Proponent: Web3 Group
Date: Main Hackathon and conference in Mexico City: 16th, 17th and 18th June 2023
Request: 4.701 KSM (140,000 USD) based on EMA7 value 29,78 on the 04/05/2023 tooken from subscan
Short Description: Second Hackathon in Mexico focused on education about the Substrate ecosystem, Rust and Gear Protocol with training to developers before the event, opened to the whole DotSama ecosystem.
THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
Web3Group is a Mexican company dedicated to organizing educational events, mainly focused on hackathons, and has worked with different universities such as IPN, UNAM, and UAM to achieve this. More information about Web3group can be found on its official website.
In 2022, Web3 Group and Gear joined forces to create the first Web3 University Hackathon in Mexico, with a focus on teaching and training future engineers about the stack that Gear shares with Polkadot. The event concluded with a successful hackathon where many dapps were created using the Gear Protocol. This hackathon was combined with a conference to which the general public was invited to listen to well-known speakers in Mexico. The event had 100 students coding and about 300 visitors.
If you want to see the pictures of the previous event please check this proposal
Cointelegraph served as our media sponsor and covered the event in their press release, published in both English and Spanish.
After our successful first event with the top universities in Mexico, we received positive feedback confirming that there is a lot of talent but a lack of education about the blockchain ecosystem, especially regarding the cutting-edge Polkadot technology.
We are thrilled to announce that our upcoming event will be bigger and better than ever before. We will welcome 300 students and open up the conference events to 600 visitors. Additionally, we would like to invite more parachains to join our exciting hackathon. We are delighted to have the support of the Gear Foundation for this event and would like to extend an invitation to partner with us to spread the word about DotSama and its potential to the next generation of developers and students. Let's work together to create a vibrant ecosystem that will continue to evolve and innovate.
According to a Chainalysis study. LATAM is the market with the biggest growth in the world on the blockchain ecosystem and the second one with more transactions in 2022.
Despite the significant adoption of blockchain in LATAM, Polkadot/Kusama and its parachains are not yet positioned at the forefront, and there is still room for the development of new decentralized applications within the ecosystem. The adoption of technologies that facilitate an easy transition from web2 to web3 development presents a vast potential for new developers. WASM is a key feature of this adoption, and both Kusama/Polkadot and Gear Protocol share this pillar, utilizing programming languages like Rust to create real potential for growth. However, education is necessary to achieve this goal.
We really aim to introduce Kusama and Polkadot to the general public in Mexico and students at the country's top universities. These students represent the future developers and adopters of this technology. By exposing them to Rust programming and providing opportunities to develop applications on different parachains, we aim to deeply engage them with the ecosystem. Our goal is to spark interest and generate excitement, and who knows, they may even create the next highly popular app.
Web3group and Gear Foundation have joined forces to create educational events, including bootcamps, aimed at teaching the tools required to create decentralized applications using Rust compiled to WASM. The culmination of this educational effort will be a Mega Bootcamp, held in conjunction with some of the best computer science universities in Mexico. The event will span the entire country, with more than 30 universities in 5 different locations spreading the word about the Polkadot ecosystem, Substrate, and parachains. The event will culminate in a Mega Hackathon to be held in Mexico City.
3.1 - How does this proposal help the Dotsama ecosystem?
To address this challenge, we propose organizing four regional hackathons aimed at educating students about Kusama and Polkadot. The winners of these hackathons will then be invited to participate in the main hackathon, where they will engage in a three-day coding challenge, receive mentorship, and have the opportunity to build connections within the community. Through this process, participants will gain a deep understanding of the Web3 world and the DotSama ecosystem. This hands-on approach will not only introduce them to the technology but also inspire them to become future developers and adopters of this emerging field.
Goals
Metrics
The proposed initiative aims to benefit the DotSama ecosystem and its parachains, with a focus not only on the community but also on the generation of new future developers. Additionally, a follow-up with continuous educational events is planned to ensure sustained growth and development.
To accomplish this, we have also partnered with Zona3, an educational institution that will provide Rust programming education to students before they participate in the hackathon. This partnership aims to attract more qualified students to the event and ensure that they are well-equipped to engage with the technology.
Event start online : April 28
Event end face-to-face : June 18
Total duration: 1 Month 3 weeks
This event will be executed in different stages:
Virtual
Due to Gear's experience in various hackathons, we agreed to hold a bootcamp before the main hackathon, with a focus on providing workshops and educational talks. Each participating parachain will have the opportunity to conduct several workshops and Q&A sessions with the participants to get them excited and prepared to build on their platforms. We have created a schedule of possible time slots that can be occupied by the different parachains for their educational sessions.
A more detailed schedule with talking themes will be presented later on, once all the participants have been confirmed.
As the educational events have already started, you can see some screenshots on our web page
Face-to-Face
We were also invited to host smaller hackathons in other regions of the country, so we decided to bring them together. There will be four regional hackathons held at major universities, with over 150 students participating in each one, working on solutions. The top three teams from each hackathon will be awarded free trips to the Mexico city Hackathon, with their costs covered as part of the bounty they receive. During these regional hackathons, parachain teams have the option to support participants both online and offline. We are working to ensure the events are held in close proximity to one another, making it easy for people to move between locations and collaborate with the students.
Mega face-to-face hackathon
In addition to the hackathon, we have decided to use the space at ITAM University in Mexico City to also host a conference. With a lot of knowledgeable people from both the DotSama and Mexican blockchain ecosystems present, we will have the opportunity to bring together top-notch speakers such as Pimpo (organizer of Talentland), Mad Crypto, Lorena Ortiz, Zona3, among others, to give speeches and participate in panel discussions aimed at spreading the word about the blockchain and Polkadot ecosystems to the community. We expect around 300-400 participants to attend this exciting event, with an additional 1000+ viewers tuning in online via the live stream.
The bootckathon it's divided into 2 different events:
Side Hackathons will be held in four different cities, each with 150 developers participating, for a total of 600 participants. The hackathons will take place over a period of two days and will provide a budget to the universities for the following purposes:
The budget for each location is set at 38,000 USD.
Main Hackathon (300 developers)
This hackathon will be run within 3 days in 1 main city. The conference will take place 2 days so there will be space for booths, speakers and community. Ths are the main items of the budget:
Budget main location: 92,000 USD
Web3group Event Organization
Web3group will take charge of organizing the face-to-face hackathons with each university, coordinating with its suppliers and providing a team of eight individuals to handle various aspects such as design, construction, assembly, disassembly, and event organization.
Budget: 10,000 USD
Total Budget: 140,000 USD
A more detailed and structured budget can be found in this attached doc.
This budget covers the expenses for this proposal, but not the entire cost of the event. The Gear Foundation will also cover pre-event expenses, including visits to universities, coordination of smaller hackathons, and basic expenses such as security and infrastructure costs for universities. Additionally, the Foundation will cover translation services, exclusive giveaways, and the closing party. The total amount contributed by the Gear Foundation will be $40,000 USD. This is excluding the personal that will fly and work to support the education and realization of this hackathons.
We will allocate the funds in stages, starting with the decoration of the side events and making a prepayment for the main event preparation. We are currently finalizing the details and will provide a more comprehensive timeline in the near future.
We have already secured the dates and locations for the hackathons with the participating universities. In the unlikely event that this proposal is not approved, we may have to cancel the main conference and limit the hackathon to students only. However, we are actively seeking additional sponsors from the VC community to ensure the success of the events, even if the proposal is not funded.
In the event that this proposal will pass and we still will be mange to secure funds from committed VCs, we will return any unused funds to the treasury. We are committed to transparency and will provide a final report of all expenses, including invoices for larger expenditures if this is needed.
Large-scale Web3 hackathons were not common before the one we built and ran last year in partnership with the Gear Foundation. While Solana repeated the event this year, it was much smaller in scale, with only one university involved. However, as a Web3 group that started just under two years ago, we have several advantages. Previously, we organized hackathons for Web2 projects and corporations, primarily university-based. One of the UNAMS professors introduced us to Gear representatives while they were discussing the possibility of holding a hackathon there. By leveraging our contacts and expertise, we created the first-ever Web3 university hackathon. The event was a great success, attracting interest from many universities, and inspiring us to organize several regional hackathons and a main closing event. Our goal is to reach more students and universities interested in exploring this technology further, but it is a big lack of educated people, so this events can give a big boost.
This event is the culmination of two years of hard work, and we are excited to share our experience with the entire Polkadot ecosystem. By bringing together the best and brightest talent, we aim to spread the word about the potential of Substrate and Rust technologies to drive blockchain adoption across the country. We are confident that our event will provide a platform for developers to learn and collaborate, and we look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that emerge from this gathering.
My name is Jesus, and I represent the Web3 Group. As the main contact person, I will be responsible for managing the relationships with the universities and vendors to ensure the success of this mega event. Me and my team will travel to different regions to guarantee the smooth and efficient operation of the events. Web3 is our passion, and we are committed to delivering the best possible outcome. We will charge a nominal fee for our services, which will primarily cover transportation and salaries. Our aim is to be transparent with all parties involved, and we want to ensure that everyone understands our fees. We are not seeking to profit from this event or make a one-time gain. Instead, we view this as an opportunity to build our reputation and collaborate with others.
Web3 Group and Gear Foundation are organizing a hackathon and conference in Mexico City in June 2023 to teach students about the Polkadot ecosystem, Substrate, and parachains. The event will include smaller hackathons in four other cities, with the top teams from each one invited to participate in the main hackathon. The goal is to enhance awareness and comprehension of the DotSama Ecosystem and its Parachains, build a community of skilled developers, and create new minimum viable products (MVPs) for all participating Parachains using decentralized applications. The budget for the event is $140,000 USD, and the Gear Foundation will contribute $40,000 USD. The event will be executed in different stages, starting with virtual workshops and educational talks, followed by regional hackathons, and culminating in the main hackathon and conference.
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