Polkadot Head Ambassador Application: Alice und Bob

Good Morning!

I am Tommi Enenkel, also known as Alice und Bob (Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn). This is my application as Polkadot Head Ambassador.

Background

In Polkadot, I co-founded ChaosDAO and OpenGov.Watch. I am a Web3 strategist specializing in ecosystem development, governance, analytics, and crypto-economics. I previously held CIO and CMO roles and have a systems architecture and political communications background. I hold an MSc in Knowledge Management and IT Security. My master’s thesis explored agile software development and governance practices in open-source communities.

My previous work for Polkadot

Some highlights:

• Curating a decentralized Polkadot 2.0 Strategy to ensure that all essential functions for growing the ecosystem are covered and we develop a shared direction
• Representation at conferences/events such as Polkadot Decoded, Sub0, Parachain Summit, DOTBrno, DOTPrague, and local meetups
• Lecturing at the Polkadot Blockchain Academy on the topics of OpenGov and Tokenomics
• Moderating the monthly Technical Fellowship OpenDev call
• Co-Founded ChaosDAO

I am curating a dedicated page with more info about my portfolio. Check it out here:

Portfolio Tommi

How I see the Head Ambassador Role

Things I expect from Head Ambassadors:

• Role model: Authentically represent the values and virtues of Polkadot and Web3
• Evangelist: Be in the field (online and offline) and campaign for Polkadot
• Mentor: Personally help ambassadors and community members better understand Polkadot and empower them to represent it to others.
• Magician: Understand that your actions are the cause for new things to happen. A single conversation can spark a new project create a lead for a new deal or inspire someone to achieve great things. Actively use your powers to make good things happen.

As such, these are also the things I strive to do.

My Offer as Head Ambassador

• Shape the Ambassador program: Old and new ambassadors are coming together to create something great. I want to help shape the program and set it up to become a successful organization. Head Ambassadors have to work as a team, so we need to establish the proper culture from the start. Different Head Ambassadors have different strengths, so I will offer mine and look for the strengths of others.
• Teach Web3 values: I am a fundamentals guy. The tech is changing the world, no matter how much degens cry about prices and the latest hot shit, etc... I educate about why we build Web3 and connect the dots to the bigger themes. This is not only important for newbies, but especially for everyone deciding to “grow up” and take Web3 seriously. Mentoring people on this journey takes time and we need to commit to giving ambassadors the time and attention they deserve on their path.
• Ambass: At the moment, I represent Polkadot mostly via Social Media (Twitter, a bit of LinkedIn) and through irregular video production.
  • Video Production: If elected Head Ambassador, my main focus for evangelization would be through content production. I would ramp up my video production again to regularly produce videos on fundamental questions and educational topics in the Polkadot space. The themes would be the current big discussions of Polkadot since I believe that agenda-setting and influencing the narrative is a core responsibility for ambassadors.
  • Conferences/Events: I also represent Polkadot on stage at conferences as opportunities open up. My main topics are introductions to Polkadot, Polkadot Strategy, and OpenGov.
  • Business Development: I have 2 years of Web3 BD experience, but wouldn’t make it an emphasis of my term. I believe quite a few other HA candidates are better able to serve the time required to do proper BD. My focus here would be to capture leads when they present themselves and then relay them to the relevant parties. One way I proactively approach in small but hopefully effective ways is that I throw out ideas that I think OpenGov would fund if someone bites help them move along (for example here baiting with a Cardano-Polkadot bridge and then supporting the project once it starts here)

Modalities

Compensation

At the moment, I have a contract with the Web3 Foundation as part of Decentralized Futures and I do not require additional pay. Under the current situation, I would not use the compensation as salary. I would only use it to pay for operational costs like content production & traveling to events where I represent Polkadot. The primary focus would be to hire a video producer to ramp up production.

Available Time

I work exclusively for Polkadot. I consider my main line of work at the moment as ecosystem development, which consists of solving problems, analyzing things, and sharing knowledge.

I spend significant time preparing and presenting presentations for conferences as well as agenda-setting and narrative development on Twitter, so imo there is a strong synergy to the role. I believe that the Ambassador program is very important for the community development of Polkadot and will provide the time that the role requires to help it come to fruition.

If it turns out that my other responsibilities are not compatible time-wise or a larger part of the community is not happy with my performance, I will offer the place to someone else.

I am in the process of proposing a new Ecosystem Development Collective which I hope to co-lead. Should that situation become a reality and be incompatible with the HA role, I will also give the HA spot to the next candidate.