Welcome!

Create a community resource site named dashexchange.io which will function as a walk-through guide and resource for all Dash things exchange and merchant related.

The site will function as a knowledge base and resource for users who want to know more about Dash and third parties associated or integrated with Dash. Users will be able to click through screenshot-based guides and descriptions of major exchange and merchants, with screenshots and vetted information describing how to use them.

The majority of our work will be dedicated to doing research on exchanges, assembling guides, iterating on the website, and building out the knowledge base of Dash material. In addition, by emailing support@dashexchange.io or info@dashexchange.io, users will receive a response within 1 business day addressing merchant and exchange questions. We will act as an advocate for users and give advice to users who are working with Dash-related third-parties. Anonymized website visit and engagement metrics will be produced on a weekly basis and posted to the site in order to track progress and user engagement.

We will also have a Twitter presence and will engage with users through social media, switching to email when that is more appropriate for privacy or confidentiality reasons. We believe that such a plan will nicely complement the existing websites, forums and support sites concerning Dash, and we respectfully wish to add our experience & technology department administration experience to the pool in a full-time capacity.

This project will require one full-time person to complete the core research and outreach work, one full-time developer, and graphic design work, outside PR firm hiring, copywriting, various SaaS services, and knowledge base creation. Our principal work experience is with San Francisco technology companies and our organization is based around this model (where our team partially resides). Our founding team of two will combine forces to ensure that full-time standards are exceeded and that the deliverables arrive according to plan.For users who elect to join our mailing list, we will also send out a Dash Exchanges email with helpful tips and information users should find useful.

From the date the project ceases to be funded, we commit to keeping this material online for 1 year and 4 months. Assuming no further updates, we believe this to be an appropriate length of time for material that should stay relevant without becoming outdated. By the end of this project, a fully functional stand-alone Dash exchange website will be complete.

Cost
51 dash/period for 3 months

You can see our forum pre-proposal at the link below.

https://www.dash.org/forum/threads/pre-proposal-dash-exchanges-website.28905/

Background
Our experience is with technical support at technology companies and communications/PR in general. Our principal organizer was the Lead Support Engineer and the manager of the Support department at the fintech/cryptocurrency company Ripple, where he built out and managed a team focused on both consumer and commercial solutions. He has answered thousands of questions regarding exchanges (many in East Asia) and is accustomed to dealing with customer issues across time zones, languages and continents. He honed his skills on questions regarding security, public and private keys, wallets, and the use of exchanges, in addition to coordinating with other team members on similar questions and working across departments to meet timelines and messaging needs.We believe this plan can offer significant long-term benefits, since a larger web presence, an independently standing community-serving support site, self-serve documentation and material custom-built around user questions can drive adoption and decrease friction as users experience it, and help spread the word about Dash.

Solution
This solution will operate as a trial for 3 months. A site will be set up and developed at dashexchange.io to post Dash exchange and merchant guides which will allow any user to visit the site and quickly get started with the options. Email addresses associated with the dash domain dashexchange.io will be set up to respond to any Dash-related questions that users would like to send in, and a Twitter address will be used to supplement it.Behind the scenes, a Zendesk account will be configured to receive all incoming questions and track metrics, as will an Intercom account (Zendesk for email, Intercom for in-site chat). Anonymized data such as number of tickets, response times, etc. will be posted to the site for public viewing. A website will also be set up to advise users and share information as it is added to the knowledge base. The assembled documentation will be made fully available and shared with the community.

Background
@julianeon has worked in communications for nearly two decades, and has been employed full-time in technical support for the past 5 years, 4 of them at San Francisco technology startups. He was the first full-time technical support engineer and a manager of support at Ripple, where he built out and managed a small team focused on both consumer and commercial solutions. His full-time cryptocurrency education began during a work week 3 years ago, where he learned how to send a cryptocurrency back and forth from the command line. He has advised users about exchanges of all sizes (many in East Asia) throughout his tenure and is accustomed to dealing with customer issues across time zones, languages and continents, while covering topics such as online security, public and private keys, wallets, and general best practices.

@gregaudel has worked as a public relations expert and political consultant for over two decades. He has spent the majority of his career focusing on public relations and customer acquisition at a privately held law firm, managing ad buys across multiple media platforms and working to acquire customers, spread awareness of legal services, and counsel customers on their options at each step of the onboarding and engagement process. He also worked as the event coordinator and manager for comedian Paula Poundstone, where he personally oversaw booking, promoting and selling out large venues and over a thousand tickets. He has concentrated on fundraising and development for nonprofits organization, and advises others on these topics as a board member of Writers in the Schools and the Houston Storytellers Guild. He is an interviewer and host of the "So, What's Your Story?" radio show on 90.1 KPFT, and has been featured on the national broadcast of the Moth radio show.

Budget, Itemized Costs, Total Costs Requested
Technical Staff- 160 hrs/month @ 60$/hr = $9600/month for 3 months
The cost calculation is estimated at the full-time rate for an experienced manager-level support engineer employed by a Bay Area technology company. In practice this will be split between two team members who will more than equal 1 full-time person.

Web Site / Application Development~160-200hrs/month @ 50$/hr = $10,000/month for 2 months
A full-time developer will produce our single-page application site using Node.js and React, and will be on hand to make additions modifications as needed.

The site will connect to the Dash network and display associated information, in addition to taking a series of ongoing support-related content updates as the project progresses.

Outreach and Public Relations~80hrs/ month @~50/hr = $4000/month for 3 months
For communications work associated with spreading the word about our support site and driving users to the URL.Project management

Unforeseen Expenses $5500 one-time cost
On occasion, contractors fail to deliver to specifications and will need to be replaced, or work may need to be scrapped and redone. While we will aim to keep this to a minimum, this amount will provide us with a cushion for unforeseen setbacks. This amount will also be relied on if the price of Dash fluctuates downwards.

$300 one-time cost
Saas fees for Zendesk and Intercom.

$5000 one-time cost
This will cover reimbursement, recruiting expenses, management expenses, SaaS expenses, and copyrighting expenses of various types.

$2500 Proposal Fee

Total Cost
~$75,000 or ~51 Dash/mo for 3 months