Dear council,
The Thousand Validator Programme (1KV) is a great initiative to aid with decentralization by allowing independent validators an opportunity to be included in active validation.
The 1KV takes validation a step further by imposing rules upon its candidates which requires validators to adhere to best-practice behaviors. Learning material on these specifics is scarce beyond one-liners provided on the 1KV page and on the WIKI.
These two presentations provide the following:
An explanation of each of the rules, how the rules are enforced, the source of data driving these rules as well as the consequences for not adhering.
An overview of the nomination system, a description of each of the weights, and how it affects your overall score. In this section, an example is also used to demonstrate how the system cycles its nominations.
Upgrading best practices, how to upgrade with zero downtime, and upgrading with little downtime in both scenarios of being in the active set or not. The effect of upgrading in the context of the 1KV system is discussed.
In finality, a brief examination of anticipated returns is provided.
With each topic, readers are provided with tools produced by the 1KV to aid with operating their nodes, and a PDF version of the presentation is also made available.
I believe that this can not only benefit new candidates but also existing candidates. I have personally benefited from the viewing.
Thousand Validator - Onboarding video - Part 1
Thousand Validator - Onboarding video - Part 2