Fund3 of Project Catalyst is moving to the voting phase (currently there is voter registration, if you have 3000 ADA or more - you can register and vote for proposals).
Now we have reviews ready by community advisers. I decided to publish all of them and answer. The link to the proposal on Ideascale is: https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/A-for-ADA-Cryptoalphabet-4-children/334381-48088
Yes, this will be a long post. So for those who don't have time - I will say that my proposal "A for ADA" Cryptoalphabet for children, in general, got very bad reviews. So I acknowledge that it failed to show the value for the Cardano community and therefore I won't develop this idea further. While the voting will happen only in some time - it's clear that at least part of the community doesn't want to see this as a community challenge. Yes, this proposal was in the section of "Community Challenges" so, in case of winning, this challenge would be proposed in the future.
I just thought that composing together a Cryptoalphabet might be a good idea. But the Data will speak better. So it received 57 reviews, and the average point would be only 2.26. Only 1 person put the mark 5 and there are a lot of "1".
And here are the comments and some of my answers to them
This appears to be more of an individual proposal topic rather than the title of an entire funding round.
It was an idea of the community to work together on creating the crypto-alphabet. But it can be formed as an individual proposal also. I won't submit it again, though.
This proposal is trying to address two challenges: 1. Increase general awareness of Cardano &other cryptocurrencies. 2. Create community building incentives. As it appears that the book (only 2,000 copies) will be distributed to people who take part in Catalyst, then at Cardano meetings and summits I feel that the the project would have minimum impact outside the established cryptocurrency community. The idea of voting via Catalyst for the contents of the book is interesting, and may have some success achieving the second goal.
Ok, thanks for your opinion
Like the potential and believe with further development this proposal would be effective in addressing the challenge.
Ok, thanks for your opinion (but this person also put mark 3, which is not so good)
This is an interesting idea and one that indeed has merit, however, I believe that Cardano's mission hopes to have a greater impact in a more direct way. Now, please don't misunderstand my point here as I accept that this idea is direct in that it's educating in not only Cardano but crypto in general but really what I mean is it's a questionable path to get to that direct link to Caradano specifically. Firstly, there is the desire to be educated about the alphabet via a book about crypto. Then there's the fact that if not successful (less than 200 copies sold) then the exposure is limited. I feel like the scope should maybe be increased or at the very least a plan to expand the exposure of these books over time.
Ok, thanks for your opinion. For some of them comments I don't see I have many words to add.
I sympathize with idea, however there is a reason why a different alphabet is used for children. The letters are associated with what they daily see around them, in video's, stories and so on. That is why books are changing over time. Maybe in the future more items from the digital world are added like tablets and phones and yes, maybe crypto. I would love to see other ideas to introduce finance and crypto in early education. Suggestion, why not make a YouTube video including nice animation and children song. You only have to pay for making the animation and someone with an appealing voice to sing the song.
Good idea, this is something which could be done in a way of the community challenge. Because I suggested the idea of composing the Cryptoalphabet, but the way and the forms - that's something which could be chosen by the community.
The proposal doesn't address the challenge, it is a specific project to be implemented. The purpose of this challenge is to find new topics for a challenge in the fund5. Perhaps it would be appropriate to transform this proposal into a larger container that includes the problem of children crypto-education in general and in which this specific project can be proposed?
Perhaps, but with current results and the feedback I don't see the perspectives that it will be supported.
I like the concept but unsure how this would translate into the challenge at large
Ok, thanks for your opinion, many reviewers probably thought the same
Cute idea but unclear how this really addresses any of the stated fund goals.
Ok, thanks for your opinion, many reviewers probably thought the same
The proposal is not ideal for introducing Cardano to the community. The introduction of A for ADA is disturbing an established pedagogy and the proposal has not considered the effect on children learning.
Perhaps it could be a successful individual proposal, but it does not work as the topic for a funding round.
The author isn't an illustrator, and there is no budget for one. The author has one publisher onboard, which is good. I'm unclear on how the voting will take place on Catalyst. Will there be a hundred proposals (roughly 4 for each letter) with different tokens names only? That seems that it could clog up the Catalyst system somewhat. Perhaps a voting site not on Catalyst would be preferable?
No, I didn't mean to vote on letters by submitting Proposals on Project Catalyst (Ideascale). But the Catalyst software (i.e. voting app) could be used as the engine for voting and could be one more good use-case. So for example when some project will be coming to Cardano, it will be able to use all the open-source solutions developed in the Cardano ecosystem, including voting possibilities.
Its not entirely clear how much children's book experience the author has and essentially that is what this proposal represents. This is the key reason for the current assessment score.
I don't have much experience, but I know many people who do, I know many publishers, writers, illustrators, etc.
Cannot ascertain the feasibility of this proposal with the information presented. Please reapply in future funding rounds with more information about your experience and how you plan to achieve all the writing, publishing and distribution if you truly desire traction from the community advisors.
Ok, thanks, but I won't reapply with this idea
No specific skills needed except organising it all.
I like the idea and it seems to me possible to make it without problems. It would be advisable to have a team for the realization of the project from the beginning. I have some doubts about choosing an analog medium: isn't it too far from the whole crypto world, which is purely digital? Maybe using a digital medium can be more engaging (with animations, etc.)? I am a fan of print media but I think it is more complex to spread.
Thanks for your opinion, there were people in the comments who would be able to become this team. Regarding medium - of course, there would be digital medium as well.
I would have loved to learn more how the experience in publishing plays a role or not at all. It is not entirely clear to me - would proposals be submitted by community that would pitch an education about crypto in the style presented?
Well, as the Project Catalyst is still an experiment, there might be changes in community challenges. They already changed them and I assume there will be more changes.
Roadmap is handwaved, with no stated experience on a similar project.
The plan is simple and it is likely to be implemented if the scope is as proposed.
The proposal provides sufficient information to assess how feasible it is and how effectively it addresses the challenge.The proposal intends to engage others in the community, but does not provide metrics for how it could be appropriate for an entire funding round.
Great concept but lacks specific information. Will benefit from step by step layout of how the process will produce the crypto-alphabet book.
There needs to be clear definitions of success, milestones, and a roadmap not to mention you must display a semblance of recognising what challenges and risks could affect your success.
There is only an estimation on how many copies can be printed. Did not sound there was an extensive research.
I know the prices for printing, and there was the estimation because that's a big difference to publish hardcover or softcover, to publish in one country or another - and I left these questions up to the community to decide and discuss.
The KPIs to evaluate the success of the project are valid. They could probably be improved by researching the market segment about children's education for new digital tools
I am unsure about information by the budget? Is that budget reserved for the winning book design proposal?
Yes
Likely not relevant to the challenge.
The challenge is not addressed. Creating book for elementary school kids which may never be acceptable to parents and teaching community is not going address the current challenges.
The definitions of success are that. 1. there will be high demand for this book, and that 2. general awareness will increase. I think that the first measure is probable. I know that I bought ""The ABCs of D&D"" for my kid, I'm sure that parents in the crypto community would want this. I also feel that this is easily measurable by the amount of books ordered. The second item is harder to measure and less likely given the small number of books to be printed which I expect would be quickly sold to families who are already well aware of cryptocurrencies.
What I want to say at the end, when your proposal fails and it hardly criticized - that's not the end of the world. There will be a lot of other Catalyst Funds and you can succeed someday in the future.
