CityDAO Podcast: Update, Vision, Costs, Help Request & Next Steps
Vision for the CityDAO Podcast & why it’s needed
The CityDAO Podcast is a vehicle to initiate and engage with important conversations with political leaders across the globe in collaborative fashion at the proverbial round table. This is an opportunity to establish positive relationships with todays politicians to demystify DAO’s and help bridge the gap between traditional Politics and the new-age Web3 revolution.
Additionally, someday a physical city -as defined by current geographical boundaries & connected to our present political system- will opt to operate as a DAO & CityDAO should be there when it happens to help everyone involved.
There’s always a 1st for everything. Wyoming was the 1st US state to embrace DAO recognition, the Republic of The Marshal Islands was the first country to embrace DAO’s at the Federal level, El Salvador was the 1st county to embrace bitcoin as a national currency and Miami was the 1st city to launch an official City Coin. When the first City begins to operate as a DAO, CityDAO should be there well in advance of the announcement to assist with the transition.
CityDAO is on the radar with important and powerful people across the globe including some of todays political leaders. The warm and welcomed reception I received when talking with the City of Miami and the Wyoming Senate clarified to me just how unique of a position CityDAO is in.
Purpose of this Document
The purpose of this document is to address the current and urgent items relating to the known and present subjects pertaining exclusively to the Podcast.
The Podcast can be said to be located within the broader category of Media, Content and Public Relations and/or more. However, the Podcast is live with a clear, quantifiable & definitive scope whereas the broader Media/Content/PR subjects currently do not and will require lots of discussion and thought before it does. Once these current and known Podcast items are fully flushed out then the broader subjects of Media/Content/PR can be further explored throughout 2nd & 3rd Qtr 2022.
In other words; let’s not get stuck in analysis paralysis here. Let’s proceed one small step at a time, starting with known urgent/priority items and then explore broader/larger subjects afterwards.
Background & Current Summary of the CityDAO Podcast
I volunteered to lead the CityDAO Podcast initiative via a Discord post in November 2021 which received unanimous positive feedback at the time. Since then the Podcast has been coming to life and taking shape.
I have received a number of requests from the CityDAO community for different styles of shows including:
- Long-format traditional podcast episodes
- Citizens series
- AMA’s
- Weekly roundups
- Community Calls
Progress to date:
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Website design is completed and live
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Hosting site is completed and live
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Systems & processes have been established for; audio editing, time stamped show notes, reference URL’s, and pushing live to hosting and website
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10 Episodes are currently live right now including;
- 7x Citizens Series
- 1x External Guest
- 1x AMA & perhaps most importantly;
- 1x Notable Political figure from the City of Miami
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2 more episodes are finished recording and in for editing right now and will be live within the next 10 days
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4 more episodes are currently scheduled to be recorded between now and end of March including Senator Rothfuss from the State of Wyoming, Chairman of the Blockchain Council that passed Bill-38 to recognize DAO’s
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390 podcast unique listens have occurred as of todays date
- 26 different countries have tuned in
- 90% is a Male audience so far and most listeners are ages 28-34
Current Job Description and Responsibilities
As with any project, the CityDAO Podcast has a checklist of tasks and responsibilities that needs to be completed on-going generally as well as for every episode. Here is the checklist as it stands today:
PRE-LAUNCH (completed)
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Prep, design & maintain the WP website @ podcast.citydao.io
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Prep & setup the podcasting hosting site @ anchor.fm
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Google drive organization for raw files, edited files, photo’s, notes, episode names & organization
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Set up basic recording room for audio & visual recordings. Currently using a blue yeti mic, audacity for host audio, zoom for guest audio & zoom video both video. For video background imagery so I’ve chosen two art pieces which I felt reflect the spirit of what we’re doing here at CityDAO. I’ve been looking into having a 3D print made of the CityDAO logo as well which I think would look pretty dank when done
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Source out and pay for intro music, trial and error to get it to sound good
LAUNCH (completed)
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Source out/locate & schedule guests. Sometimes is quite easy as with Citizens series, other times takes work such as locating contact info and back and forth emails explaining as with Erick Gavin from Miami and Senator Rothfuss from Wyoming. I created the email template being used thus far and have been handling that correspondence.
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Pre-recording prep, usually includes things such as; researching guest, preparing questions, citing current CityDAO and global events, little cheat sheet of questions and interview/discussion agenda
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Interview & Recording. This is my favorite part, this is basically why I do this at all. I love the discussions, the learning & the pressure to do a good show that constantly improves with feedback, trial & error.
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Audio editing; things like; removing clips, taps, coughs, umms, ahhs, removing irrelevant rants, special requests from guests, long pauses, and generally cleaning up the audio. In an average 1hr recording, often a full 10-20 minutes of these items gets cut out/deleted
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Show description; show notes & resource url’s; doing a descriptive write up for the show, usually with SEO in mind, as well as doing time-stamped show notes so people can quick flip through episodes to find points of interest. Also doing the required research to find the relevant url’s which were referenced in the interview.
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Putting the episode live; Google drive updating, website updating, hosting platform updating
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Marketing; twitter & discord, mentioning guests, gathering reviews on Spotify & Apple Podcasts, spreading the word
ON-GOING (tbd, need community input)
- Same processes as defined above for LAUNCH, ongoing for all subsequent episodes
The above is all for just the audio format of the Podcast. Numerous people in the CityDAO community have mentioned a desire to host Podcast episodes with video on the official CityDAO YouTube channel as well. A similar editing process will need to be undergone for the video/YouTube work if the YouTube chan is something we all here as a community at CityDAO feel is something we’d like to do. The first episode is currently with the video editors for a trial run. They will be able to leverage off the existing show description and existing show notes but will need to do their own/separate video editing work, this is detailed further below in this document.
YOU-TUBE (currently underway for 1 initial trial episode)
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Video recordings exist for most of the current CityDAO Podcast episodes
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A video editing process would need to be undergone in order to properly prepare, present and market
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Trial episode currently in for editing is the Erick Gavin episode from the City of Miami
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Marketing; tbd
Costs To Date + Help Request
I have thus far volunteered my time for all the Podcast Leadership work required to date including all items outlined above for the pre-launch & launch checklists above. Additionally, I have been paying out of pocket for all physical costs required for the hands-on editing, writing & website work to get the show where it is at today.
For further clarity; there ARE outsourced physical costs for most of the aspects related to PRE-LAUNCH items 1 & 2 as well as LAUNCH items 4, 5 & 6 and I have so far paid for ALL of them myself personally with no assistance from any source.
Each episode has physical costs over and above my volunteer time of approx. $315 per episode which includes all of the time-consuming aspects of items the LAUNCH checklist items 4, 5 & 6 above.
Also for further clarity; I do NOT run a podcast editing company nor do I intend to, I do NOT have a profit or operating margin in the aforementioned costs nor do I intend to, there is ZERO cash in it for me nor any other monetary benefits whatsoever for me in any of the costs outlined above. I am currently exclusively a 100% CityDAO Citizen Volunteer.
Costs I have incurred to date:
- $600 for Website build and initial podcast setup
- $4,100 in episode hard costs; 11 episodes @ $315 each
Challenges
I will not be able to continue carrying these costs on-going. These will need to be covered somehow, community willing; ideally by the treasury.
Also community willing, I have 2 further support personnel requests;
- I’d like a short term assistant/helper to help with guest recruitment. I’ll provide the checklists, leadership & coordination for all aspects related to this. The purpose is to help with sourcing out email contact info for relevant potential guests and helping me with an aggressive outreach for political members across the globe to come on the show plus help with pre-show research prep. This would either be on a volunteer basis by a CityDAO community member or a casual/part-time paid/bounty role. A helper is not an urgent need nor is it absolutely necessary, however it would really help take a bit of pressure off my shoulders!
I’d like some marketing support. People who can help me tweeting & re-tweeting episodes across their social networks and leaving positive reviews on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. This helps guests feel special, helps us recruit more guests and helps the Podcast gain the visibility it needs to become an authority presence in the DAO ecosystem overall for CityDAO to leverage from.
Questions for the community:
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Is the community interested in continuing with the Podcast? If yes;
a) How many episodes per week do we want to do?
b) What types of episodes do we want to do vrs not do? -
Does the community want to have a YouTube presence for the Podcast?
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Is the community willing to provide an operating budget for the CityDAO Podcast? If yes;
a) What is a max annual budget we want to allocate for this? This can be then reverse calculated to monthly & weekly budgets.
b) Answers to budgets need to be matched with episode types/styles as outlined in item 1) & 2) above.
c) If the community is NOT willing to allocate an operating budget for the show then I am requesting alternative suggestions as I am not able to carry the budget as a personal donation expense on-going annually in this manner. -
This item is also related to budgets but is separate from the hard costs budgets mentioned above. I mention this item in response to numerous requests by citizens for me to do so. A number of people have raised their preference for me to have my personal time compensated to some degree either back-dated for work completed so far and/or for work continuing moving forward. Therefore;
a) Does the community want to compensate me for my time in leading/coordinating/hosting the Podcast &;
b) If yes; how much of either an annual or per episode personal time reimbursement is the community comfortable with? Either on a fixed basis or hourly. -
Accountability; what accountability requirements does the community want to impose for Podcast leadership? Perhaps;
a) Maintain current quality standards for on-going episodes
b) Maintain a schedule of recordings in accordance to the answers to items 1. a) & b) noted above.
c) 3 strike system for failure to fulfil accountability items
d) Option & process for Podcast leadership replacement and/or termination by Citizens
Roadmap
4th Qtr 2021 (completed)
- Discuss Podcast concept
- Setup Podcast framework, checklists, website & hosting
- Begin recording guests for the Podcast Launch
1st Qtr 2022 (completed)
- Launch the Podcast and establish initial traction
- Prepare this document for community input
NOW
- Obtain ALL answers to community questions outlined in this document & carry out any related actionable items
2nd Qtr 2022
- Book, record & publish several episodes with bigger name thought leaders & politicians
3rd Qtr 2022
- Heavy marketing of the Podcast with intent on establishing CityDAO as an authority presence and bridge between present day politicians & Web3
- Continue booking & publishing bigger name episodes with thought leaders & politicians
4th Qtr 2022
- Continued marketing + episodes launches
- Get CityDAO included in political panels, debates & inner circle strategy meetings with politicians interested in further exploring DAO’s
- Evaluate 2022 progress & develop 2023 Roadmap
Proposal Option #1 - Minimum Viability: Monthly Shows
a) $400 per month budget x 12 months
b) Includes:
- 1 episode per month x 12 months
- All the checklist items above for editing/writing/posting etc
- Web maintenance & any design related work(s)
- A very small budget to cover a little bit of my time on-going
c) Show format: - Audio Podcast Only. YouTube would NOT be included
d) Show types: - Special Guests Only. This would NOT include AMA’s, Roundups or any other show types.
Proposal Option #2 - Weekly Shows
a) $1,800 per month budget x 12 months
b) Includes:
- 1 episode per week x 52 weeks
- All the checklist items above for editing/writing/posting etc
- Web maintenance & any design related work(s)
- A very small budget to cover a little bit of my time on-going
c) Show format: - Audio Podcast Only. YouTube would NOT be included
d) Show types: - Special Guests Only. This would NOT include AMA’s, Roundups or any other show types.
Other Proposal Options - A La Carte
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Extra Shows:
a) Add $1,800 per month to the budget for each extra 1x show added per week -
YouTube:
a) Add approx $100 - $175 per show for each YouTube version we want on the YT chan. This cost isn’t 100% confirmed yet but I’ll know very soon then can update asap after.
b) We’ll leverage the show notes from the audio version but need to re-edit the audio + edit video for this visual format
c) Fun idea: I’m thinking we can use Crypto Bushi’s kicka$$ 3D NFT art as the intro video for the YouTube chan. Combined with some good music and a little voiceover work this could be ultra dank
My Background
Education & Early Days
I’m a self-taught entrepreneur since I was an early teen. My school is the one of hard-knocks. I dropped out of high-school and have essentially been self-employed ever since in various ventures.
My first independent venture was from ages 18-20 as a B2B direct sales role where I was territory manager for a small business magazine. I cold-called for 2 years on businesses using that archaic tree-destroying entity called a phone book and reached the top spot for my region as an independent rep for the company.
Between ages 20-22 I founded and operated an event production company in Toronto, Canada and hosted approx. 12 events for the small biz communities out there including keynote speakers, tradeshow, food/beverage & multiple forms of live entertainment including music and Latin dance performances & classes.
Career Entrepreneur
From 22-33 I founded, funded and operated a construction company in Calgary, Alberta. I drove approx. 3,500 km across country during the middle of a -40* Western Alberta snow storm in a rusty old van and a single pneumatic nail gun to start the company in 2006 then by 2018 had built the company up to a team size of 60 people, several $million in ARR, customized automation software and essentially had the company operating fairly self-sufficiently. In 2018 I cashed out and sold the company to a new owner.
Around the time I was existing construction I was also diving into all things Bitcoin & Crypto. I renovated my garage to become a properly ventilated, well powered, somewhat sound-proofed Bitcoin & Litecoin mining farm. I also became a local distributor of ASICS back in the day when buying from Bitmain was a sketchy af process. Additionally, I began hiring software developers to help me with building a sentiment analysis software and fell in love with software development.
Recently I have mostly been a digital nomad, living out of a suitcase and working on my laptop wherever I ended up. This experience brought me to Greece, Thailand, Japan, California and various locations across Canada.
During this digital nomad experience I funded + launched a Philanthropic Mental-Wellness podcast called From Rock Bottom 2 Rockin’ It, located at https://rockbottom2rockinit.com/
Current
My #1 priority is my current company called MemeMarket found at https://meme.market. We’re on a mission to liberate MemeLords across the globe to generate income from their work similar to how YouTube did this for home-made videos. Success in this venture is defined as creating 1million full-time income equivalent positions for MemeLords and establishing a set of NFT based protocols to resolve copyright issues for the internet once and for all.
Hobbies
My favorite hobbies include; competitive cabaret salsa dancing, kareokee, guitar + piano, hang gliding & all things flight, space, magic the gathering & all nerdy comic book related type things, art, philosophy, podcast hosting and of course, last but not least; helping the CityDAO community