Proposal “Reality_Check_Renewal_Reduced_Proposal“ (Closed)Back
| Title: | Ben Swann Reality Check/Sponsor Spotlight/Speaking Events (Scaled Back Proposal) |
| Owner: | Ben_Swann |
| Monthly amount: | 495 DASH (14719 USD) |
| Completed payments: | no payments occurred yet (4 month remaining) |
| Payment start/end: | 2018-05-19 / 2018-09-15 (added on 2018-05-17) |
| Final voting deadline: | in passed |
| Votes: | 802 Yes / 394 No / 64 Abstain |
Proposal description
Update:
As it looks like this proposal will not pass, I am disheartened by the efforts made by a few masternodes (who are also proposal owners, a major conflict of interest) to engage in a campaign of discrediting the work that I and my team have done. At least one of those proposal owners has received over $1 Million dollars in DASH from the network and doesn't even have a functioning website. And yet, I have provided the Dash community with 100% of everything I had promised, and we have done it with excellence! Not only that, but I have allowed the depreciation of DASH to be absorbed by the project rather than coming up short in any single deliverable.
As a proposal owner, I would never consider it appropriate to go onto another proposal and try to stir the pot with innuendo and slander. The reality is this, outside of the crypto world, today, DASH digital cash is without question much more famous than it was in January when this proposal first passed. I spoke this morning with someone who works heavily in both Conservative and Progressive online media and he explained that one of the only cryptos (aide from Bitcoin) that most of his colleagues have heard of is DASH because of its connection with Ben Swann.
In the end, I am not angry or bitter.. I am grateful and always will be to the DASH community for giving me the freedom to try. Freedom to pursue a decentralized funding model. I truly wish it had last longer. I still truly believe it could have been a transformative partnership... but unfortunately there is a lesson here about those who plant seeds of discord.
Deepblue said it best when they said "Ben Swann is a believer in DASH". Yes, I was, I am and I will continue to be. As for those who have attempted to smear me and this project for your own selfish motivations... I hope others treat you with more respect that the disrespect you have shown here.
The question has been raised about how many people have adopted Dash because of this sponsorship. I don't know the answer to that but I do have some social comments to share of some of the people who have told us that they are buying Dash because of this sponsorship.
Social Comments About Purchasing DASH because of RC Sponsorship
Update:
At this point, we have graciously accepted defunding from our April proposal... we have continued to produce EXACTLY what we have promised, we have not been late on our deliverables and I have done my best to represent DASH across the country in the absolute best light possible. My belief was that we were building something together. When I first became involved with DASH the great fear was that I would run off with the funding and not deliver. I actually did the opposite, and even though my funding was pulled last month I have continued to release content, speak on Dash's behalf as an ambassador and encourage adoption. Now, we are here, with 2 days or so to go and perhaps the reality is that DASH isn't interested in continuing this relationship. That is heartbreaking to me but if that becomes reality, then it is one I must accept. How quickly this new chapter will have faded.
If i were to make an argument right now for why to continue it would simply be this... we all know that at this point the traction around crypto has been difficult to regain. I believe we are a great voice for Dash not only by connecting the Dash brand with honest journalism but our Dash spotlights are a great way of creating video content to promote the transformative work Dash is doing around the world. Lastly, (even for all that haters and trolls who will lie about me on here) there is no doubt that I have probably done more to promote and educate the public on Dash's treasury and DAO than any other single project.
I am grateful for the support that we have had in the past with almost 1100 masternode votes in our favor we have had a nearly 2 to 1 vote total. Because of the number of more positives required than negative, the "no" votes are weighted. Perhaps that is the flaw the current system.. a flaw that gives the "no votes" more value than "yes votes". Either way, I will wait and hope some of those masternodes who have still not voted will continue our relationship in these final hours.
Summary
We propose that DASH continue to fund Reality Check with Ben Swann Powered By Dash. As this is the final month of our sponsorship
agreement, we are asking the Dash community to approve a scaled down proposal as opposed to the current one. In recognition of the price pullback of Dash, and to reduce the overall footprint of our proposal in the Treasury, we have reduced the size of our proposal cost by 38%. We are willing to tighten our belt just like everybody else in the Dash community.
We are committed to the Dash community and long term
success. (Note: in order to reduce costs, we have removed TiM.com sponsorship this is only exclusive to Reality Check/Sponsor Spotlight/Speaking Events)
About Ben Swann
I have 20 years of experience in journalism, behind and in front of the camera. I became drawn to covering under-reported issues and events early on in my career, particularly during my time covering the drug war in Mexico when I realized that the war on drugs was being misrepresented and most mainstream media had no interest in upholding their commitment to sharing the truth with the public. I’ve received two Emmy awards and two Edward R. Murrow awards, as well as several AP awards from my time in Texas and New Mexico.
Over the past few months I have drawn considerable attention to Dash by promoting Dash’s decentralization of media through our sponsorship. A half dozen other independent media entities have now approached either Dash our other treasury cryptos with similar proposals.
I am not new to the cryptocurrency community. I’ve been discussing Bitcoin since 2013, longer and more thoroughly than most journalists in the media, in my own reporting as well as during my appearance at the Texas Bitcoin Conference in 2014. My experience stands in contrast to the majority of mainstream media, which is scrambling to catch up on coverage largely because cryptocurrency has become so accessible and attractive that they can no longer ignore it. However, the majority of media corporations fail to objectively and accurately report on this industry.
Benefit to Dash
We have the ability to bring Dash to a vastly larger audience than ever before. Reality Check episodes dive into subjects that are embraced and heavily recirculated by an enormous and diverse crowd. This crowd comes from widely varying political, social and geographic backgrounds and they range from individuals who have spent a great deal of their own time on research to individuals who are learning about these subjects for the first time, and the subject of cryptocurrency is no exception. The promotion of Dash will fit seamlessly with our reporting: while our audience is diverse, it shares a common passion for disruption in the media as well as a mindset that embraces disruptive technologies like cryptocurrency.
We have the advantage of both a huge audience and existing experience in speaking to the public about cryptocurrency. Using the same footprint that has helped Reality Check and Truth In Media episodes reach hundreds of millions of viewers, we will be able to integrate Dash and crypto within our videos as well as bring those topics to live events at a more intimate level with the public. Our team is ready to pick up where we left off, and we will work closely with Dash to develop and execute a successful Dash branding strategy for events, video and other content.
Deliverables and Funding Breakdown
Reality Check Sponsorship.
- Dash will be the sole sponsor of Reality Check for the duration of this sponsorship.
- A new Reality Check will be released every Tuesday and Thursday.
- A Dash logo and intro will be on every episode.
- Reality Check will be uploaded to: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram (shortened), Twitter (shortened), Roku, Minds, DTube. Reality Check is in the “Trending” and/or “Top” section of Minds, DTube and Steemit.
- Call to action at the end of videos inviting our supporters to purchase Dash in order to contribute to our project.
Dash Spotlight Featuring Ben Swann
- One Dash Spotlight will be created a week for the duration of this funding. The Dash Spotlight will be produced by Ben Swann’s team featuring Ben Swann. The Spotlight will cover major Dash announcements as well as other Dash funded projects like Dash Africa and Dash Venezuela.
Ben Swann/Team at 3 Crypto/Blockchain events. Ben Swann and team will go to, on average, one, US based, blockchain conference a month (4 total) to promote Dash. Live stream on Facebook and Instagram (when possible). Social promotion before and after the event.
Events past and present:
Attended
- Anarchapulco Presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYOQXxVLs2E
- Block2TheFuture, San Francisco
- Libertopia, San Diego, May 3 - 6
Attending:
- Voice and Exit, Austin, May 18 to 20
- PorcFest, New Hampshire, June 19 - 24
- This event is one of the largest liberty activist conferences in the US.
- FreedomFest July 11 - 14 We will also be media partners
- One of the largest most influential Freedom events in the US. Some of this years speakers include: Judge Andrew Napolitano, Steve Forbes, John Stossel, Patrick Byrne and Ben Swann
Invited:
- Blockchain and Bitcoin Conference Australia, Sydney, Australia May 29
- Blockchain International Show, London, UK May 29
- Blockchain Expo, Santa Clara, CA November 28-29
Ben Swann’s Presentation at Anarchapulco 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYOQXxVLs2E
Mention Dash. Ben and team, while being interviewed by other press, will mention Dash is the reason Ben was able to come back.
One of many interiews; Ben Swann’s interview with RT: http://truthinmedia.com/ben-swann-watching-the-hawks/
Investment: Four months 495 Dash/month
Dealing with price fluctuations
We will save some for when and if there is a dip in the price of Dash. When Dash is performing well, we will add to advertising budget for Dash sponsored content, if there is a huge upswing create other Dash sponsored content and/or return Dash back to the treasury, and/or help fund Dash Boost.
Project updates to be expected by the community
We will provide a monthly KPI report. The KPI report will include banner impressions, clicks, video plays and social media engagement and reach.
Projected Timeline:
Starting in June 2018.
What is the Dash community saying?
“I believe that in the future the ‘COIN’ or ‘CURRENCY’ we use will be a consumer choice. Just like we either choose products like Ray Ban or Gucci. Marketing and branding will play a huge part and DASH seem to be the leaders at this and have embraced it. From a trading point of view, I also make a lot of money from DASH. Its a coin that repeats its cycle over and over so not only do I get to long term hold but I can play the waves and take the profits on the way. I also love their sponsorship program that helps amazing causes like Ben Swann Truth in media…” - Scott Daniel Oceans Capital
https://oceans.capital/cryptocurrency-investing-report-2/
Budget
50 dash Marketing team (our marketing team all accept DASH as direct payment)
$54,000 Researchers, writers, producers, executive producer
$42,000 Production Crew (Audio operator, Director, Videographers, Engineers, Video Editors, Video Animator)
$9,000 Graphic Designers 12,000 Legal/Insurance
$50,000 Marketing budget
$11,000 Travel
Show full description ...
Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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To be fair to Ben Swann he has delivered everything that was promised in previous proposals, so in that respect I have no complaints.
Is this proposal good value? As with almost all treasury proposals, it's very difficult to determine in advance. We are taking the same risk with every proposal we fund, no? This is no different. Let's take KuvaCash for example, it could end up DoA if the Government decide to put a stop to it.. It's that simple. Think that it isn't a very real risk? Don't take the assertions that these risks are 'managed' at face value. Governments can and do change their policies all the time, especially when they are leaned on by vested and well established interests.
Make no mistake that EVERY proposal is very risky and has a higher than 50% chance that it will not ultimately deliver the value promised. This proposal is no different and I don't see why it should be held to different standards than other projects we're funding.
Nothing has changed since the last time we funded Ben (other than the lower cost) so when I cut through all the aggressive lobbying I've listened to I've eventually come to the same conclusion I came to the last time, which is that this project should continue to be funded.
Walter
It’s pretty cut and dry at this stage. There are better proposals out there to fund. Ben needs to realise and admit that his last proposal was not a success for Dash, and that this one will not provide value for money either.
20,000,000 video views sounds impressive, but when you break it down to a handful of positive Dash comments, and a cost of 5 per view, it just doesn’t make business sense to continue funding him.
In addition, he refused to provide a financial breakdown to the Dash Watch team, which is a red flag as far as transparency goes (especially for the money spent).
This is not a smear campaign.
Ben is asking for a significant amount of funding in this proposal, and choosing to ignore perfectly valid unanswered questions from the community surrounding his previous proposal.
As a proposal owner, I would never consider it appropriate to go onto another proposal and try to stir the pot with innuendo and slander. The reality is this, outside of the crypto world, today, DASH digital cash is without question much more famous than it was in January when this proposal first passed. I spoke this morning with someone who works heavily in both Conservative and Progressive online media and he explained that one of the only cryptos (aide from Bitcoin) that most of his colleagues have heard of is DASH because of its connection with Ben Swann.
In the end, I am not angry or bitter.. I am grateful and always will be to the DASH community for giving me the freedom to try. Freedom to pursue a decentralized funding model. I truly wish it had last longer. I still truly believe it could have been a transformative partnership... but unfortunately there is a lesson here about those who plant seeds of discord.
Deepblue said it best when they said "Ben Swann is a believer in DASH". Yes, I was, I am and I will continue to be. As for those who have attempted to smear me and this project for your own selfish motivations... I hope others treat you with more respect that the disrespect you have shown here.
Thank you for the quitnote, which we knew was coming.
For the record (and this has been transparent since day one, regardless of your pointless insinuation) this is the selfsame Drako from Kuvacash, which also happens to be a key strategic project also funded by the Dash DAO. And for far less than your own ‘sponsorship’.
Preferably, and again I have to remind you, instead of resorting to posting platitudes, conjecture, drama, diversions and psychological passive-aggressive diatribes that attempt to evade the issue, the problem still remains - why don’t you answer in detail the questions and issues that have been asked by myself and others? Why don't you provide full information to Dash Watch about your financials? On top of this, like it or not, your metrics are abysmally low for the money that has been paid out and so the outcome for Dash has demonstrably been near-zero.
Let me give you an example. Kuvacash has received far less funding thus far than your own sponsorship. We set and maintain the standard for regular reporting, in detail, of our finances and progress on the ground bi- monthly. If you actually bothered to watch our update videos you’d likely have a reality check of your own about what is expected of you with respect to reporting and outcome, and exactly, in detail, what our progress and the state of our product is. Go and take a look.
Furthermore, you don’t need a ‘contractual obligation’ to maintain ongoing contact and provide financial information to Dash Watch. Unlike you for example, I personally maintain contact with their team on a regular basis, so that the DAO MNO network is informed through an additional standard method where exactly we spend our funds and what our progress is. That way they have the information they need to make an informed vote.
I’m not going to multi-post this like you have with your quitnote - suffice to say MNO’s can now see the legitimate issues that me and many others, including MNO's, proposal owners and Dash Watch have raised of your sponsorship, and the lack of professionalism you have demonstrated in your responses (or lack thereof) below.
That, Ben, is a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.
Good luck in your future endeavours.
Thanks,
Drako
This is a digital asset, not a line in discount carpets. I found it hard to tell the difference with your style of promotion on occasions even though much of it was indeed informative. Also, the proposal is expensive and I'd rather the budget went directly to organic, adoption oriented merchant and savings programs than blanket brand oriented ones. I also don't agree that Dash should be targeting particular journalistic slants because IMO the treasury is a network development resource, not a crowdfunding platform.
Contrary to what many of my voting colleagues have asserted, Bitcoin is where it is in spite of its mainstream brand promotion, not because of it. It has in fact had nothing but bad publicity from day 1 on the whole. Same goes for Dash. Brand promotion is important in terms of familiarity but we are not are not a brand, we are an asset - in the sense that a diamond, copper metal, real estate and forest land are assets.
Many thanks for your work for the network to date. If you have future proposals which are successful, I will of course support you if the network sees fit as there is a wide range of perspectives amongst the community as you've seen !
Respectfully - I know it is so huge as to seem exaggerated BUT the exorbitant figure of 3200 Dash and an additional 1980 Dash being requested (totalling 5180 Dash for this year) is EXACT. You too can also calculate the same numbers simply by looking at his payout history.
We also traced back evidence of his withholding of considerable DAO funds, for what seems a collateral transaction in preparation for a Masternode. See above post. Please take a look at the Dash Watch report, and others comments and evidence posted here, and I'm sure you would also be voting NO.
Thanks,
Drako
I wish Ben the best in his future endeavors.
solarguy
- Using the CMC ranking to project on the performance of this proposal is ludicrous, IMO. There are way too many variables that go into the price of Dash and it definitely cannot be attributed to any one thing. Are we also going to say the core team delivered zero or negative value? We spent thousands of dash on conferences and core team salaries during the same period.
- As far as I know, Ben has fulfilled all of his obligations to the Dash network and more. If he has failed to do something that he said he would do, someone enlighten me because I don't see anything like that. Because of this, any implication that Ben has somehow wronged the Dash community is not grounded in reality.
- Ben has documented a handful of instances where positive comments were received about Dash on this videos. This is true, however looking at the comments as a whole, it looks to me like the majority of the responses are skeptical or critical of Dash, or of Ben for being funded by Dash. Perhaps Ben's existing audience is not quite as ready to run with crypto as we thought. If we are to judge the return on Ben's proposal based on how many people have been brought to Dash through Ben's content or through his speaking engagements, then on the whole I would say the response has been rather underwhelming. As a point of comparison, speaking anecdotally, I recall when Amanda B. Johnson had just started working for Dash after her Daily Decrypt show. At one point in the slack channel I would estimate that over half of the new users had said they became interested in Dash because of something they saw with Amanda's videos. On the other hand over the last few months, I do not recall any new users in our Discord channel who said they became interested in Dash because of Ben Swann's content. There can be a number of reasons for this and it doesn't mean that Ben has not delivered on his promise. But it does indicate that all those impressions are not translating into bringing in a lot of active dash community members. Perhaps at this stage, serving up impressions is not as valuable for Dash as it would be for other companies doing similar sponsorships. I do not think we can fault Ben for this, however it can inform our decisions on how we should spend the treasury funds.
To Ben: I disagree with your comment about the weight of the No votes. The high requirement of having a 10% net Yes-No margin is a feature, not a bug. This ensures that whatever we do decide to fund has support that is solid enough to not create serious down-the-middle division.
I really appreciate the work you have done and I think you definitely "get it" when it comes to being able to understand and articulate Dash's vision. However with the budget being highly competitive we are forced to prioritize, and the sponsorship for Reality Check may not be the most effective use of the network's funds. I sincerely hope that even if the Reality Check sponsorship ends, you would consider still finding other ways to stay involved with Dash or to continue a business relationship in a way that is different from a Reality Check sponsorship.
As a proposal owner, I would never consider it appropriate to go onto another proposal and try to stir the pot with innuendo and slander. The reality is this, outside of the crypto world, today, DASH digital cash is without question much more famous than it was in January when this proposal first passed. I spoke this morning with someone who works heavily in both Conservative and Progressive online media and he explained that one of the only cryptos (aide from Bitcoin) that most of his colleagues have heard of is DASH because of its connection with Ben Swann.
In the end, I am not angry or bitter.. I am grateful and always will be to the DASH community for giving me the freedom to try. Freedom to pursue a decentralized funding model. I truly wish it had last longer. I still truly believe it could have been a transformative partnership... but unfortunately there is a lesson here about those who plant seeds of discord.
Deepblue said it best when they said "Ben Swann is a believer in DASH". Yes, I was, I am and I will continue to be. As for those who have attempted to smear me and this project for your own selfish motivations... I hope others treat you with more respect that the disrespect you have shown here.
Posting up top as well -
It was 3200 Dash since Dec to be precise - your last proposal was thankfully defunded or it would indeed have been 4000 Dash. You are asking for another 1980 Dash now over the next 4 months - a sum total of 5180 Dash.
This is an utterly astronomical amount for a single sponsorship that has, over the last 6 months, delivered little to zero value outcome for Dash (or worse, it correlates to a deeply negative outcome; a drop from 4th place to 14th for Dash on CMC).
In anyone's view, this is still far too much for the impact you've had on Dash. I appreciate your efforts, and if it had worked out, we'd not be at this point, but unfortunately it has not. Agree with Triptolemoose - bad metrics, and terrible financial transparency - including evidence from today that you retain a full Masternode worth of Dash from your earlier funding, are not using it, and are now going for even more funding.
It's a NO from me and I think you'll find that many other MNO's have seen what is happening here now.
Thanks,
Drako
It's not running (yet) - but 1K recently moved from the address, you can see the intent from the change that makes the balance exactly 1000 Dash.
Follow this back - https://chainz.cryptoid.info/dash/address.dws?XmC2x8BtXNDqNJ8k8F3UpRrPNTPtAAj5n7.htm to block https://chainz.cryptoid.info/dash/block.dws?830945.htm and it's pretty obvious back to https://chainz.cryptoid.info/dash/address.dws?XcYNHmpNDE99cVe6tGtEotCBoDTcoc674Z.htm which is his payment address for the original proposal (verified via DashNinja.pl data). Simple transactions, so not going in and out of an exchange or anything. The beauty of the blockchain. Unless he immediately sold this OTC to someone who owns that address, the evidence is it's his.
You could also ask him too - @Ben is this your 1K Dash?
Thanks,
Drako
He's been paid a fortune in Dash - and is asking for a lot more - in total this year (from Dec '17) he has received 3200 dash, and is asking for an additional 1980 bringing the total to 5180 Dash to be exact. Please note as per the most recent Dash Watch report that he has not delivered value outcomes for Dash and his financial and operational transparency to the DAO leaves much to be desired.
I think at this stage it is time for Ben to move on and find funding from alternative sources to support his cause, as clearly he's not delivering for Dash and as you say it is putting a lot of strain on DAO resources. The money is better spent elsewhere on projects that have longevity or have clearer goals and value outcomes.
Thanks,
Drako
Looking at the comments in Ben's youtube videos from viewers there are many viewers who simply don't understand why they need DASH or any crypto. They also have misconceptions and doubts. They don't have the first clue about crypto and I wonder how much of an impact the current shows have on educating people on DASH.
One thing however that we maybe should consider. We used to have Amanda B Johnson who was our lead spoke’s person personality. Amanda created a form of coherence to DASH's message. Her knowledge and intelligence along with her partner (man servant) that undertook the research into DASH gave what she said a lot of credibility.
When Amanda was presenting her shows and educating new people with her unique style of making crypto tech simple for everyday people to understand the DASH price kept rising. Amanda also really believed in DASH. Does she still believe now? I don’t know.
Now we have nobody who is our figurehead. Dash force news do not fulfil Amanda's position. They are more community news for the DASH geek. Their podcasts are not geared up for the general public and they are also not for the newbie. They also do not address the needs of the serious investor.
Around the time Amanda B Johnson disappeared Evan also disappeared. This left DASH without a figure head to represent us and without a technical lead developer. Without a figure head or a tech lead I feel the DASH price will keep falling because there is no person that is the "Face of DASH" and no person that is “The tech lead”. This leads to a lack of confidence in the market. I feel DASH price will continue to fall until we have a “face of Dash” personality and a “tech lead” people that believe in DASH enough that they are prepared to be brave enough and stand up and be these leaders for DASH even if DASH may have it’s limitations such as the scaling issues that need to be resolved.
With Amanda leaving and with Evan disappearing, and the fact we hardly ever see Ryan Taylor there is no figurehead for DASH and in my opinion this is causing the DASH price to slowly fall month on month Today DASH was 14th on the Market cap. We have recovered a little but we are more slipping that rising.
Ben has a professional and polished approach to his work. He is focused on "Truth in Media" as his main project but we need someone that is the "face of DASH" someone that is professional that can give a professional and polished representation of DASH so that people once again can feel confident.
The “Sponsor spotlights” are good. However they last less than 2 minutes. I am wondering if Ben Swann could take up the DASH figurehead role that Amanda left? Of if not perhaps Ben could suggest someone that could fulfill Amanda's role and create twice weekly 10 minutes shows on DASH. The person would need to have a good gasp of crypto but be able to present it in such a way that anyone can understand. Just as Amanda used to do. Although Amanda was very good at this role she was still an amateur in knowing how to present a polished “broadcast quality” show that could be shown on national TV . She did not have the necessary training for that.
I feel DASH needs a figurehead that produces high quality educational and news programs on DASH lasting about 15 to 20 minutes at least twice per week. We need someone that has media experience i.e. know about how to present a professional show that is suitable for a wider audience. Someone that people can feel is the "face of DASH" just as Amanda was at one time.
We need that person to have confidence in DASH and to stay with DASH even through the tough times.
I feel the problem is when Amanda and Evan left from the limelight investores lost a lot of confidence in DASH. Obvious questions like perhaps they do not really believe in the technology. Or perhaps they know something we don’t know. Maybe Evan knows that DASH is truly not scalable using software and mentioned this to Amanda and advised her to step out of the limelight? If you watch interview from Dan Larimar this is what he is saying. We don't know. But these questions inevitably arise in peoples minds and cause doubts. And where there are doubts there is no confidence to invest. We need a PR leader that has no doubts in DASH and the people behind it. Someone professional in media. Someone who believes in DASH and what we stand for. Someone that will stay with DASH even when it gets tough.
I believe DASH has scaling issues. However I also believe in our core team and the ingenuity, creativity and brilliance of our tech team. I believe that any issue DASH may have will be solved. We need a PR person, a face to DASH that believes that too and will create these twice weekly 10 minute shows. Perhaps Ben could do this? or perhaps Ben knows someone that could do this but I really feel DASH needs this now.
DeepBlue
1. consolidation after last years huge rise which is at least an 18 month process
2. risk mitigation (people want to see the product before investing since they missed the last boat)
It has nothing to do with the lack of a "figurhead" IMO. Bitcoin has no figurhead in particular, neither has Litcoin now that Charlie Lee is gone. Figurheads are useful at the birth of a new asset but what happens when it matures is that the investors simply take over ownership and caretakership.
I agree that Dash needs powerful ambassadors, but it seems Ben Swann is not the guy for the job. Evan was humble enough to move on because he realised that Dash was bigger than a sole individual, and that his skills were best utilised behind the scenes. Ryan Taylor is, as Dash Core CEO the face of Dash for many in the Crypto scene - we don't have or need a 'fluffypony' or 'Vitalik' and that is precisely why this is a movement and not a centralised organisation. But if a strong figurehead emerges, why not.
I suggest that if Ben's viewers are saying they have no need for crypto (as per the user comments on his videos) - he is attracting the wrong segment and we should not be sponsoring him to do this - it would be a waste of time. To those who understand crypto even in the slightest, and who are in a market segment that needs it, crypto is a godsend. The spokesperson ideally would come from, or understand, markets and jurisdictions where crypto is sorely needed. Even better, somewhere where the benefits of Dash's unique technology (Instantsend in particular) make it stand out.
For now, we don't appear to have a 'Dash Jesus' and perhaps that's a good thing too. Such a person would emerge organically, with a passion for Dash, and not necessarily demand to be paid exorbitant amounts of Dash for the role.
Thanks,
Drako
Walter
I’ve seen other proposal owners forget to change accounts on DC before posting replies both on their own current, and other, proposals.
I agree with Drako, ambassadors can lead to centralisation. Having the right ambassador(s) pushing the project will help Dash, but I don’t feel Ben is the right choice.
After 4000 Dash already spent, there is more than enough evidence to know our sponsorship of Ben is not resulting in any real adoption of Dash.
At least feedbands stepped up last month and admitted that their ad campaign wasn’t providing the results that they’d hoped (for the cost), and asked for it to be voted down and defunded.
Unfortunately, the metrics Ben’s team provided demonstrate that his proposal is not good value for the network at this stage.
I wish it had worked out, but it didn’t.
Let’s be a bit smart about where we spend our marketing budget and tighten our belts during the coming months.
It’s a NO vote from me.
I also mentioned that I would give hard numbers on Dash branded and Dash specific content... here they are. Since the beginning of this project Feb, March, April and with one week left to go in May, we have had 19,981,985 video views. With one week to go, we will easily cross the 20 million video view mark.
Thanks for providing stats info. You made a good attempt it is unfortunate that your audience didn’t seem to resonate with Dash at this time.
If we average out the cost of the 20,000,000 views received for our money, I get a cost of 10 cents per view (at average Dash price of $700 per dash). If we go by today’s price (assuming all 3200 Dash is sold at our current low of ~$300 per dash), and all is pored into the video content. I get a cost of 5 cents per view.
Current market standard seems to be 1cent per view ($1000 per 100,000 views), but if you bulk buy views (e.g. 20,000,000), you can get cost down 0.1 to 0.5 cents per view. The higher half a cent amount is for a higher quality channel that produces its own content.
I note that you spoke at some events, and those speaking events were recorded and published to YouTube (lets assume it is content creation), and you published some written content (estimated cost of $500 - $1000 max per article, (did you pay Dash force news to create articles?), but I am being generous with the all time low $300 price per dash estimation.
If you are happy to provide financials with proper and accurate figures we can re-calculate the cost per view.
I saw Tante’s comments above about it being a private business and we shouldn’t be entitled to peer into the numbers, but I disagree with her.
This is an advertising and sponsorship arrangement and we are also paying to build your own Reality Check brand.
Basically, the Dash network took a gamble that your viewers would be more likely to resonate with Dash, as we paid you 5x to 10x what would be expected for similar YouTube activity.
Your proposal did not result in a measurable level of adoption of Dash by your viewers, so we need to accept that it failed and move on.
Could you please verify if you are still in possession of the following 1040 Dash as mentioned in comments above?
https://chainz.cryptoid.info/dash/address.dws?XmC2x8BtXNDqNJ8k8F3UpRrPNTPtAAj5n7.htm
He has gone above and beyond what he agreed to and I really believe we should continue this relationship for some more time.
Many of the branding benefits he provides may not be seen until later this year so I believe it is a little too early to write off his work to date as ineffective.
He has reduced his costs by 38% and is being a great ambassador for DASH.
We have space in the budget this month for Ben - why not keep this sponsorship going.
If we run with a price of $300 per dash, we are paying 5 to 10 cents per view which is at least 10 (or even 20) times more than the highest paid YouTuber.
Ben needs to give some proper financials, but he won’t, precisely because everyone will see his proposal is not value for money.
We need to accept that we took a gamble on his proposal and it failed to pay off. Let’s not pour more money down the drain, especially when there are other, better priced proposals that we can fund instead.
If Ben returns with a proposal at 1/10th of the cost, I would consider switching my vote, as it would (at least) be in line with industry standards.
Ben knows he has been getting a crazy good rate from us, so he has worked his butt off to try and deliver us some results. Unfortunately, he did not succeed and needs to bow out, as did feedbands when they realised their YouTube campaign was not working.
best of luck Dash
It is you that has breached the trust of the independent thinkers here, and we are uniting as Dash MNO stakeholders to ensure the network gets value for every Dash spent.
Please do not try to be dramatic, you are simply being defunded for not providing results over a considerable period of time, and not being up-front about your finances.
It seems this time that the Reality Check is for you and you alone. Now please go and answer the more difficult questions that you have not responded to.
...Also. "Dash can't handle it" - Get real!
Dash can't handle a proposal owner that charges excessively, doesn't deliver results, ignores oversight and is aversive about project finances.
Ben, you can stop with the drama and psychological baiting - it is now becoming cringeworthy.
You were held to account to answer many important questions and concerns that several MNO's have asked you, and you didn't like it.
You have not demonstrated value for the network and in reaction to this being highlighted, you avoided key questions and simply responded with platitudes and bitterness.
You have demonstrated to us here that don't have the strength, professionalism nor honesty to be an ambassador to Dash.
Best of luck with your future endeavours.
Thanks,
Drako
Renewal: Ben Swann’s Reality Check Sponsorship & Ambassador by Benn_Swann
https://dashwatch.org/files/1527508670865.pdf
Hi Jeremy- thank you for raising this point. Dash Watch participation is completely optional for proposal owners. We encourage proposal owners to engage with our reporting team because it can provide increased transparency and accountability to the community. However, unless the majority of masternodes explicitly request that a proposal owner communicate with us, Dash Watch is an opt-in reporting measure.
In instances where proposal owners do not wish to provide information, and have not provided information elsewhere which we can utilize for our reports in its place, Dash Watch is able to provide value by bringing this to the attention of the community
In instances where proposal owners do not wish to provide information, and have not provided information elsewhere which we can utilize for our reports in its place, Dash Watch is able to provide value by bringing this to the attention of the community
As you often do in your shows you are conflating two completely different things. Find me any comment I have left where I say that you have defrauded the Dash community. I guarantee you cannot reproduce that comment, because it does not exist.
Funding this proposal is a waste of our limited budget. Full stop.
I'm going to address this and your lower post in one go so as not to overload the threads here.
If people feel there is no value in your proposal and are in the process of defunding it while expressing or raising legitimate issues that you, frankly, do need to address, they are not 'haters, liars or trolls'. You unjustly accused name3 of lying, when the point he made was absolutely correct. I have asked the same point in my question above.
Furthermore, despite your claim, the proposal system is not flawed at all, and has been serving us well for many years. In fact, YES votes have exactly as much power as NO votes, that's how it works - your statement therefore makes zero sense. If you are defunded, it is precisely because the system works - Masternode Owners purge out proposals that are not delivering value to the network.
Using psychologically loaded platitudes like 'hater, liar, troll' and 'how quickly this chapter will have faded', 'heartbreaking to me' the 'flaw in the (DAO) system' while also claiming that you have 'done more to promote the transformative work that Dash is doing' and that because he raises legitimate concerns, he is 'smearing (your) character' is a huge red flag to me and many of us MNO's here. This makes one even more suspicious that you are indeed manipulating for votes in a very political way, and people like myself can now see this.
name3 did not lie in his raising of issues above, and doesn't have to 'tell you your contractual obligations' - there are none, that's how the DAO works. In addition to this, as the Dash Watch report indicates, your metrics are also weak no matter how you wish to position them. If information is requested so Masternodes can understand enough about your project and use of funds so that they can make an informed decision, for a project that has received this much funding, you simply provide it.
To be clear; financial transparency is an absolute must now, and if you don't provide this in detail, it is disrespectful to the very MNO's that voted you in, and you should arguably be defunded.
Another point of note related to the value we're getting from you - during the 'exposure' you have brought since the beginning of the year, Dash has actually crashed relative to other coins to be #14 on CMC. Perhaps you wish to take some credit for that as well, because it's the elephant in the room.
Could you also respond to my question above. It has 7 upvotes at the present time, so clearly I'm not the only one that wants a response.
Thanks,
Drako
But the fact is that it made no measurable difference to Dash in terms of click-throughs and adoption.
Ben, please accept what your thousands of viewers are “telling you” via the measurable stats and limited feedback you have received on your channels.
They don’t seem to be interested in Dash.
It’s not you, it’s them. They aren’t ready yet.
Let’s revisit again in future when Dash has evolution ready, or some news that that your audience will actually resonate with.
I hope after all this funding received that you are now a Masternode owner like us (I read somewhere that you have spun up a Masternode from funds received), and will continue to help promote Dash as a member of the community.
It sounds to me that it is fairly straightforward process, you see a couple his video's and learn a bit about Dash and then you jump in, they basically only have to cover the costs of Ben proposal costs, but do they already or will they ?
Ben Swann has a group supporting him which is why this is finding support.
Whether or not Ben delivers any users or merchants or give accounting statements to Dashwatch, it doesnt matter. Some comments are enough results. If not 800, then 500 but his services are a tax on the treasury. Looks like he is above the law as well.
He has been paid 4000 dash so far and no one has been able to explain what visible good has it done. Or even what will be accomplished with another 2000.
Spending budget on such non-adoption sponsorships is one of reasons for our price decline and we continue sail in that direction. We have slipped to 14.
To think that people are going to start using dash because he speaks at an event, or puts a logo on his videos is only being over hopeful. He only comes around voting time to collect his paycheck.
Next month this or kuvacash will have to be defunded since core is coming out with a big demand but for now looks like we are going to keep paying.
Walter
He is also a MNO and proposal owner.
Hi Ben
Could you please provide some information on how this project is effective in increasing Dash Adoption? Sharing data on how many merchants and users were added would be useful.
There were also questions on the forum about fund utilization and differences between the information you submitted to dashwatch and wallet data. Could you clarify on how many dash have been used and how many remain unspent with you?
Jeremy
These are some communications from a mere handful of people - for what we paid you is this really the best example of the outcome that you have?? If so, I'm sorry but it's really just not good enough.
On that note, could you please confirm if you have personally been in touch with Dash Watch? They claim you have not communicated full details of financial actuals and outcomes/milestones in relation to the 800 dash already paid on the prior proposal. It looks like name3 is not actually lying at all, and that his concern is very legitimate. I'd like to know exactly what is going on here, and I'm sure many other MNO's would too.
Note that as per what name3 is concerned with, and as per the Dash Watch report (in the section Measurable outcomes to key Hypotheses) the KPI's seem to indicate less than 5K click-throughs a month from your banners, which is abysmally low and arguably not value for money at all.
I appreciate that you lowered your ask from the 800 Dash initially requested, but this proposal is still a considerable amount of money for the bare minimum outcome.
Specific information as to how you will aim to now assure us of full transparency with regards to spending would be very much appreciated by MNO's, rather than platitudes. I say this because I feel that the Dash community is starting to see that there may not be the value in this ongoing engagement that we thought there might be, not to mention the very poor transparency with regards to the use of funds.
I must also recommend that community members please read the Dash Watch report (link below) prior to voting.
Thanks,
Drako
"A proposal representative has been in communication with Dash Watch although we have not been able to get a response from Ben directly. We have received the most recent KPI report for April HERE and the KPIs reported are tracking close to the numbers delivered in March HERE. Although requested, no updates regarding expenditures or the financial situation of the proposal have been provided as of 5/26/2018. The completed milestones appear to be in alignment with the overall objectives of this proposal and episodes of Reality Check with Ben Swann have been produced and released on time and Ben has attended and spoken at Libertopia in San Diego and the Voice and Exit Conference in Austin Texas. They have indicated slow progress has been made regarding syndication of content and Zero Hedge has been the largest pickup, agreeing to put up videos and some written content on their site. The Atlanta studio is being used to shoot Reality Check and the new Dash Spotlight videos which are now being created weekly. This proposal has been defunded in May and a new proposal has been submitted at a reduced ask of 495 Dash per month. "
So technically, name3 is not lying. Ben personally has not responded to that specific DashWatch request. But a member of Ben's team has certainly been in contact with DashWatch. And the news pieces, Dash ads, and speaking engagements have been clicking along just fine. So I find the general thrust of name3's comment to be very misleading. Judge for yourself after reading the actual exec. summary.
I will be voting yes and would encourage everyone to do the same.
solarguy
Let me first say that I sincerely do appreciate your energy on DC and in the forums, in particular your willingness to think differently and outside the box in many cases, however, and I mean this with the utmost respect, please take a closer look at the report and what this particular proposal has delivered to us in terms of outcomes and value.
Although the Dash Watch guys are trying to be as neutral as they can, what the report indicates is a complete lack of financial transparency, despite Dash Watch's repeated requests to obtain financial actuals, also abysmal KPI's for the cost of the proposal, and that Ben has indeed avoided direct contact with Dash Watch, choosing instead to delegate this out to a person that has, to date, not provided the level of detail on outcomes and financials one would expect for this amount of funding.
Ben called out name3 to be a liar 'once again', when actually what name3 said was correct. I am still waiting on a response from Ben on my own questions raised below, which expand on the theme of what name3 was asking.
I certainly urge MNO's to take care in light of this whether we are getting any meaningful value from this engagement, given its massive cost.
Unless we get clear answers to these serious issues from Ben, it's a no from me.
Thanks,
Drako
solarguy
Did he showcase Dash on every video as promised?
Does he have a substantial following and a substantial number of views on Youtube and other social media outlets as he promised?
Has he continued to represent Dash well, even after his previous proposal was defunded?
Has he continued to hold up his end of the bargain despite the fact that he became significantly underfunded due to the drop in the price of Dash?
Did he substantially reduce the cost of his proposal in response to legitimate community concerns?
solarguy
Respectfully, I think answering your questions above still won't really answer whether this is value to the network, and certainly many concerns remain as to the use of funds and, even more so, the low impact and outcomes he has produced.
Ben has been paid over 3400 Dash since the beginning of this year, Dec-March (2400 Dash - fully funded proposal), and a single April one (800), before being defunded. His was one of the most expensive running proposals over this time.
According to Ben, he continued to produce the content and get some views of his show, yet despite this, Dash has had the largest relative decline we've seen, and is now #14 on CMC. Arguably the impact has even been negative - at least that is worth thinking very carefully about.
On top of this, it is absolutely true that he has not provided any adequate financials to Dash Watch, does not feel 'contractually obligated' to do so (see his recent post about this) and as name3 TRUTHFULLY claims, is not personally in touch with the Dash Watch teams (re his claims he isn't contractually obliged - neither are most proposal owners, but that is the nature of the DAO - when we see something that should be done, and adds value and transparency, we do it). There certainly isn't anything special about Ben such that he should be excluded from this requirement.
As I mentioned, me and many others here on the DAO truly appreciate your positivity - it is the reason that proposals that are a bit different and experimental get funded, but I ask that in this case if you look closer as to the benefits, not just what 'has been done by Ben' you can see that they are really just not there. Anyone can dig a large hole and fill it in again (speeches, impressions, videos), and can make it very expensive, but at the same time have achieved very little.
Still a no from me, and I'm still looking to Ben to answer my remaining questions.
Thanks,
Drako
This is an astronomical amount for a single sponsorship that has, over the last 6 months, delivered no value outcome for Dash (or worse, it correlates to a deeply negative outcome - as per what I say above; a drop from 4th place to 14th for Dash on CMC).
Thanks,
Drako
I am grateful to the support that we have had in the past with almost 1100 masternode votes in our favor we have been had a nearly 2 to 1 vote total but because of the number of more positives required than negative, the "no" votes are weighted. Perhaps that is the flaw the current system.. a flaw that gives the "no votes" more value than "yes votes". Either way, I will wait and hope some of those masternodes who have still not voted will continue our relationship in these final hours.
I've had more fails in the proposal process than anyone else in Dash.
I know how it drains your soul and can make you bitter....and yet....
Ben has done a good job.
Ben has kept on going.
The votes will come in this time...let's make Ben proud to work with us and who knows how many he can reach when his heart is on fire.
United we stand. Ben get those Dash wallets set up! Let's do this!
I've had more fails in the proposal process than anyone else in Dash.
I know how it drains your soul and can make you bitter....and yet....
Ben has done a good job.
Ben has kept on going.
The votes will come in this time...let's make Ben proud to work with us and who knows how many he can reach when his heart is on fire.
United we stand. Ben get those Dash wallets set up! Let's do this!
True wealth is a person's time, creativity, freedom and the natural resources that a country owns. This is the true definition of wealth. What people get confused about however is believing that currency is wealth. It is not. It only represents what is supposed to be wealth.
So why is the US so powerful? Because the US linked its currency USD to the purchase of oil. Therefore countries cannot buy oil without the USD. This gives substance to the USD.
Crude oil is an essential commodity and powers the entire globe. It is not only a fuel source (Gasoline, diesel etc) but it is also the raw product for the production of almost everything that we own. Anything plastic was created out of oil, look around you how many products have some form of plastic in them? Raw components of pharmaceuticals all have oil. Pesticides and fertilizers for growing food all have oil as their basis. That means all transportation, food, physical products, medicine and pharmaceuticals all have their base in oil. Oil powers the world. A country that can control the oil in effect controls the world.
Notice that many of the countries that have large oil deposits often have conflict of some time with the USA. Why would say that is? Iraq, Iran, Syria and Venezuela, Russia, Libya, Kuwait and Malaysia where the Ringett has tanked.
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves of any country in the entire world. That is more than Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_proven_oil_reserves
Is it therefore any surprise that the US has a conflict with Venezuela?
Venezuela therefore is one of the richest countries in the world. To label Venezuela as a developing country is a mistake. It is a very wealthy country. One the country can rid itself of sanctions and the money controls that the US has imposed upon it then it will start to free this natural wealth the country has and start to thrive again.
True wealth is people's time, freedom and the country's resource. The currency is supposed to fairly represent that however it does not at the moment.
If you are interested in learning about what true wealth is I recommend you watch these videos. There is one error on the video at the beginning. It does not mention a country's natural resources as a form of wealth . However there are other educational programs that put that as No.1 This is why Venezuela and Africa are in fact two of the richest countries in the world in real terms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyV0OfU3-FU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdSq5H7awi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-IemeM-Ado
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0
Also these videos are also enlightening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzoaxTudJks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C-KHt9vi5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Fwe4YkMa4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iutXtWw8gyM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaOvm13Xr3M
I realise there are a number of links above but if you watch all of these training videos you will see that actually Venezuela is one of the richest countries in the World. Once they have a solid stable currency the country will realise that wealth and if that currency is DASH then that value will be transferred to DASH.
Thank you for raising this point. I wanted to address this issue for a long time and your have provided an opportunity for me to do this. Thank you @TanteStefana.
DeepBlue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plp8rltgnFA
Go vote YES people.
solarguy
I've known Ben Swann's work for some years. Ben is a man of integrity who has been behind cryptocurrencies generally for years. Great to see a hefty budget at 495 Dash, down from last months 800 Dash submission.
This proposal dont help for dash adoption.
Its a no.
Regards,
https://www.facebook.com/pg/BenSwannRealityCheck/videos/?ref=page_internal
Easy no vote
If you can't see how that piece was manipulative and politically motivated to the max then I really don't know what to say to you.
Could you please provide some information on how this project is effective in increasing Dash Adoption? Sharing data on how many merchants and users were added would be useful.
There were also questions on the forum about fund utilization and differences between the information you submitted to dashwatch and wallet data. Could you clarify on how many dash have been used and how many remain unspent with you?
Jeremy
(From other proposal)
I’m a fan of your content and consider you to be a terrific public speaker and ambassador for Dash, although I think the 800 requested was becoming quite a stretch for an increasingly tight budget as you can appreciate. I believe it is correct to assume that for the most part many ‘no’ voters did so to give leeway for other upcoming projects, and hence adjusting the requested amount seems to be an appropriate action for continued support at this stage.
As the budget tightens MNOs will continue to vote for proposals that offer the best likelihood of yielding results for marketing and development, it’s nothing personal, simply a matter of a decentralized consensus where the voters have the greatest incentive to vote appropriately.
I believe that an increasing number of proposals is an interesting dynamic that will overall improve the efficiency of the treasury, although sadly some projects may not get as much support along the way and may even lose funding.
Thanks for coming to the table with another offer, it is important to muster as much support as you can to guarantee ongoing funding, and I believe your impact will become apparent over time.
Keep up the good work!
I also appreciate that your team was/is very responsive to concerns about Dash visibility, by increasing the size of the Dash logo, and adding the Sponsor spotlight, just to highlight two obvious changes.
Plus the fact that you continue to represent Dash well, even when your last proposal did not get funded, for example the keynote speech at Libertopia. This demonstrates your commitment to the community.
Carry on! Voting yes.
solarguy