Make Media

[AdvacyPrivocate]

... including but not limited to: Videos Audio / Podcasts Web Content Still Imagery / Graphic Design

At the specific order/need of the foundation and Zcash community, AND/OR To sponsor independent work that addresses Zcash, the broader community, and connected topics--for example, project alchemy, blockchain more generally, privacy enhancing tools, philosophical/historical/policy perspectives on crypto/privacy/liberty, etc.

in order to "to help jump start the conversation," "educate the public," "accurately and accessibly communicate the security properties of Zcash and of proposed changes," and achieve "Cooperation with other cryptocurrencies."

Primarily, this proposal suggests creating original content, but there is likely some value in researching/editing/compiling/linking to/annotating already existing material.

This could be achieved with: Individual/one-time project support A bounty program Ongoing support for successful 'serial' projects Establishing a media / communications manager to guide overall strategy and/or individual projects

The foundation could act as: Clients (establishing missions/parameters and evaluating work) Editors (guiding/selecting/curating information for publication) Producers (putting the various pieces of production together) Patrons (with a trusted agent working some kind of angle related to foundation goals) and may wish to take on different roles or combinations of roles for different projects.

Some tangible ideas for content (overlaps with and responds to comments from issue #23): A video introducing the foundation. A video introducing/outlining the foundation's values. A video introducing/outlining the foundation's mission. Make a very short video primer/overview of Zcash without the paramgen included. (teaser / 1 minute introduction, how "it ...(is)...a tool for financial privacy available to the general public" and attracting "an open and diverse community of ... enthusiasts") A more detailed video primer for Zcash (3-5 minutes; more geared toward explaining the "privacy-protecting Internet infrastructure") A blockchain 101 video - (perhaps concluding with mentioning Zcash's privacy features as a 'next level' feature) Videos or Podcasts of technical/technically interesting topics (Dev Bait and/or explainer for technical audience, that is, attracting "an open and diverse community of experts ...," How-to videos of varying detail/technicality for setting up & using Zcash software/wallets & suggested practices/tips for users. A video explaining the client/wallet/exchange/network landscape. A Video or web page on how to acquire ZEC: seems like a FAQ. A Brief History of Money (perhaps leading to the claim that 'Zcash can do for collaboration what the internet has done for communication,') some overlap with issue #25 Crypto Currency Feature Comparisons - might be best as a web page because of changing features, available options, etc. Video or Audio of interviews with/spotlights of thought leaders, developers, entrepreneurs, policy researchers or regulators, and organizations in the ZEC and crypto spaces; or who are broadly connected to topics of privacy, liberty, etc. A piece on the development, state and trajectory of cryptography and how it intersects with issues of cryptocurrency, privacy, etc. Scene Watch / 'Newsy' blog/vlog/podcast - could include developments on tech, policy/law, markets (possible overlap with /zcashfoundation issue #43) If you want to be very courageous; consider devoting resources to open discourse/bandwidth for an educated CRITIC or panel of independent experts and really stir the pot/open the conversation.

These products or compilations could be made available in multiple languages (overlap with issue #17); this could be as simple as providing subtitles for a video, or as complicated as re-voicing audio and/or translating text content.

Also worth noting, some synergy/overlap/re-usability between these assets could exist. A couple examples; a script could be re-used for web text or vice-versa, graphic design, sound or video elements could be reused.

Content generated for these products could be made to be public domain/creative commons/GPL, etc - and while media products generated within specific software clients would likely need the same client setups to be reconstructed, project files (and sometimes their generic export equivalents: XML, EDLs, etc) could also be made available under the same terms to keep things as open and remixable as possible. (related to comment in issue #23)

Producing media [even of non-technical subjects] can have some non-trivial degree of difficulty and likely needs some amount of quality control/oversight. Therefore it would be intelligent to allocate some resources toward project management: (time to plan & review within the foundation or funds to hire/consult with a project or media manager). In fact, having a media manager/producer of some sort might be the BEST first step toward making quality controlled, consistent and accurate media products that will reflect well on the foundation and accomplish its objectives.

As a media professional with experience in crypto, I feel like I could play a strong role in this scheme somewhere, but I am interested to know what the foundation and the community thinks of this proposal before pitching a specific role for myself. Borrowing from issue # 11 ; "As a private individual, [and a privacy advocate] background qualifications and identity documentation can be made available to the relevant parties, where deemed to be appropriate and necessary."

I hope this issue generates a good conversation, and can be parsed out by the foundation and the community into a more clear roadmap, whether or not I am specifically involved in the process.

Best to everyone.

[tromer]

@AdvacyPrivocate These are general excellent suggestions. To make them concrete and get the ball rolling, I propose:

1. Narrow down to a few specific ideas, make them concrete, and post them as Issues in https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/ZcashFoundation/issues (or https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues, if it's about the Zcash protocol or codebase).
2. Figure out which of these you can and want to accomplish, and post it here (very soon, so there's time for community discussion).

[AdvacyPrivocate]

Thank you @tromer! - I'll address your point 2. here.

After some reflection, I think that establishing an organized approach to commuication and media production would be an excellent first step for the foundation in regards to making media and accomplishing its outreach and educational objectives.

There are clearly a lot of potential issues to cover--from very basic introductions to cryptocurrency, the foundation itself, Zcash, and so on, to technical topics, to educational curriculum, to an interest in establishing serial programming.

Therefore, having an experienced officer/manager/producer of some kind to act as an organizer for these various potential projects, and as a liaison to contractors, could help with consistency of message, achieving considered allocation of resources--with an aim toward balancing efficiency and quality control--and keep the 'on the ground' management of media projects of the Zcash foundation itself to a minimum--freeing time and energy for other topics which might require more technical, or a different kind of expertise.

Further, a good candidate for this position could act as a 'swiss army knife' in the context of various productions: developing scripts, working to produce, edit, and deliver media either in conjunction with contractors, or on their own for simpler projects that match their skill set.

The alternative to such organization would be the risk of not allocating resources devoted to outreach in an intelligent/efficient way, overlapping information in various costly projects, having a lack of consistency in terms of messaging and content, wasting the time of or creating tasks for the foundation which they may not have the specific expertise to address, and so on.

Such a manager/producer could also work in conjunction with delivery--working with people or agencies to make these potential products accessible and visible to different communities--ie, translations and marketing.

I think the best first steps for this manager/producer would be, essentially, to address point 1. from your comments including incorporating other ideas from the foundation and the community; organizing a list of potential projects. From there, with the guidance of the foundation, create a media-making roadmap, and then start with the most urgent/important topics or obtainable goals in order to work toward the overall mission of the foundation.

I personally have experience and enjoy working in pre-production, production, and post-production, as well as having some level of experience in project management, working within teams that have multiple concurrent projects developing and being produced, creating and working with budgets, communicating within organizations and with contractors, and so on.

With the objective to establish a good roadmap for future projects as well as developing content on an as-needed basis. I personally could work 20/hrs a week on this project for 12 weeks for about $7200, but would be happy to negotiate terms of compensation, expected time commitment, etc.

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Best to everyone.

[acityinohio]

Every informal proposal has multiple reviews by the review committee. The reviews are being collected and discussed in a private google doc (the 5 reviewers all have edit access to it, no one else can view it). By way of early, informal feedback, the reviewers would like to inform you that your proposal is not a leading candidate for funding in this round.

You may still choose to submit a full proposal by October 6th, and it will be evaluated. But if it’s substantially the same as discussion so far reflects, then we suspect it is unlikely to be chosen for funding; and if it isn't, then we encourage you to post a draft as early as possible, to allow for community feedback. Regardless of your choice we thank you for participation thus far.