[DAO: bafkrei] $120,000 grant to be approved to fund Builder Competitions for DCL creators

Governance
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by 0xccde0e422d384122a2089888b17cd9cc402920ec

Should the following Tier 5: up to $120,000 USD, 6 months vesting (1 month cliff) grant in the Platform Contributor category be approved?

Abstract

Sandstorm connects the top brands with Metaverse builders. Independent artists create profiles and build portfolios on the Sandstorm platform. As brands enter the Metaverse and look to hire creators, they can browse profiles to find the best fit; 28 creators have already been offered full time positions.

We provide opportunities for artists to showcase their work, regardless of the Metaverse they specialize in. SandStorm currently has 1500 verified builders minting assets, creating profiles, and competing in themed builder competitions.

Grant size

120,000 USD

Beneficiary address

0x77BD4E9BB7094F92fb93b08cF5C368503CCd6c41

Description

As we expand from the Sandbox into Decentraland, we will be holding builder competitions to engage DCL creators and are looking to secure a grant to distribute to the winners of these competitions. 100% of grant money will go to builder competition contestants.

SandStorm Current Ecosystem:

  • As a Sandbox Partner and one of the only playable public experiences in the Sandbox, our community is largely made up of voxel builders. We have employed the DCL Studio, Polygonal Mind, to construct our Social Hub in Decentraland. 100 DCL, 3D, and Blender artists have been onboarded to the platform already in preparation for our entry into Decentraland. The Sandstorm team has already received inquiries about independent 3D artists for hire.

  • We host a live show 5x times a week inside the Sandbox that are focused around builder tutorials, creator highlights, and live interviews with NFT projects and Legacy Brands that are creating experiences in the Metaverse. We will begin hosting live shows inside our Decentraland Social Hub once construction is complete in 3-6 months. POAPS are created and minted for each event.

  • We hold themed builder competitions once every two weeks with prizes of up to 5,000 SAND going to the winners (prize money funded by the Sandbox). The submissions and voting process are all broadcast live from our Twitch steam.

  • 28 builders on our platform have been offered contract- and full-time roles to create experiences and assets that can be used on Metaverse LAND.

  • The Sandstorm team has employed another 10 independent artists to help us fulfill projects for our partners. Sandstorm currently has 10 partners that include: Slipknot, CyberKongz, Sappy Seals, Pudgy Penguins, and Alpacadrabraz.

  • Hosted the first live event inside the Sandbox and featured assets from 60+ creators on our platform.

How it benefits the DCL Creator Community:

  • Sandstorm provides a place for DCL creators to build their portfolio and get seen by brands that are looking for Metaverse creators.

  • Grant money will go entirely back to Decentraland creators as prizes for winning submissions in builder competitions.

  • As Sandstorm continues building experiences for its partners, we will be employing some of the most talented individual creators on our platform.

  • Sandstorm has onboarded 11 brands into the Sandbox with the intention of bringing them into the Decentraland ecosystem

  • Live shows will be hosted inside of our Decentraland Social Hub and provide additional opportunities for educational and entertaining content in and around the DCL environment.

Specification

Website w/ Builder Profiles: https://nft.sandstorm.co/

Builder Profile: https://nft.sandstorm.co/users/0x86abe289cfeb6ec7daa118de76a10e3614768128

Example Builder Asset: https://nft.sandstorm.co/collections/60c3b1c9769777a56d1f2c9c7aacf976

Builder Competition Winner Example: STATUE OF PEACE | SandStorm MetaVerse Marketplace

Personnel

Steve McGarry - Founder and CEO
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stvmcg/

Game Dizzy - Lead Architect
https://mobile.twitter.com/gamedizzy

Evan Shepard - Accounts Director
https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-shepard-3692204a/

Sharp - Show Host
https://mobile.twitter.com/Sharpp

Buffessor - Show Host
https://mobile.twitter.com/thebuffessor

Roadmap and milestones

All grant money will be used to pay out winners of builder competitions, to attract, incentivize, and reward the very best virtual creators.

Sandbox currently allots SandStorm 10,000 SAND per month as prize money for two builder competitions.

With the same funding from the Decentraland DAO, each themed competition will payout as follows:

1st Place - 4000 MANA
2nd Place - 900 MANA
3rd Place - 100 MANA

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

1 Like
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Clarification on Roadmap and Competition Logistics:

Until our DCL build is complete, we can still host builder competitions through our Twitch channel and stream the voting/counting processes. We’ll disseminate all information about the builder competitions (theme, deadline, and voting processes) through our social channels as they are released every two weeks.

Competitions we hold for artists begin on the 1st and 15th every month and usually last for 2 weeks. We’ve already completed 11 of them, and will continue hosting competitions on a bi-weekly basis.

Until the build is complete, we’d consider hosting the voting/counting events inside of another holder’s DCL land, if they’d be a willing host.

1 Like
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We need more incentives to onboard creators into Decentraland’s platform. I’m voting yes because the grant money will go to creators and it looks like you already have experience hosting these competitions.

5 Likes
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Great project and really trustable based on the Personnel profiles.
Very well explained too!

3 Likes
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Thank you for you support not only of the proposal, but of the virtual creators that are eager to build FOR something.

We value our creator community and do everything possible to make sure they feel incentivized and engaged. This is how Decentraland and all other Metaverses can grow organically.

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We appreciate you saying so and look forward to empowering all artists to create engaging work that will grow the space and provide careers in the process!

1 Like
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Hey @TheGasMan if y’all would like to contact a few creators in the community for possible hosting of the competition on their land, I can attempt to help put you in contact with a few people. But would need to ask for their interest in something like this. Let me know!

4 Likes
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i’m slightly confused what this is about? you’re an asset library and you want to get the dao to fund prize money for marketing with the idea that it will push people to build in DCL is that right?

i’m not necessarily against it, but by your math 120000 USD is enough mana at current rates to fund 24 contests

why not ask for 15k and run 3 contests (20k/4) and then ask for another grant if they go well? i would be far more likely to vote in favor of that rather than 120k up front when (as i know at least - correct me if i’m wrong) you don’t have a track record in DCL

4 Likes
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Voted “No” because i got the same opinion like @dax

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This is a proposal that sends $120k in MANA to builders to create assets in DCL. No % appears to go to Sandstorm. 100% goes to builders so I’m a bit confused how anyone here could vote here no unless there is deep confusion or paralysis by analysis on prizes for the builders. Regardless of the math breakdown for builder prizes isn’t the most fundamental component here that 100% of this goes to people creating value in DCL? What would the downside be exactly? @dax @ArtReYou

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So by voting no @ArtReYou you are voting for all of us to NOT invite the largest community of builders into DCL to create more value? Not seeing any of the downside here folks unless I am the one thats deeply confused…

1 Like
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Thanks for the questions @dax Currently, we reach 11.2 million people per month and stream 5 times per week from our social hub in Sandbox and we’re developing our estate in DCL.

We’ve seen a large spike in builders from DCL on our platform joining our community and this grant is intended to reward them for creating assets in DCL. Check out the platform to learn more

RE: if we should propose a few smaller contest first. This isn’t efficient in a DAO format like this. At the bottom of the proposal, we show the format of how we work with Sandbox as our partner for builder contests. The demand is here now for builders and only meeting that with a small % isn’t what we are trying to achieve. In other words, we don’t want to provide less value with smaller contest - we want to provide more and longer-term.

RE: track record in DCL. Our platform is home to the largest and vast majority of development studios that are building assets in DCL.

Hope all that helps with your voting and thanks for supporting the builder community

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@sandstorm thanks for your reply - i’m not suggesting a smaller contest, i think the prize you offer sounds nice, but even if you are running 2 similar sized contests a month, that’s enough for 6 months. so why not get a smaller grant, prove that this works (cause you haven’t done this in DCL yet unless i’m mistaken) and then ask for more?

cc: @beanie

2 Likes
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Thanks for the support @beanie and happy to hear you got the overall goal of the proposal.

RE: math on the amount per builder contest @dax To clarify, we priced this proposal in USD for 12 months. At the bottom of the proposal, it is in MANA at the time of writing this. Obviously, that amount of MANA in USD has changed dramatically over the last 30-60 days. Regardless of MANA price volatility, our 12-month goal for this is $10K per month for builder contests for builders via MANA.

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yeah i understand that - i guess what i’m saying is that i’m hesitant to vote yes for a proposal with that long of a time frame by a team that isn’t known in decentraland but i like the idea and i would be much less hesitant to support a 3 month timeframe

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Thanks for the question @dax The goal is for 12 months of consistent monthly contests to grow the builder community here in DCL. We are committed to coming back with another proposal in 12 months with the results and submitting another. This is a long-term strategy and going through these proposals every 3 months or 6 months with smaller results isn’t efficient.

Curious, to echo @beanie’s previous comment to your questions @dax if you own land or any assets in DCL and are voting no to bring the largest community of builders into DCL monthly, it’s because this hasn’t been done before?

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This sounds great @ckbubbles ! we would love to chat with more DCL creators. Always open to collabs to help drive education on the builder side. @TheGasMan

1 Like
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Thank you for the support @yemel we’ve seen a lot of traction with builders and studios in DCL and this will be a great initiative to help bring more people in.

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“go small or go home” :rofl: thats the logic here @dax ?

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i’m not sure how my assets come into play for this, but i do have land in DCL.

again - my doubts are based on the fact that you are unknown in DCL and are asking for a large sum of money for what is essentially a year long marketing campaign for your business. I believe it’s better to build some trust with the community first before asking for 120k USD and i don’t think that’s unreasonable.

@beanie see above