# Ambassador Program 2.0 (Shawn's Vision)

Here is an extremely rough draft of what I would consider an improved Ambassador Program managed on chain for the Polkadot ecosystem.

**UPDATE (OCT 3, 2024)**: Check out my expanded thinking on the Polkadot Forum which includes this Ambassador Program + an Ecosystem Agents Fund

- https://forum.polkadot.network/t/next-steps-for-the-ambassador-program/9193/40?u=shawntabrizi

## Summary of Ideas

The Ambassador Program should support any and all people who want to be public supporters of Polkadot to:

- Contribute to Polkadot and its growing ecosystem.
- Be paid for work.
- Be rewarded for outcomes.
- Learn and grow.

For this, we create a program where ambassadors are incentivized to move up in ranks by first showing the work they have done, and then showing the results they have created.

To be promoted to the next rank, we expect progressively higher levels of work and outcomes.

## Roles

Full-Time Roles

- Ambassador Management

Ranked Roles

- Head Ambassador
- Senior Ambassador II
- Senior Ambassador
- Ambassador II
- Ambassador
- Candidate Ambassador

> Ideally the Ambassador Management role is something parallel to the ranked ambassador program. So you can be both a Senior Ambassador and a full time Ambassador Manager. This can be done, just need to figure out the right set of configs and pallets.

### Voting Weight

TODO: Determine the voting weight of each role. Perhaps copy the technical fellowship structure.

### Ambassador Management

The Ambassador Management role is a salaried role which is automatically paid by the Ambassador treasury.

The Ambassador Management group can have up to 5 members, but does not need to fill all 5 spots. This number is chosen because it is unlikely that we need more than 5 full time employees to manage this program, but it would be fine to consider expanding the program if needed.

Members of the ambassador management group can only be elected through public referendum.

Members of the ambassador managers can be removed by a majority vote of the other ambassadors (taking into account voting weight), or through public referendum.
> Thinking process: The idea is that the ambassador managers really should be working FOR the ambassador program. While DOT holders are required to elect a manager, ultimately the ambassadors themselves should be able to decide that someone is not a right fit.

Ambassador managers get a monthly salary matching the OECD average salary for Project Managers.
> Need to find this number. This is the same logic behind the salary for technical fellowship.

Ambassador managers should be seen as a meta organization to help the success of the Ambassador program.

#### Expectations

Ambassador Managers are not necessarily expected to be Ambassadors themselves, but of course this is preferred. The primary skills needed to be an Ambassador Manager is those of coordination, structure, representation, evidence creation, feedback, and accountability.

Ambassador Managers should really be subservient to the Senior and Head Ambassadors, and looking for them for leadership on the program. Even better is when Ambassador Managers are themselves Senior or Head Ambassadors.

Ambassador Management are expected to produce the following outputs:

- Prepare a monthly report representing the Ambassador program:
- Celebrating wins and other notable achievements from the ranked ambassadors.
- Welcoming new ambassadors to the program.
- Representing the public the goals for the program over the next 1, 3, and 6 months.
- Describing the current "meta-structure" of the org, for example describing how ambassadors have placed themselves into different specialization categories.
- Tracking the payments made to ambassadors and total spend.
- Tracking the value created by ambassadors and work done in aggregate.
- Probably more to add here...
- Expected that the ambassador managers will themselves push for this report to be even better.
- Hold a monthly public call for the Ambassador Program to communicate with the public.
- Hold a monthly internal call for Ambassadors to communicate with one another.
- Help ranked ambassadors make compensation requests to the treasury for work done.
- Help ranked ambassadors make reward request to the treasury for value added.
- Ensure at least one manager has voted on and reviewed every ambassador proposal.
- They should be first line of defense for finding and calling out grifters.
- Moderate a public chat group for the ambassadors.
- Create a website, tooling, resource guide, and other material expected to help facilitate the onboarding and output of Ambassadors.
- [Herding Cats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herding_cats)
- Additional expectations?

## Ranked Ambassadors

The main ambassador track has 6 ranks as described above. The rank has no on-chain effect outside of voting inside the ambassador program. It is used as status and as evidence of past work and contributions to the Polkadot ecosystem.

### Onboarding

Candidate ambassadors can be onboarded into the program by any individual Ambassador II or higher rank.

Ambassadors can be onboarded into any rank through public referendum, however this should be primarily used for the initial seeding of the program

### Promotions

To be promoted to the next rank, you need a majority vote of ambassadors that are two ranks higher than you. For example:

- To become Ambassador I from a Candidate Ambassador, you must get majority vote of Ambassadors rank II and higher.
- To become a Senior Ambassador II from Senior Ambassador I, you must have majority vote of Head Ambassadors.
- To become a head ambassador from Senior Ambassador II, you must pass a public referendum since there are no ranks 2 level higher than you.

> By majority vote, we mean of those who vote, not of all potential voters. We cannot expect everyone to vote in every promotion. There should just be more people saying yes than saying no.

#### Promotion Criteria

Ambassadors are expected to have achieved different levels of work and outcomes to be promoted into the next rank.

There are no limits to the number of Ambassadors at any rank.

There is no "minimum time" needed to be spent at any rank. Ambassadors can be promoted as quickly as they are able to show they have met the criteria for promotion.

Ranks can be skipped if higher milestones are achieved which are a superset of smaller milestones, although it is generally recommended that Ambassadors aim to move through all ranks one by one. It is not a race :)

**Requirements to be promoted to a certain rank:**

- -> Candidate Ambassadors: No specific work or outcomes expected. Just good vibes and a supporter of Polkadot.
- -> Ambassador: Has made 5 successful tip requests for at least $200 for work done to support Polkadot.
> Thinking process: $200 is 10 hours of work at $20 per hour, so this could represent doing volunteer work at a Polkadot event for a day, hosting meetups, etc... This should be spread over 5 events for 5 different tips.
>
> Another example might be someone who writes blogs or makes videos, where the work done for a is valued at $200 or more. Obviously that evaluation is determined by the DOT holders.
- -> Ambassador II: Has made 10 successful tip requests for at least $1000 for work done to support Polkadot.
> Thinking process: Now we are thinking about multi-day kinds of contributions.
- -> Senior Ambassador: Has made 5 successful proposals for at least $10,000 for outcomes achieved through work done to support Polkadot.
> Thinking process: Once you reach Senior Ambassador, your goal isn't just to be paid for your work, but to show evidence of the outcomes you have achieved. You should show the Treasury that spending thousands of dollars on your work is resulting in MORE value being created in the ecosystem. These requests should generally be retroactive payments on top of previously paid work done for the greater impact that work has resulted in.
- -> Senior Ambassador II: Has made 10 successful proposals for at least $50,000 for outcomes achieved through work done to support Polkadot.
> Need to tune these numbers. How hard should it be?
- -> Head Ambassador: In addition to all of the requirements below, has shown a consistency of work and outcomes, and has earned the respect and acknowledgement of the community to pass a public referendum.

**Thoughts on Demotion**

Other than the Head Ambassador role, there should not really be any demotions once you have achieved a certain role. The role describes your PAST contributions to Polkadot and the ambassador program. So once you are a Senior Ambassador, you can be a Senior Ambassador forever without necessarily contributing at the level you were before. Ideally, we encourage all ambassadors to stay as contributors to the ecosystem with any amount of time they can spare.

That being said, for Head Ambassador, we should expect these individuals to be active in our ecosystem. It would be expected that if a Head Ambassador leave the ecosystem, we downgrade them to Senior Ambassador II. Although really I also don't think this is super important unless they are using their title in ways which are not representative of their current contributions.

**Point of Clarification**

- Ambassadors can make requests for payment of work of any size, not just the "goal" size used for promotion criteria. That is to say, if you are an Ambassador II, you can still request just $200 if you were helping 1 day at a Polkadot event.
- This won't help with your promotion, but can still allow you to get paid for your work done.
- The goal is for you to start contributing at a larger level, for example committing to working a multi-day event, or taking on management roles which qualify for larger payments.
- Payments for reimbursement (for example airplane tickets, hotel room, etc) should NOT count toward the goals.
- The intention is that we want to measure the work and value being generated by ambassadors, not just the costs coming from them. So if they spend $1000 on plane and hotel, they should be able to show $2000 in total reimbursement + additional work / value being generated to qualify for the Ambassador II criteria.
- If Ambassadors are doing good work, the treasury should be happy to reimburse them for expenses... it just doesn't count toward their own "contributions" toward advancing in the ambassador program.
- Payments should not count if "double-dipping". That is if an Ambassador is already being paid for work done (for example has a full time job, or a grant, or other funding system), proposals to pay them again for that work should not count toward the criteria of being promoted. Ideally, the treasury would never allow a double-dip like this to happen in the first place.
> Need to evaluate if this is actually what we want. I could see arguments in the other direction. My thinking is that these Ambassadors should be able to show ADDITIONAL contributions being in the program outside of their normal job, and their contributions to the program and through our treasury, open governance, etc...
- Payments should be made for INDEPENDENT actions. For example, if you are contributing to Polkadot Decoded, you cannot make 5 different request for $200 for various actions at Decoded to pass the first Ambassador role requirements. The number of requests in the requirements is supposed to show some consistent behavior and contribution to Polkadot. They should cover distinctly unique work items done and value generated. Of course it is amazing if the work done or value generated is multiple times larger than the expectations, but it shouldn't short cut the recurring value add expectation.
- It is nearly impossible to measure "value added", versus "work done". However, it is ultimately up to the ambassador to describe the value they have created and the DOT holders to determine if a value described is accurate in their own opinion.
- It is pretty important to me that once we reach the senior ambassador level, that we really start to evaluate the large proposals based on **outcome** of work. So I suspect a Senior Ambassador will be doing lots of work for Polkadot, and regularly asking for small tips for their time. But their goal needs to be that their work does not end with just the payment, but ends with something that could be measured for having a larger impact on the ecosystem.
- One example could be making a really amazing youtube video.
- You are initially paid _frugally_ for the base hours worked.
- You can then be _handsomely_ rewarded when you achieve certain milestones, like 1M views on the video.
- Another example is spending time to work with a reporter.
- You are initially paid _frugally_ for your time spent teaching and keeping in contact with the reporter.
- You can then be _handsomely_ rewarded when the reporter makes articles in a positive light about Polkadot in major publications with reach to key audiences.
- Another example could be BD work to bring in a big business.
- You are initially paid _frugally_ for your time spent working with that business.
- You can then be _somewhat_ rewarded when a large business picks polkadot as their Web3 development platform, and you were shown to be at the center of that decision. Think Mythical Games.
- You can then be _handsomely_ rewarded when that business actually successfully launches on Polkadot and bring a million new users and NFTs.

#### Ideal Compensation System (Opinion)

These are some high level guidelines on how an ambassador can structure their proposal to acknowledge compensation for work done and value achieved. Of course, these guidelines are not strict, but should give an idea on how ambassadors can keep things transparent, what the Polkadot DAO should expect to see.

- Work should be done by the ambassador.
- A frugal treasury proposal which expects compensation for simply the work done.
- i.e. hours worked (with evidence) * salary per hour
- It is up to the ambassador to show evidence of work done.
- It should be fine to reject proposals where the vibe isn't right in terms of presenting evidence.
- Frugal may be defined as 1/2 the base hourly rate for OECD for that work.
- Obviously it depends, but the point is that the treasury isn't paying you speculatively to make big impact.
- The real reward should happen later.
- The proposal may include a milestone they hope to achieve, which can trigger a bigger payment, which they should also write down.
- For example: "I would like my video to hit 1M organic views in 6 month. If I can achieve that, I would like to make a follow up request for $10,000."
- Metric should be publicly verifiable and minimally gameable.
- Then when the milestone is hit, a follow up proposal is made with that reward for value added.
- It is up to the proposer to show all the evidence needed to justify they have succeeded in their milestone.
- There is no social contract that the Polkadot DAO has to pay out a follow up request if it feels that the milestone has not actually achieved the expected value add.
- For example, we see the video gets 1M views, but seems to be botted.

What is nice about this pattern is that there is already community feedback on the "reward" aspect of the work done based on votes on the initial proposal. Imagine I make a request just like I described above, but I say $10,000 after 10,000 views. People can NAY my work compensation proposal as a signal that my follow up request is not justified. Hopefully through discussion and feedback, I will adjust my milestones, and then those who submitted nay will change their vote.

Obviously this does not always work perfectly, but this is an example of a happy path.

#### Expected Behavior (Opinion)

The realization here should be that EVERYONE can be a paid ambassador of Polkadot, even without being in the Ambassador program. The treasury already has mechanisms built to pay people for their small to large contributions to the ecosystem. The Ambassador Program should NOT be a barrier to being paid in the Polkadot ecosystem.

The Ambassador Program then takes the form of creating milestones and goals for people who are ambitious to achieve more, and to establish reputation and rank for those who have achieved great outcomes.

In this scenario, all Ambassadors have clear goals to reach in terms of getting the financial support of their work from the Polkadot ecosystem. In the lower ranks, the requests are small, and encouraging of people to really "do anything for Polkadot" to become part of the program.

But as you move up the ranks, it transitions from just doing work, to actually achieving long term impact and results. To become a senior ambassador it is not enough to just grind out a bunch of labor, but to actually spend time on long term initiatives which bring back more value to Polkadot than it has spent.

In this structure, we also encourage the positive behavior of ambassadors asking to be paid for their work! People seem to be shy to ask for money from the treasury, when in many cases this is exactly what it should be used for. DOT holders will be expected to support ambassadors doing good work, and reject ambassadors who have not sufficiently proven their value add. All in all, this should establish that the Ambassadors work for the DOT holders, and encourage more direction communication between what the community wants and what the ambassadors can provide.

All criteria for achieving higher ranks in the Ambassador Program are ultimately gated by the DOT holders, as it should be.

I suspect that in this program, hard working ambassadors will make even more than the previous Head Ambassador role, while those who treat the ambassador program as a secondary hobby have no expectations to be doing more than they want.

This is the kind of program where ANYONE could feel comfortable to be an ambassador. Software Engineers, Business Developers, Event Managers, Keyboard Warriors, Bloggers, Vloggers, etc... Once we realize that we can all be Polkadot Ambassadors, then we also realize that Polkadot is a community for everyone.