I support the Cardano Foundation in their initiative to organize a major event, as they’ve proven in the past they can execute successfully at this scale.

They also have strong connections with media, marketing channels, and sponsors—essential partners to bring attention, funding, and broader interest to the Cardano ecosystem and its projects.

Comments from 2025 Cardano Budget Proposals Review Workshop: Cameroon Hub

What stands out? The planned events, as well as their global coverage.

What’s a tradeoff to consider? Organize lots of decentralized events rather than big events.

What’s one question you’d want to ask the proposer? How would they track the impact of the events beyond attendance?

Highlight areas that are missing or require clarification How do the proposer ensures local Cardano communities are involved in the thinking and management of events?

What value will it provide to your community? Local events can boost the participations and visibility for projects. Local events will bring experience in managing events to community members.

While this proposal presents a comprehensive strategy to strengthen Cardano's global presence, further details and clarification are needed regarding budget transparency, event selection processes, coordination with existing initiatives, and clear KPIs with outcome measurements. Community members are requesting detailed information about cost-effectiveness and specific implementation plans, given that this proposal requires a substantial budget of 6 million ADA (approximately $3 million USD).

Notes from Cardano Budget Proposals Review Workshop: Wada Team

This proposal presents an opportunity to expand Cardano’s presence through in-person engagement, yet several aspects warrant further clarification. A standout consideration is how this project may interact or overlap with the “Discover Cardano” proposal. Understanding the relationship between these initiatives is essential to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure complementary outcomes rather than competition or redundancy.

A key tradeoff to consider is the allocation of travel budgets. While managing costs is important, it’s equally crucial to prioritize the presence of the most knowledgeable and impactful representatives at these events. Ensuring the right people are on the ground could significantly enhance the effectiveness and credibility of the outreach effort.

One important question for the proposer is whether event booths will be built and managed locally. This decision could influence both budget and community involvement, potentially offering opportunities for local empowerment and cost savings.

There are also several areas that require clarification, particularly around the budgeting process. Greater transparency and detail on how funds will be allocated—especially for travel, materials, and logistics—would strengthen the proposal.

If executed well, the project could bring meaningful value to the community by increasing awareness of Cardano and fostering real-world connections. However, ensuring strategic coordination, clear budgeting, and the right team composition will be critical to its success.

Thank you very much. Are these amounts reasonably selected among all the plans? If possible, would it be possible to include in the proposal the selection process for each event plan?

For example, I think there are plans with ""booths"" and, in addition, plans with the option to display advertisements at some of the events (so-called sponsorship).

I think there are also plans with small booths and plans with large booths.

Also, from what I have heard, it seems that some of these events were previously rejected by event organizers in the past. Are you sure that the events listed here are really possible for exhibitors?

It has also been pointed out that some are offering prices higher than the market price.

Is it possible to confirm the breakdown of costs for each side event as well? Are the KPIs set uniformly for all side events? Is it possible that the KPIs need to be different for each side event?

3.Other blockchains were mentioned in the proposal. Do you have any insight or analysis into what kind of marketing activities they have done, how much they have spent, what results they have achieved, and how that impacts your proposal?

The Cardano Global Events Marketing Strategy proposal mentions Solana, Aptos, and Sui as competitors with strong brand recognition due to their coordinated marketing efforts, particularly through developer-focused events like hacker houses. Let’s take Solana for example Solana has built an events marketing strategy centered on developer engagement, community-driven initiatives, and high-visibility event participation: Hacker Houses and Hackathons: Solana hosts frequent hacker houses (3–4 annually, as noted in the Cardano proposal) and global hackathons to attract developers. These events blend technical workshops, networking, and project showcases, fostering innovation in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. For example, Solana’s “Breakpoint” conference and regional hacker houses emphasize hands-on coding and ecosystem growth which was held in Singapore that I have attended myself.

Conference Sponsorships and Booths: Solana maintains a strong presence at major blockchain conferences (e.g., Consensus, TOKEN2049) with branded booths, keynote speeches, and side events. These booths serve as hubs for showcasing dApps, distributing merchandise, and engaging attendees, similar to Cardano’s proposed booth strategy.

Side Events KPIs Number of Attendees Target: 300 attendees per side event. (dependent on each event) Rationale: High attendance reflects Cardano’s community draw, comparable to competitors’ developer-focused events like Solana’s hacker houses. Contacts Collected Target: 2000 contacts per side event (contributing to the 20,000+ email list). Rationale: Attendees sign up for updates, giveaways, or workshops, rapidly growing Cardano’s outreach database for future engagement. Enterprise Connections Made Target: 3 high-value enterprise connections per side event (e.g., partnerships like Brave Browser). Rationale: Side events facilitate targeted networking with businesses, driving adoption and showcasing Cardano’s scalability for enterprise use. Additional KPIs to Boost Impact Community Engagement Metrics: Achieve active participants in workshops or governance discussions to foster collaboration. Media Coverage: Secure media mentions per side event to amplify Cardano’s narrative globally. Rationale: These metrics align with the document’s emphasis on uniting the community and positioning Cardano as an innovative leader. Regarding the costs, we are working to a maximum budget outlined by the GMC, the costs in the PDF are Q3 and Q4 full costs, Q1 and Q2 are only downpayments of locations as we must book further in advance for events to ensure we can acquire the super early bird pricing.

2. KPIs and Target Values for Expected Outcomes The success of the Cardano Global Events Marketing Strategy will be measured through specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tailored to the booth strategy and side events (noting that the provided document specifies this proposal only covers booths and hackathons, but I’ll address side events as requested for completeness). Below is a breakdown of primary KPIs, target values, and additional metrics to maximize impact. Booth Strategy KPIs The Cardano-branded booths will serve as hubs for networking, education, and lead generation. Primary KPIs include:

Cardano Wallet Sign-Ups Target: 200–300 new wallet sign-ups per major conference Rationale: Booths will feature interactive demos of Cardano wallets, encouraging attendees to onboard directly, boosting ecosystem participation. Sign-Ups to Future Hackathons Target: 50-100 developer sign-ups per conference for upcoming hackathons in 2025–2026. Rationale: Promoting hackathons at booths will attract developers interested in building on Cardano, leveraging the success of past events like those involving Midnight. Developer Lead Appointments Target: 50 high-quality developer leads per event, with at least 20% converting to active contributors. Target: 20 enterprise or institutional connections per event (e.g., banks, tech firms, regulators). Rationale: Booths will host targeted discussions with business and regulatory attendees to explore Cardano’s practical applications, fostering partnerships. Booth Presentations by Cardano Builders Local Cardano projects will present at the booth and participate in interviews, KPI’s linked would be generating awareness for these projects. Secondary KPIs Social Media Engagements: live booth updates and attendee interactions (e.g., posting about Cardano’s roadmap). Merchandise Distribution: Distribute 100-200 branded items per event to increase brand recall. Survey Feedback: Collect feedback from 200–300 attendees per booth to gauge Cardano’s perception and refine future events. Rationale: These metrics enhance visibility, community engagement, and iterative improvement, aligning with the document’s goals of promoting Cardano and uniting the community.

1. Overview of the Initiative The Cardano Global Events Marketing Strategy for 2025 and 2026 aims to establish a unified, Cardano-branded presence at global blockchain conferences. The initiative addresses the current challenge of fragmented branding, where Cardano’s visibility is diluted. By implementing a cohesive event strategy, the collaboration seeks to position Cardano as a leading Layer-1 blockchain, competing with ecosystems like Solana and Aptos. The strategy includes:

Cardano-branded booths at major blockchain conferences to showcase innovations, network, and educate attendees.

Strategic speaking engagements by C-level executives to highlight Cardano’s vision and advancements.

Cardano-branded Side Events led by Rare Network coinciding with each of the global events.

The objective is to drive blockchain adoption, strengthen community engagement, engage enterprises and regulators, advance infrastructure development, and foster governance discussions, all while maintaining a cost-efficient, Cardano-focused approach.

What is the reason for Blockchain RIO instead of LaBitconf, which is TEN TIMES bigger and by far the most important crypto event in all of Latin America?

I have one thing to confirm. Are the following two proposals competitive or complementary?

Cardano Ecosystem Pavilions at Exhibitions https://gov.tools/budget_discussion/157

Unveiling the First Unified Global Events Marketing Strategy for Cardano https://gov.tools/budget_discussion/119

Let me ask you a few questions.

1. Would it be possible to include at least an overview or summary of this initiative in the text, rather than referencing the entire PDF? If so, can you specify which page of the PDF to refer to? For example, where can I see the breakdown of costs? Some costs are listed, but even when added together, they do not equal the amount in the proposal.

2. Can you tell us the KPIs and target values ​​for what outcomes the community expects as a result of holding these events? Also, can you describe the specific results achieved in past events held by INTERSECT, EMURGO, CF, and RAREEVO?

3.Other blockchains were mentioned in the proposal. Do you have any insight or analysis into what kind of marketing activities they have done, how much they have spent, what results they have achieved, and how that impacts your proposal?