The 3rd Annual Business of Blockchain Technology Conference (May 29-31, 2025) at the University of Miami’s Patti and Allan Herbert Business School utilized Polkadot’s $15,000 presenting partnership and $10,000 travel budget from the Events Bounty but did not cover any compensation for personal time incurred by representing Polkadot.
Chris, visionary behind the initiative, after the University reached out to him through Athelo Group in the fall of 2024, steaming from the Conor Daly and Inter Miami CF (IMCF) partnerships with Polkadot. He flew to Miami multiple times at his own expense since October 2024 to meet with faculty, staff, the Dean, and Associate Dean, establishing credibility through the IMCF relationship. Chris represented Polkadot as presenting sponsor at the Annual Blockchain Conference, coordinated involvement from Parity, Web3 Foundation (W3F), Polkadot Blockchain Academy (PBA), EasyA, Events Bounty and local ambassadors to engage the Schools of Business, Engineering, and Arts/Sciences (Computer Science). In addition to the conference, Chris coordinated a tour for EasyA brothers Phil and Dom in the fall of 2024 to help strengthen relationships with the University. During conference week in May 2025, he co-facilitated the Miami Freedom Park (MFP) tour with Salvatore Esposito, provided exceptional hospitality at Inter Miami games engaging UM faculty (e.g., Dean Paul Pavlou, Professor Ola Henfridsson) and industry figures (e.g., Mike Spagnola, VISA, Jose Mas, Co-Owner IMCF) with James and Sal, delivered opening remarks, participated in panels and networking, and handled working with the Events Bounty for presenting partner, flights, and hotels for the conference.
The time being requested is for that spent directly interfacing with University of Miami staff, conference attendees, and ecosystem coordination, though his visionary role and months of uncompensated groundwork far exceed this request. I kindly ask the community to consider the compensation (less than hours put in). The results of his work have produced ongoing talks with the University of Miami and W3F on research related case studies as well as PBA being offered as certificate courses through the university.
Threshold
Le Nexus voted NAY!
We acknowledge the effort put into building connections and increasing Polkadot’s visibility through this initiative. However, the compensation request does not provide sufficient clarity on documented hours and deliverables, making it difficult to justify a $9,500 payout from the treasury.
Strong representation is important, but accountability and transparency are non-negotiable when it comes to treasury spending.
Le Nexus invites you to join our DV Office English channel on Discord to engage in conversation about OpenGov proposals.
Threshold
Dear Proposer,
Thank you for your proposal. Our second vote on this proposal is AYE.
The Big Tipper track requires 35% participation and simple majority of non-abstain votes according to our voting policy v0.2, and any referendum in which the majority of members vote abstain receives an abstain vote. This proposal has received three aye and two nay votes from ten available members, with two members abstaining. Below is a summary of our members' comments:
The full discussion can be found in our internal voting.
Please feel free to contact us through the links below for further discussion.
Kind regards,
Permanence DAO
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