, my qualm is not knowing whether they(more than 1 person imo) are already a paid employee of some vested interest or even pni/grove, or a collective group of paid employees of similar entities who have already been handsomely incentivized to spend their time doing other things instead of tweeting, etc. Sorry PoktNews, though I appreciate you and I know it’ll probably hurt me, I’m voting no.

2 Likes
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This does not matter to me. I’ve been watching POKT News since they started and they’re pretty much the only solid source in the space for latest news. They are looking at everything as far as I can tell. Who cares if it’s one of us or them? They are the only ones who have successfully done this job for this long and they do help the space which helps us all. Kudos to you if you pick up the job.

What I do care about is if they are going to stick around and I would like this monthly allocation of funds to be for others as well. It is my firm belief that there is no reason to be conservative with DAO funds and the spending helps the space we are all in as well as grows the economy which has potential for massive return.

4 Likes