julianeon
New member
Summary
Create a community resource site named dashexchange.io which will function as a walk-through guide and resource for all Dash things exchange and merchant related.
The site will function as a knowledge base and resource for users who want to know more about Dash and third parties associated or integrated with Dash. Users will be able to click through screenshot-based guides and descriptions of major exchange and merchants, with screenshots and vetted information describing how to use them.
The majority of our work will be dedicated to doing research on exchanges, assembling guides, iterating on the website, and building out the knowledge base of Dash material. In addition, by emailing [email protected] or [email protected], users will receive a response within 1 business day addressing merchant and exchange questions.
We will act as an advocate for users and give advice to users who are working with Dash-related third-parties. Anonymized website visit and engagement metrics will be produced on a weekly basis and posted to the site in order to track progress and user engagement.
We will also have a Twitter presence and will engage with users through social media, switching to email when that is more appropriate for privacy or confidentiality reasons. We believe that such a plan will nicely complement the existing websites, forums and support sites concerning Dash, and we respectfully wish to add our experience & technology department administration experience to the pool in a full-time capacity.
This project will require one full-time person to complete the core research & outreach work, one full-time developer, and graphic design work, outside PR firm hiring, copywriting, various SaaS services, and knowledge base creation. Our principal work experience is with San Francisco technology companies and our organization is based around this model (where our team partially resides). Our founding team of two will combine forces to ensure that full-time standards are exceeded and that the deliverables arrive according to plan.
For users who elect to join our mailing list, we will also send out a Dash Exchanges email with helpful tips and information users should find useful.
By the end of the project, enough standard and repeated replies (also known as "macros") will have been generated to go towards the creation of a Knowledge Base. Instead of duplicating existing resources, this material will be used to create all-new documentation to cover issues as users commonly report them. This will then be posted on the website and should streamline the onboarding and learning process for users new to the Dash ecosystem.
From the date the project ceases to be funded, we commit to keeping this material online for 1 year and 4 months. Assuming no further updates, we believe this to be an appropriate length of time for material that should stay relevant without becoming outdated. By the end of this project, a fully functional stand-alone Dash exchange website will be complete.
Cost:
40 dash/month for 3 months
Background:
Our experience is with technical support at technology companies and communications/PR in general. Our principal organizer was the Lead Support Engineer and interim Support Manager at the fintech/cryptocurrency company Ripple, where he built out and managed a small team focused on both consumer and commercial solutions. He has answered thousands of questions regarding exchanges (many in East Asia) and is accustomed to dealing with customer issues across time zones, languages and continents. He honed his skills on questions regarding security, public and private keys, wallets, and the use of exchanges, in addition to coordinating with other team members on similar questions and working across departments to meet timelines and messaging needs.
We believe this plan can offer significant long-term benefits, since a larger web presence, an independently standing community-serving support site, self-serve documentation and material custom-built around user questions can drive adoption and decrease friction as users experience it, and help spread the word about Dash.
Solution:
This solution will operate as a trial for 3 months. A site will be set up and developed at dashexchange.io to post Dash exchange and merchant guides which will allow any user to visit the site and quickly get started with the options. Email addresses associated with the dash domain dashexchange.io will be set up to respond to any Dash-related questions that users would like to send in, and a Twitter address will be used to supplement it.
Behind the scenes, a Zendesk account will be configured to receive all incoming questions and track metrics, as will an Intercom account (Zendesk for email, Intercom for in-site chat). Anonymized data such as number of tickets, response times, etc. will be posted to the site for public viewing. A website will also be set up to advise users and share information as it is added to the knowledge base. The assembled documentation will be made fully available and shared with the community.
Team:
@julianeon has worked in communications for nearly two decades, and has been employed full-time in technical support for the past 5 years, 4 of them at San Francisco technology startups. He was the first full-time technical support engineer and a manager of support at Ripple, where he built out and managed a small team focused on both consumer and commercial solutions. His full-time cryptocurrency education began during a work week 3 years ago, where he learned how to send a cryptocurrency back and forth from the command line. He has advised users about exchanges of all sizes (many in East Asia) throughout his tenure and is accustomed to dealing with customer issues across time zones, languages and continents, while covering topics such as online security, public and private keys, wallets, and general best practices.
As a technical support engineer with a focus on department administration and JavaScript-using internal tools, Julian helped build out the support department across two product lines at Meteor Development Group, a developer tools company with a strong open source emphasis; he has also worked for market-leading companies such as PagerDuty and Intercom, helping users with subjects as diverse as monitoring tools and account administration. Julian has years of experience with answering large ticket volumes at scale while maintaining high levels of quality and customer satisfaction. He is also consulting full-time on an Ethereum-based token launch and has organized well-funded projects with full budgetary oversight before. He is excited about working within the Dash ecosystem to increase adoption and provide users with best in class information.
@gregaudel has worked as a public relations expert and political consultant for over two decades. He has spent the majority of his career focusing on public relations and customer acquisition at a privately held law firm, managing ad buys across multiple media platforms and working to acquire customers, spread awareness of legal services, and counsel customers on their options at each step of the onboarding and engagement process. He also worked as the event coordinator and manager for comedian Paula Poundstone, where he personally oversaw booking, promoting and selling out large venues and over a thousand tickets. He has concentrated on fundraising and development for nonprofits organization, and advises others on these topics as a board member of Writers in the Schools and the Houston Storytellers Guild. Greg has spent years working on the campaigns of elected politicians, primarily as Finance Director, in charge of raising funds for statewide and congressional races. He has counseled politicians on both sides of the political spectrum and is a strong advocate for the privacy features and decentralized nature of Dash. He is an interviewer and host of the "So, What's Your Story?" radio show on 90.1 KPFT, and an autobiographical story of his was featured on the national broadcast of the Moth radio show.
As a newcomer to Dash and cryptocurrency in general, Greg approaches the space with fresh eyes informed by public speaking experience. Greg will be on hand to ensure users of experience level can benefit from the materials the project will be creating, while remaining on message and tied to a larger narrative.
Deliverables
1. Site collecting information about Dash exchanges, merchants, and other third parties that users can read online and engage with through chat or email.
2. Metrics section to view weekly support request volume accompanied by a weekly report on the state of support.
3. Documentation delivered by end of project that will formalize commonly asked questions and answers, in addition to topical sections that address individual areas in more detail.
Schedule
Due to the high up-front cost and effort associated with creating a website from scratch and rapidly improving it, we estimate 3 months as an appropriate length of time to run the trial and build out the content. While we plan to have a functional website from the day the project launches, we'll be incrementally improving it over the course of the 3 months.
Budget, Itemized Costs, Total Costs Requested
Technical Staff
- 160 hrs/month @ 60$/hr = $9600/month for 3 months
The cost calculation is estimated at the full-time rate for an experienced manager-level support engineer at a Bay Area technology company. In practice this will be split between two team members who will more than equal 1 full-time person.
Web Site / Application Development
~160-200hrs/month @ 50$/hr = $10,000/month for 2 months
A full-time developer will produce our single-page application site using Node.js and React, and will be on hand to make additions modifications as needed.
The site will connect to the Dash network and display associated information, in addition to taking a series of ongoing support-related content updates as the project progresses.
Outreach and Public Relations
~80hrs/ month @~50/hr = $4000/month for 3 months
For communications work associated with spreading the word about our support site and driving users to the URL.
Project management
$5000 one-time cost
This will cover reimbursement, recruiting expenses, management expenses, SaaS expenses, and copyrighting expenses of various types.
Unforeseen Expenses
$5500 one-time cost
On occasion, contractors fail to deliver to specifications and will need to be replaced, or work may need to be scrapped and redone. While we will aim to keep this to a minimum, this amount will provide us with a cushion for unforeseen setbacks. This amount will also be relied on if the price of Dash fluctuates downwards.
$300 one-time cost
Saas fees for Zendesk and Intercom.
$3000 Proposal Fee
TOTAL
$74,600 or ~40 Dash/mo for 3 months
Closing
We believe the time is right for this approach, as Dash and cryptocurrencies in general enter a new level of public awareness. Our focus will be on the ecosystem and important key players. We will diligently work to address a broad audience and we'll be on hand to update and chat with the community regularly.
Thank you for reading our proposal. Any feedback and/or comments are welcome!
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