Hello, I’m Stephan Tual, and I have been tasked with Ethereum’s expansion and instruction since January as CCO. I am also overseeing our UK ÐΞV hub, situated at Co-Work in Putney (South West London).
I consider it a great honor to spearhead the communication strategy at ÐΞV. For the first time, we’re witnessing the general public take a real interest in the possibilities of decentralization. The thrill of what ‘might be’ when I first perused Vitalik’s whitepaper on that memorable Christmas afternoon is now felt by countless technologists, developers, and entrepreneurs.
Thanks to the Ether sale, a collective of bright, diligent individuals is now able to focus full-time on addressing critical technical and adoption hurdles, and to provide solutions at 10x the speed of a comparable garage-based effort. With Ethereum’s APIs bolstering Gav’s vision for web 3, it is finally within the community’s reach to create decentralized applications without intermediaries. By democratizing access to programmable blockchain technology, Ethereum enables software developers and entrepreneurs to significantly influence not only the decentralization of the economy but also social frameworks, voting systems, and much more. It’s a highly ambitious endeavor, and everyone at ÐΞV feels a profound sense of responsibility to fulfill this vision.
As part of our initiatives, technology is – undoubtedly – essential, but so is adoption. Ethereum without dapps (decentralized apps) would be comparable to a gaming console lacking launch titles, and, just like any protocol, we anticipate the applications to be the true highlights of the experience. Here’s how we intend to disseminate information and assist developers in their initiatives.
Education
Creating a curriculum: We are developing a comprehensive curriculum tailored for both educators and self-learners at home, at hackathons, and in universities across the globe. Composed of clearly defined modules that evolve in complexity over time, our objective is to establish a learning standard that will, of course, be completely free and 100% Open Source.
Content aggregation: Currently, we acknowledge that information on how to ‘get started’ with Ethereum is somewhat dispersed across forums, multiple wikis, and various third-party websites. A subdomain on our website will be established in the coming months to make this vital information easily accessible in one location.
Producing tutorials, videos, and articles: Tutorials are crucial for acquiring a new set of languages and tools. By creating both video and text-based tutorials, we aim to provide the community with an insider’s perspective on best practices, from structuring contract storage to utilizing the new whisper P2P messaging system, for instance.
A CodeAcademy-like site: Not everyone enjoys learning in a classroom setting, and some feel restricted by linear tutorials. With a launch date aligning with Ethereum’s debut, we’re collaborating with a US-based organization to create a CodeAcademy-like site within a gamified environment, where you can learn at your own pace how to develop dapps and their backend contracts.
University chapters: Vitalik and I recently delivered a presentation at Cambridge University, and Ethereum will be involved in the Hackathon on Transparency on November 26 at the University of Geneva. Inspired by the enthusiasm we’ve observed in academia, we are working to directly support the Oxbridge Blocktech Network (OBN) in their efforts to establish a network of chapters, initially within the UK and then across Europe.
I’m pleased to share that Ken Kappler has joined the UK team to enhance these educational efforts. Many of you in London are familiar with Ken as he’s been a semi-permanent presence at our meetups and hackathons, graciously assisting behind the scenes. Known as BlueChain on IRC, Ken is also the author behind http://dappsforbeginners.wordpress.com/ which will soon integrate with our own educational site.
Ken will conduct a weekly ‘Ethereum Clinic’ on IRC to address any questions you might have regarding your current project. Schedule details will be shared on our forums.
Meetups
Promoting the establishment of new meetups: We now boast a broad network of 85 meetups globally, which is an incredible accomplishment, yet insufficient to meet the high demand for regular gatherings in a format that aligns with local preferences and culture. We plan to promote the formation of new meetups in nearly every country and major urban area.
Tools and assistance: To facilitate the creation and maintenance of such a large network of international meetups, we will provide tools for meetup coordinators to connect with each other, gain access to the core development team for video conferences or in-person sessions, and share information regarding speakers. These tools will naturally be free for use and access.
Collateral and venues: For the most active meetups, Ethereum is considering, when appropriate, the provision of small grants so that meetup leaders in these ‘core areas’ do not have to bear the full costs of collateral and venue expenses. We will also collaborate with our partners to assist meetups in securing sponsorships and gaining access to free venues for their mini-conferences.
Global Hackathon: Beginning this week, the Ethereum workshops will gradually evolve into true hackathons. We are collaborating with fantastic venuesaround the world, the vast majority of which began as Ethereum gatherings, to coordinate a global hackathon featuring excellent ETH rewards for the top dapps.
We are extremely fortunate to welcome Anthony D’onofrio to spearhead these crucial initiatives. Anthony will commence on the 10th of this month and will also oversee the North American sector from a community viewpoint – you might recognize him as ‘Texture’, his username across numerous forums and channels.
I am exceptionally proud that Ethereum’s visibility within the community has been entirely organic from day one. This has been achieved through significant, time-intensive efforts to discover Ethereum projects in the wild, directly reaching out and cultivating a robust relationship with our user base. We have accomplished several vital milestones, such as surpassing 10,000 followers on Twitter, achieving 100,000 monthly page views on our website, similar metrics on our forums and this growth trend continues to gain momentum.
Historically, Ethereum has not employed PR as a tool to boost adoption, instead relying on word-of-mouth, gatherings, and conferences to disseminate information. As media interest is now accelerating swiftly, I’m pleased to introduce Freya Stevens to the team as the PR/Marketing lead. Freya will assist us in constructing a shared database of media contacts, composing articles and simplifying complex technology for the general populace while uncovering compelling story angles. Freya operates out of Cambridge, UK.
Additionally, with the aim to expand these initiatives, we are thrilled to welcome George Hallam to the team, also known as thehighfiveghost, who recently conducted a survey so you can provide feedback to Ethereum regarding our effectiveness as custodians and developers of the platform. George, a key advocate for the London community, will already be familiar to many.
As a part of these endeavors, expect to see much more engagement on Reddit, IRC, Discuss and certainly our very own forums. George will also assist me in identifying key Ethereum-based projects and establishing connections to determine how we can best provide support through information, connections, and invitations to participate as guests in our weekly video updates, filmed at our Putney Studio.
To produce high-quality content, we are also bringing Ian Meikle onto the London Hub. Ian is the creator of most of the video materials you may have seen related to Ethereum, including the outstanding video loop that has been a cornerstone at numerous Ethereum gatherings. Ian will utilize the equipment at our studio to create explanatory videos, interview prominent figures in the sector, and record panels hosted by Vinay Gupta, who joins the communications team as Strategic Consultant.
In London, in addition to our existing panels, socials and hackathons, regular ‘show and tell’ sessions are being arranged for dapp developers to showcase their work and receive feedback, a model we plan to promote internationally within the month.
And of course, last but not least, prepare for a significant refresh of our website, featuring beautiful, clean content, practical examples of dapps, an interactive meetup map, and links to all our newly created resources and community points of contact.
In conclusion
The question we will continue to pose to ourselves daily is how can we assist you, the community, in creating outstanding dapps and achieving success in your endeavors on our platform. I hope the above provides you with a brief overview of our plans. I’ll be providing regular updates both on this blog and on our youtube.
Stephan (stephan.nospam.tual@ethdev.com)