EasyA x Polkadot: In-person hackathons and in-app Polkadot 2.0 crash course (#360DaysOfPolkadot)

Hey Polkadot frens!

We’re super excited to be embarking on the next phase of EasyA x Polkadot, after a hugely successful 2024! The name of this next phase? The awesome #360DaysOfPolkadot. We’ve crafted this after doing a deep dive into this year’s successes, as well as where we can do even better. We’ve talked for hours with members of the Polkadot ecosystem to gather their visions for where we should focus next, and have incorporated this into #360DaysOfPolkadot.

For ease of reading, here’s the summary:

Requested Allocation: USD $785,000 (including prize money for hackathon winners, travel costs for mentors etc)

Short Description: EasyA doubles down on the strong success it has already brought to the Polkadot ecosystem via the EasyA app and in-person hackathons. In this proposal for #360DaysOfPolkadot, EasyA will upgrade the in-app EasyA Polkadot course to Polkadot 2.0, and host the next 2 landmark hackathons in-person at Harvard University and in London.

Live in the EasyA app:

Polkadot x EasyA Harvard Hackathon 2024 Finalists!

Location: Harvard University (USA) and London (UK) as well as virtual (via developer educational challenges in the EasyA app)

Timeline: November 2024 - April 2025

Target Metrics:

KPI	Target 🎯
Total developers starting crash course	120,000
Total developers completing crash course	100,000
In-person hackathon attendees	600
Hackathon projects	100
Social Media Impressions (LinkedIn/Twitter/TikTok/Instagram, YouTube etc)	10M+

We want to make these discussions as open as possible, and would love to hear the broader Polkadot community’s feedback so that we can build this into our final proposal! We are very much open to suggestions, for example, on the content for the brand new Polkadot 2.0 crash course, as well as themes for hackers to build on at the two landmark in-person hackathons. In particular, we’re eager to hear from you if you have suggestions about the topics for the updated content - please do share with us your ideal framework/syllabus in the comments here!

For the feedback we’ve received so far in our open discussions with the community, please see the summary in our full proposal.

Given we are actively taking suggestions on additions/changes to our proposal, the costs are currently estimates. These are based on the feedback we have received already from the ecosystem, and we will finalise the costs based on the additional feedback/suggestions we receive.

The full proposal is available here!

– Phil, Dom (EasyA Co-Founders) and the EasyA Team