Introducing ETHBohem1a gardeners hackathon (Feb/Mar 2024)

Community Gatherings
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Hello to all gardeners! Sorry everyone that not much has been happening the last few months, but the Ethereum Event Gardeners idea is still alive! :slight_smile:

The original plan to organize a genesis meetup during ETHPrague and Prague Blockchain Week unfortunately didn’t happen (mainly due to my busy schedule, sorry!), so I’m coming up with an alternative plan to get things moving.

Introducing ETHBohem1a (2024)

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The plan is that I would like to organize a hackathon that would focus specifically on EthereumEG topics - as a kind of boostrapping platform. The idea is to create a “hybrid” hackathon. An in-person part for about 50 selected people and an online part that will run concurrently and be open to a wider group of contributors.

Here is abstract:

ETHBohemia is a specialized hackathon aimed at innovating event planning and community engagement. We bring together organizers, developers, and creatives to create transformative solutions for events from planning to experience. The event will not host any sponsors or commercial talks.

I named the intended hackathon “ETHBohemia”, based on the historical part of the Czech Republic “Bohemia”, where the in-person part would take place. It’s also a nice metaphorical bridge to the follow-up word “bohùme”, pointing to creativity and freedom.

Bohemia word definition

Participants should be composed of three groups:

  1. event organizers (mainly non-profit ETH* conferences and hackathons) and people around (volunteers, etc.)
  2. developers of open-source tools that are useful for organizing events - i.e. various ticketing, streaming and other platforms
  3. other (Ethereum) community creators and creative souls

It won’t be a classic hackathon where participants can win something - rather, it will be a collaborative effort. We will be “hacking” primarily Ethereum Event Gardeners projects, and a large part of the hackathon will be dedicated to collaborative education and research. Instead of projects, we will have so-called “Hack-streams”, i.e. workstreams. This is still to be worked out (I welcome any ideas!).

Timing-wise, I like to place the hackathon in the winter/spring period, when not much else is happening (especially in Europe), and the organizers could have plenty of energy and time. So for now I’m counting on February or March 2024. I would like the hackathon to be as long as possible, I see 3 days for the in-person part as a minimum. Optimal would be about 5-7 days. The online part may run longer.

For in-person gatherings, I find Central Europe a good strategic location, with most European organisers not far away, they can use trains or buses to reduce their carbon footprint. Even though some place in Asia or South America would probably be more comfortable (in terms of climate), it would mean big moves and inefficiency for most of the European organizers. And let’s be honest - Europe is where we have the highest density of Ethereum hackathons and conferences, hence where most organizers are located. I think it makes sense to start here (but it should be noted that I am clearly biased because I love Europe :))

The specific city or venue where we’re going to host it’s TBD (not that important in my opinion). I would like to avoid Prague and choose some smaller interesting Bohemia town with sufficient infrastructure and interesting surroundings and nature (around 100-200k inhabitants). Bohemia definitely has a lot to offer. Cities like Pilsen, ČeskĂ© Budějovice, Liberec, Pardubice and others are under consideration.

With only 50 of us in person and a longer duration, it will be possible to make the hackathon a truly unique experience full of leisure and fun activities - and to get to know and enrich each other much better. I would like to do my best from this perspective.

The hackathon will be non-profit, without sponsors and the entrance fee for participants will be free, of course. I don’t want any advertising or commerce (inspired by Protocol Berg by @q9f, thanks!). So funding will be through donations. I have absolutely no idea how much we can raise for this endeavor, depending on the money raised we will see what kind of comfort we can provide to the visitors. But the comfort of the participants is the main goal. I’d appreciate any help on this.

You can read more about the hackathon on GitHub:

I have also created a 𝕏/Twitter account where we will share news:
https://x.com/ETHBohemia

FAQ

Why not do it online only?

From my perspective, a face-to-face meeting is essential, especially since most of us are organizers of such in-person events. Especially in the beginning, a physical meeting will allow us to establish some rules and systems much more efficiently and quickly. We will be able to exchange basic information and knowledge much more comprehensibly. It will be more immersive and more fun :slight_smile:

Wouldn’t it be better to do it before/after a big event?

The periods when there is a big event or blockchain week are hectic and especially the organizers we target are the busiest. This is where I lean on the side of making it separate, as a feature, not a bug. The other thing is that Devconnect is too early and there are no such big events until April-May.

So, that’s kind of a small summary of what I’d like to achieve - I’d be happy for any comments and questions! If anyone would like to help with the organisation, please let me know. :pray:

All gardeners are of course automatically invited! :man_farmer::yellow_heart:

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great initiative, I believe that many people will be going to Devconnect, might it not be worth to start something there already?
Happy to pledge that I will attend, I do not miss ETHPrague :slight_smile:
Luca organizing ETHSamba.

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That makes sense. I probably won’t be in Istanbul, but feel free to organize a meetup or gathering! You can discuss together the topics we should address at the hackathon - which is the most important thing.

I’ll be glad for any help :pray:

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definitely love this!

for the creative souls i think would be cool to just have some side tracks of doing artsy projects.
also, there was a take on the growth hackathons super popular around twitter like a month ago so a growth/marketing track seems to be a prospective one

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although, i think that getting the sponsors that align with the values and engaging them into sponspored bounties is a great funding way

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Glad to hear! :yellow_heart:

Interesting and great idea! Covering art would be great, but I think it should be very much tied to our theme - cultivating other events. Few ideas from GPT4:

  1. Creative Engagement Handbook: Artists and creators could collaboratively develop a “Creative Engagement Handbook” during the hackathon, which could serve as a guide for other event organizers. This could include best practices on how to incorporate art and creativity to elevate attendee engagement.
  2. Case Studies: Document successful artsy projects carried out during ETHBohemia as case studies. Explain how they were executed, what the engagement metrics were, and how similar initiatives can be adapted for different kinds of events.
  3. Artists’ Panel: Host a discussion with artists on how to incorporate art and creativity effectively into events. This could be recorded and shared as valuable content for event organizers looking to engage attendees in unique ways.
  4. Modular Art Concepts: Develop artistic ideas or projects that are modular and can be easily adapted for different scales and types of events. Offer these as templates in a toolkit for other organizers.
  5. Interactive Demos: Use the hackathon to create interactive demos of how art can be used in events, particularly using technology like augmented reality or blockchain. Create a how-to guide for replicating these demos in other settings.
  6. Sustainability Guidelines: Since you are concerned about the carbon footprint, include in your guidelines how to create sustainable art installations or projects at events, using eco-friendly materials or digital formats.
  7. Community Art Templates: Provide templates for community-driven art projects that encourage attendee participation, making it easier for other event organizers to implement similar initiatives.
  8. Virtual Event Guidelines: Given the hybrid nature of ETHBohemia, guidelines could include advice on how to make virtual event spaces more aesthetically pleasing and engaging, based on the experiences during the hackathon.
  9. Metrics for Success: Alongside these artistic endeavors, track engagement and interest levels through various KPIs. Then, offer these metrics as part of a toolkit to help other event organizers quantify the impact of creative projects.
  10. Checklists and Toolkits: Collate the insights and recommendations into actionable checklists and toolkits that other event organizers can easily apply to their own settings.

Does it make sense as side-tracks? @helen.eth Would you take charge of artsy side-track like this?

Yeah, why not. Especially important is to educate how to do such growth/marketing responsibly.

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This is where we disagree.

Sponsors always imply some commitment to them - regardless of how much they are aligned. That’s why they are called sponsors. It’s a business where organizers sell their neutrality, freedom and visitors’ attention for money.

Sponsorship bounties are not suitable for hackathons that want to preserve the “ethereum spirit”, such as ETHBohemia, where the main goal is to create really useful tools for our cause. The consequence of sponsor bounties is that hackers create projects that are useful mainly for the sponsors themselves - not for the ecosystem as a whole. Hackathons that want to be meaningful in my opinion should not serve as a broker of workers to companies.

If someone truly aligns with our vision and values, then they don’t need to be a Sponsor and can support us as a Donor without expecting anything in return. It’s also more fair to our gardeners who also do their work for free and without guarantees.

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Totally with you on this, @tree. I think the whole concept of sponsors is more about giving back to them, isn’t it?

Let’s get back to the roots. As you suggested, how about we see them as ‘donors’, ‘contributors’, or ‘supporters’? It’s important they understand that their brand won’t be the star of the show. The real spotlight should be on the work happening at the hackathon and the outcomes we achieve. If these ‘donors’ find value in supporting our cause, that’s awesome! But our primary focus at ETHBohemia should be on the vision and goals we’re aiming to accomplish.