Summary

This is Draft 1 of the BanklessDAO Season 7 Specification. Compared to Season 6, this timeline has things scheduled sooner to hopefully achieve a smoother season transition for everyone. It also intentionally leaves Gap Week unscheduled to enable as many folks as possible to actually take a gap week. That break is important and I wanted to ensure our operational timelines were aligned to accommodate Gap Week by default.

Please review the proposed timeline for Season 7 and provide any feedback regarding the adjustment of dates. If a change in dates is desired for any of the Season 7 milestones, please open discussion in the comments so that any updates can be reflected in a second draft.

Author’s Introduction

Hello! I am 0xZFi, and I helped coordinate the Season 6 transition just a few short months ago. The processes around season transitions have been adapting to changes in governance, so I’d like to offer some context on the current state of the season transition process.

As I understood the process before the Season 6 transition, the Community Vote was a temp-check process of aggregated votes, and was to inform what would be collectively included in the Seasonal Specification. The Seasonal Specification included all changes, in all areas, into one packaged vote – funding requests from all groups, governance changes, operational changes, and the detailed seasonal timeline.

It was brought to attention late last season that the Community Vote/Seasonal Specification process, with the scope that had been used for several previous seasons, was superseded by the Constitution upon its ratification. To bring the season transition process into alignment with the Constitution for Season 6, it meant we needed to split the process flows of the old Community Vote into separate workstreams.

• Any portion of the old Seasonal Specification that requested funding would need to go through the Seasonal Budget Request
• Any changes to governance would need to be proposed with their own individual bDIPs

There is unclear guidance, however, on operational changes that do not impact the Constitution. Without this guidance, that leaves the scope of the Seasonal Specification limited to operational timelines and a list of references to operational changes that have passed individually on the Forum throughout the current season.

Given these changes, the Community Vote process that was used through Season 5 does not seem to fit anymore. I would encourage any ideas that you’d like to temp-check or operational adjustments you’d like to propose to be posted individually to the Forum at any point during the season.

This change empowers all members to participate in governance without relying on the Operations Department to aggregate and curate topics to be discussed. It also affords the Operations Department an opportunity to reduce the overhead cost of the season transition process so BANK funds can be used more effectively elsewhere.

This process is evolving and is not without flaws. Suggestions for improvements are welcome. Thank you for your active participation in BanklessDAO governance. Let’s make 2023 up-only!

Remaining Season 6 Operations Timeline

Gantt Chart [Season 6 Timeline - Google Sheets]

• January 3: Draft 1 of the Season 7 Specification posted to the Forum
• January 9 - 19: The Grants Committee will accept applications for Season 7 Committee Member elections
• January 17: Draft 2 of the Season 7 Specification to be posted to the Forum, if needed
• January 20: The Season 7 Grants Committee election will be posted to Snapshot
• January 20: All funding requests from guilds, departments, and projects to be posted to the Forum for the Grants Committee to review
• January 20 - January 29: The Grants Committee will work with groups to review and finalize their budgets
• January 30: The Season 7 Specification will be posted to Snapshot
• January 30: The Season 7 Budget Request will be posted to Snapshot
• January 30 - February 5: Gap Week
• February 5: Last day of Season 6

Operational/Governance Changes

These changes have been proposed and have independently passed a vote on the Forum during the current season and their details are to be implemented upon their passage or in upcoming weeks. The vote on this Seasonal Specification will not impact the results of these previously-passed proposals.

• bDIP-01: Correcting Grant Proposal Requirements
  • This bDIP will bring the Constitution in line with the practices of the Grants Committee, providing clarity for future funding requests.
• bDIP-02: Coordinated Timing Across BanklessDAO
  • This bDIP will establish Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) as the single reference timezone for meetings and events across BanklessDAO.
• Delegate SAFE tokens to DAOstewards.eth
  • SAFE tokens in the Banklessvault.eth wallet are being delegated to DAOstewards
• PENDING: bDIP-03: Dynamic forum quorum for bDIPs
  • Establishes the precedent for an adjustment to quorum requirements to be categorized as a “major change” to the Constitution
  • Modifies the Forum quorum requirements to adopt a formula-based approach that evolves with DAO activity levels
• PENDING: Purpose Driven Guild Funding
  • Purpose-Driven Guild Funding may be implemented in Season 7
• PENDING: BDIP - Coordinape Season 7 Proposal - Pause/Reduction (draft 2)
  • Coordinape round funding may be reduced or paused

Community-Indicated Direction

These temp-checks have been posted on the Forum for discussion and voting, but their details are not ready for immediate implementation. This list indicates new experiments and directions the community is considering taking, but specifics are still being worked out. The vote on this Seasonal Specification will not impact the results of these discussions.

• Guest Pass Temperature Check
  • Guest Passes may become limited to 4 weeks with 2 renewals
• Snapshot Voting - Implement Shielded Voting
  • All Snapshot votes may be posted using shielded voting if the Season 6 trial produces positive results

Season 7 Operations Timeline

If this proposal passes Snapshot, the following timeline will fall into place for Season 7:

Gantt Chart [Season 7 Timeline - Google Sheets]

• February 6: Season 7 begins
• February 10: The Season 7 Kick-Off Event will be held on Twitter
• March 31: All funding requests from guilds, departments, and projects to be posted to the Forum for the Grants Committee to review
• March 31 - April 13: Grants Committee to work with groups to review funding requests
• April 7: Draft 1 of the Season 8 Specification to be posted to the Forums
• April 14 - 20: Grants Committee to work with groups to finalize funding requests
• April 14 - 23: Season 8 Grants Committee Election applications accepted
• April 24: The Season 8 Grants Committee election will be posted to Snapshot
• April 24: The Season 8 Specification will be posted to Snapshot
• April 24: The Season 8 Budget Request will be posted to Snapshot
• May 1 - 7: Gap Week
• May 7: Last day of Season 7

POLL

I love that we are a month ahead of this.

Stellar work !

Lovely work @0xZFi.eth and the Ops Dept team!

LFG =). Thanks for this @0xZFi.eth

Thank you @0xZFi.eth . To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

I’ve just updated the Grants Committee election dates in the remaining timeline for Season 6 to reflect the dates decided upon by Grants Committee.

Old dates for acceptance of GC Election applications: January 20 - 30
New dates: January 9 - 19
Old date for GC Election Snapshot: January 30
New date: January 20

Looking good. Thanks for being so on this ser!!

Great job on this Zfi👍🏿

Sweet and detailed even onto S8

Great job and very detailed! I’d just like to confirm gap week.

Based on the above draft gap week runs “January 30 - February 5: Gap Week”

But the Season 6 vote and linked spec state that the " Formal gap week will be February 6 through February 12, 2023."

Does the above draft schedule for S7 just need to be shifted over by one week?

This was simply a miscalculation in the gap week for the end of Season 6. Using that date would make Season 6 a 14-week season. Fortunately, no deadlines will need to be moved, as all current operational pieces are on track to be complete by February 5.

The last day of Season 6 is February 5. The gap week for Season 6 is January 30 through February 5. Season 7 starts February 6. Sorry for the confusion! The Season 6 transition was a bumpy one!

Oh okay. I just knew that S4 & S1 were 14 weeks according to snapshot’s records so I thought S6 being 14 weeks was intentional as well.

It does make more sense to stick to 13 week seasons since 52/4 = 13.

It doesn’t effect any scheduling I’m involved with but I’ll check in with people and see if it affects their scheduling at all.

Has the Twitter space with HQ been scheduled already anyway?

The Kick-Off Event is in planning stages still, but will be held Friday, February 10 at 4pm UTC.

Thanks for your attention to detail on this, too. Important clarification.

And it’s a happy coincidence the bDAO’s b-day is during the gap week at the end of S7 with this schedule.

Well… not exactly, because we add a gap week on to each 13-week season… so we will perpetually have a rolling set of seasonal dates.
If we want stability around seasons, we would maybe want 12 week seasons with a gap week between each. In previous discussions about season length, I suggested a 16-week season, which would allow for 2 gap weeks and a gap fortnight at the end of the year.

Didn’t you get some consensus around that too? I seem to recall most folks favored a 4-month season when we had that Super Season discussion. 3 months is too short, and having consistent start/end/gap dates would be super helpful

The majority voted for a super season or some form of it on that Forum post, but unfortunately the poll was vague and/or the author lost interest. My suggestion was quite well received but no action was taken on any of the proposal feedback.

perhaps it’s due time to submit another proposal on the issue. getting our calendar into shape would do wonders for efficiency. it’s these small iterations that create sustainable ops

Oh that’s what I meant yes. 13 weeks including the gap week.

This draft has Season 6’s gap week ending Feb 5, while the snapshot vote for the S6 spec has it ending Feb 12. With a starting point of Nov 7 the original vote for S6 was 14 weeks, but with these dates in this draft it’s 13 (gap week included)

That suggestion was pre the bDIP process without a clear path to implement it. Might be worth revisiting again in that format.

UPDATE: This is being reversed and the Snapshot dates are holding. Season 6 gap week will be as defined in the Season 6 Specification:
Formal gap week will be February 6 through February 12, 2023
https://snapshot.org/#/banklessvault.eth/proposal/0xefe1405850a4ab0563e4a41fbe1b9c4619217ad440c153ff07a1f99435f76146
We will follow the Snapshot dates because this is where we gained consensus.

This means that, although not intended to be so, Season 6 is a 14-week season. The Grants Committee has determined that all guilds and departments have the funds necessary to cover the additional un-budgeted week, if they choose to do so. Alternatively, a second gap week may be taken to minimize impact to existing plans and budgets.

Season 7 will begin February 13 and return to the 13-week season timing (12 weeks + gap week). The Season 7 Spec dates are being updated accordingly.

The Twitter Spaces Kick-Off event will still be February 10 at 4pm UTC.