Grant Proposal: Graph Social - Web3 Events

[admin]

Grant ID: 325pwjd

Summary:

The first Graph Social web3 meetup in Dubai was extremely successful.
More than 120 people attended (top-tier web3 protocols, VCs, developers, etc.).
During the event, I explained to the audience what The Graph is and which problem it solves, then I discussed and introduced the whole ecosystem, and also what is planned for the near future. Last but not least, I explained how people can participate and become active members of The Graph ecosystem.

Some key values and takeaways:
Met multiple web3 protocols that are interested in using The Graph, instead of their centralized solutions, and I’m helping them in the transition.
Met junior developers who are interested in breaking into the web3 world and introduced them to The Graph so they might take Subgraph development as a career.
Met an important node provider and explained to them why they should run an Indexer on The Graph and secure the network.
Made multiple business collaborations.

I have read and agree to the privacy policy:
true

If available, please enter a link to your project below:
https://twitter.com/GraphSocial1

Are you applying as a team or individual?:
Individual

What type of grant are you pursuing?:
Long-term (continuous)

Please select the category your project best fits into:
Education

Please select who you think will benefit from your project?:
Curators, Delegators, Indexers, Subgraph Developers, Other

How much funding are you looking for? (USD):
18000

Provide a breakdown of your requested funding:
The requested funds will be used to cover 3 months of Graph Social events (one event per month). The following breakdown is based on what we spent during the first event (all bills are submitted to the DAO):
$4,000 per event to cover food, drinks, rent, designer, and a media company.
$2,000 a month as labor cost (organizing these events takes a lot of time (~ 30 hours) to explore places, sign contracts, find speakers, and organize keynotes.

So a total of ~$12,000 to cover the 3 events plus $6,000 to cover the cost of labor.
The total requested fund is $18,000 to cover 3-months.

Have you applied for (or already received) funding from somewhere else?:
No

What’s your vision for how your project will impact The Graph and/or web3?:
Educate people about The Graph and therefore attract more builders/developers to the ecosystem.
Grow our community, not only in the Middle East, as Dubai is a key hub for expats from more than 100 nationalities, and a well know established web3 hub.
Build business collaborations that can help the growth of The Graph ecosystem.
Create large-scale brand exposure and awareness of Graph Social and The Graph itself.

What can you share about any past work that is relevant to this grant?:
All the information can be found here: https://twitter.com/GraphSocial1

Can you share any information about current/past web3 experience?:
I’ve been contributing to The Graph for more than a year and a half:
co-managing Curation Station
Subgraph Developer
Providing tech support
Technical writer (I wrote multiple technical guides and articles covering The Graph)
You can find more info about my work on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mardeni01

Why are you interested in contributing to The Graph and/or web3?:
I’ve always been passionate about The Graph because it is the only decentralized indexing solution.

Primary Community Poll

Do you fundamentally support this grant application, knowing that the final scope and grant amount may differ from the requested proposal?

• Yes
• No

Grant Committee Vote

Do you recommend this grant to the DAO?

• Yes
• No

[pdiomede]

Thanks so much for this grant proposal.
So if I have understood well, are you planning to replicate Graph Social for other three editions?
Do you have already an idea of what kind of topics will be covered in the three different events?
Are they going to be exactly similar? Or for example are you going to introduce different speakers?

[AhmadMardeni]

Thank you very much, Paolo!
Yes, I want to replicate the event for three other editions as a start.

Each one will be unique in a way (ex. casual in a restaurant with food and shisha, formal in a conference room, “after party”, etc …) but at each one of them, I will introduce The Graph to achieve the exact same milestones I’ve achieved at the first Graph Social.

Yes, we will have different speakers. I already received tons of offers from major exchanges, top web3 protocols, and VCs to participate in my next Graph Social event. But I’m super selective as I want the speakers to be involved with The Graph in any way (ex. a protocol that has a Subgraph, a VC that is supporting The Graph, etc…).

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

[pdiomede]

Thanks @AhmadMardeni for your swift reply.
Do you need some support from other Advocates? Or will you do all alone?

[AhmadMardeni]

If a designer can help with the posters, etc then I’d appreciate that! But other than that, I’ve organized the first one from A to Z alone!

[pdiomede]

Cool. I see that you had already quite some good branding that you shared in your Twitter, so are you already working with someone, or did you design those media?

[AhmadMardeni]

CM (you know him) did the design of the poster. And an advocate called Larik did the header of the Twitter account.

[pdiomede]

Cool, didn’t know you cooperated with them, yes I know CM very well. Thanks for all your answers. I didn’t expect such super fast replies

I think this is a great initiative as I saw the videos you shared and looks like the first Graph Social was a blast!

[AhmadMardeni]

Ahhhhh I have the tab opened lol!
Yes, it was so successful! (some people said it was the best web3 meetup ever in Dubai)

[paulieb]

This is awesome! Ahmad is so good at connecting and networking. I wouldn’t be surprised if CZ showed up at the next one!

[AhmadMardeni]

Thank you, Paul!
Actually, I invited some high-level folks from Binance, and maybe at one of the next events he would show up, that would be epic haha

[ChrisEwing]

This would fill a gap in The Graph’s marketing strategy. On a fundamental level, it’s important to market to the devs who would incorporate The Graph into their stack. However, the scenario changes if the broader market doesn’t adopt or utilize the products those devs are building. The inaugural event in Dubai was well-organized, well-publicized, well-attended, and well-conducted. We can leverage our marketing resources by targeting individuals who have already ventured down the web3 rabbit hole. We also need to consider the benefits of VIPs seeing each other at such an event. “If Joe Smith is here also, there must be some value here.”
Thanks for taking the initiative, Ahmad! I do have a question for you- What locations are you considering for future events?

[AhmadMardeni]

I appreciate your kind words, Chris! Thank you.

The next three events will all be in Dubai since it is the web3/crypto hub of the world!

[TheGraphgermany]

Amad is a key member of The Graph Community and Graphtronauts. I really appreciate his commitment and his help. Always present and an excellent teacher. His work in different groups is exceptional, his knowledge unbeatable. I appreciate his effort.

[AhmadMardeni]

I really appreciate your kind words Andy, thank you!

[GRTDataHub]

The last even was deemed a huge success by the community and those who attended. I loved the interviews and the promotions in the lead up to the event. This time round will you be doing it in a similar format to The Graph Day? It would be a great step up from a community perspective to be able to join a live stream of the event during the talks and presentations. Is this something that you have in mind?

[AhmadMardeni]

Thank you, Liam!
No there will not be a live stream as it is an on-the-ground event but talks will be recorded and posted on our Twitter account! (maybe we will have a website as well)

[GRTDataHub]

That does make sense. It also makes it an exclusive event which I’m sure will be favourable within Dubai. I look forward to all of the media and I will be supporting it!

[doxe01.eth]

Good day!

Thank you for your proposal. Very cool preparation, and it is clear that everything is done and conducted at a high level. I am also grateful for the detailed explanation of the costs and the overall implementation of the grant. I have more general questions and in some sense for the future:

1. Do you plan to create other social accounts, such as YouTube, Instagram and so on, for more community involvement?

2. What number of participants do you plan and the number of people involved in social media in general?

And of course good luck! Thank you!

[AhmadMardeni]

Hello Doxe!
Thank you!

1. I only have a Twitter account as of now but planning to have a website and a YouTube channel soon.

2. Currently I handle organizing the event, a freelancer is designing the posters, and the media company is handling taking pictures, videos, interviews, etc …