# LinksDAO "Web3 Open" Conference :::danger Responses to [this thread](https://x.com/JimDaily/status/1715727423545729249) :point_left: ::: ## Idea Host a reasonably small 3 day conference filled with extremely high quality talks, networking, (and obviously golf) for top web3 projects.. The format could be broken up into half days of golf, and half days of conference style programming, e.g. talks, happy hour, breakout sessions, etc. There's an alternative suggestion of not trying whatsoever to make it a conference. Host a straight up competitve (yet still fun for all skill levels) golf tournament. I imagine that either could be well attended if properly organized and marketed. ### Requirements to participate/attend Only 4 players can play per team/project (with alternates), but more can attend the conference. At least one member of your team must actively hold a LinksDAO global or leisure membership. Alternatively, you could ask that everyone attending holds _some form_ of Links NFTs (e.g. [Champions](https://champions.linksdao.io/)). Given web3 project structure, an ecosystem's foundation & labs orgs can compete separately. e.g. the solana [foundation](https://solana.org/) and solana [labs](https://solanalabs.com/) can have separate teams to compete against eachother, if they can verify/show some proof full time employment at one vs the other (like being listed on their website, etc). I imagine that somewhere between a minimum of 8 projects to a maximum of 30 would be interested in attending, ie 32 - 120 players, with any number of additional attendees. ## Location I think given this is the first attempt, it should likely be somewhere easy to access and cost effective. Therefore (depending on season/weather) I'd recommend the southern or eastern united states. Carolinas? Texas? Florida? Generally the area Links might be scouting buying the next course? Ideally you find a venue that has meeting rooms big enough to house both activites in a single location (minus housing, I assume attendees would stay offsite & wherever they choose). In the future I think hosting the event at [Spey Bay](https://www.scottishgolfcourses.com/northeast/speybay.html), or another Links owned course would be awesome, but currently the notion of validating the idea on a smaller scale before asking organizers and attendees to make larger investments would be pragmatic. ## Timing Given it's a first attempt, maybe Q2-Q3 of 2024? 6-9 months from now? If it's during the summer I beg you to host it in a nice climate. Folks attending will pay more for good weather. If it goes well, you could consider a bigger event for Q1-Q2 2025 in Spey bay, or elsewhere. ## Format? :shrug: Day 1 - (Friday, arrive by 4pm?) - Evening talks & happy hour - Putting &/or random closest to the pin competitions Day 2 - (Saturday) - 1st half of day - Golf 9 holes - Lunch - 2nd half of day - Talks & networking > I imagine if this was the agenda, everyone will say, "why not more golf"? Which I say is an organizational question.. This feels safe/achievable. :shrug: Day 3 - (Sunday) - 1st half of day - Golf 9 holes - Lunch - 2nd half of day - Talks & networking > Ideally it's during the weekend (fri-sun) given that projects may require attendees to use personal/vacation days, due to the unique and unprecedented format. This way folks within reasonable travel only have to take Friday off. ### Scoring options 1. 18 holes, very straightforward - [USGA 4 person scramble handicap rules?](https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/roh/Content/rules/Appendix%20C%20Handicap%20Allowances.htm) - 25%/20%/15%/10% (from lowest to highest handicap) - This would be the simplest option, easy to plan/keep track of, etc. - But would not be as competitive! 2. 3-5 rounds of 3-6 hole scrambles, in a bracket style competition :::danger Disclaimer: these are joking examples! I have no idea who would attend! ::: ![](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkCt5FZzp.png) This could be more fun or engaging, but would be far more work to organize/coordinate/etc. ### Prizes Everyone who attends should get POAPs. Winners of the putting/shortest to the cup challenges get [Links gear](https://proshop.links.golf/) or Proshop credits. The winning scramble project (all FTE/attendees from that project, even beyond the 4 who played) should get a unique "tropy-eseque" commemerative NFT. And bragging rights of being the winners of the "Web3 Open" (or whatever) till next year. Maybe special discounts, swag. I dunno. Nothing too crazy is necessary in my opinion. ## Talk/workshop/breakout session ideas - Why aren't more people building consumer crypto? - How are we actually going to improve web3 user experience? - What will it take for the interest in NFTs to return? - Going from web3 to web2 buisness models - History of LinksDAO - how did we get here? - Evaluating/comparing infrastructure - where to build these days? ## Cost to attend You could likely get 3rd party sponsors for the event to cover a majority of the costs, in addition to charging attendees a participation fee. I would not try and turn this into a profit driven activity (yet) while still validating the idea, and run it as close to operating cost as you are comfortable with. It is also worth acknowleding that these attendees are the _best_ demographic to purchase Links NFTs/memberships, and this could be part of a longer term sales or acquisition strategy. I personally would not want to pay more than, hmm, $300-400 (?) per player given other travel expenses like housing/transit, and $50-100 for non-playing attendees, given that unlike other conferences it's less likely to be covered by the projects themselves. Maybe that's the justification for more or less confernece style talks/programming. :shrug: ### Budgeting Naive numbers (really a naive document lol) but worth putting in, I suppose. Given 32-120 player attendee estimates, this would be somewhere between $9,600 and $48,000. Assuming you get 3-5 sponsors at $10,000 per sponsorship, that's an operating budget of (approx.) $39,600 - $98,000. With 15 $10k sponsors, the high estimate would be ~$200,000. This doesn't include non-playing attendees, and it's also just a giant Links ad.. Seems possible? Keep it lowkey, fun, and focused on the community of builders. If it needs more funding, potential candidate for a LinksDAO governance proposal? Is that a thing?