Proposal description
Requested funding is as follows:
3 month proposal
203 Dash per month ($15,000 USD @ $73.70 USD per Dash)
5 Dash proposal reimbursement
Note: Should any funding remain, we will apply it toward future expenses and marketing efforts.
What is the main objective of this proposal?
To improve Dash's communication and media outreach in an official capacity by bringing public relations (PR) efforts in-house. We need to fill the void after Dash Force in terms of international outreach with translated press releases with support for key strategic languages. The network currently doesn't have Dash News, nor a PR firm and this must be resolved promptly as business development teams and partnership announcements depend on external coverage and media support for press releases.
Who is the team behind this proposal?
This initiative and proposal is led by Mark Mason who will be directing media and PR efforts on behalf of the Dash network. It will be a joint collaboration and working partnership with Dash Core Group CMO Fernando Gutierrez, Dash Core Group Marketing Manager Michael Seitz. Also, the team will include translators and freelancers.
We believe creating an online newsroom as a trusted reliable source for journalists on the Dash.org domain is the best long-term strategy, and we sincerely hope the network will support this proposal so that we can continue to professionalize Dash by creating positive change and delivering results.
“I'm very excited about this proposal. For a long time now, several DFOs have been increasing our collaboration in order to obtain better results and be able to tackle bigger projects. Bringing PR in-house is a long-desired goal, and I can't think of a better way to do it than with a cross-DFO collaboration with Mark Mason. I am sure that we'll get increased exposure for Dash in the media, and serve our international communities much better than we are now.”
Statement from Fernando Gutierrez Dash Core Group Chief Marketing Officer.
What does this proposal fund?
⦁ Build a custom branded newsroom for Dash.org
A custom built dedicated newsroom solution content platform to be used in combination with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software which allows us to organize, publish, and solicit earned media opportunities from announcements we report on. Create press releases including translations supporting key strategic languages.
⦁ Bring Dash PR efforts in-house for announcements and communication.
Organize and expand media contacts, create targeted media lists, use CRM tools to pitch more effectively to media with personalized emails and have the ability to track and measure results, which will improve the PR internal team’s work. A dedicated PR Customer Relationship Management solution and media discovery tools will enable us to work as a decentralized team operating in different time-zones to achieve better coverage, more influencer engagement, and build stronger media and partner relationships.
In the past, the Dash network paid for several PR firms to do this work (Transform PR, Wachsman PR, and Shift PR), in coordination with DCG and other teams. This approach had mixed results, but, in general, the observed effectiveness was declining, mostly because journalists in crypto publications trust less in PR firms than they did in the past.
Other teams, like Dash News, also worked on outreach, but they had difficulties derived from their lack of official status.
⦁ Creation of press materials for journalists and publications to use and improve official Dash social media communications posting more original content.
Improve brand awareness with the creation of a Press-Kit for the media with free downloadable resources for journalists to use including high-resolution images, logos, media, headshots and executive bios with branding guidelines and support. Graphic files will be attached with every press release to ensure publications use the correct logo when reporting on Dash. We will also be creating content for official Dash social media platforms incl. graphics, videos, infographics and for partnership announcements.
⦁ Track and measure performance with analytics.
We'll measure PR results with analytics modules to assess press release performance and monitor our email content and drive insights to perform better. We'll be observing contacts’ data and behavior: email opens, clicks, bounces, and more metrics.
⦁ Original video content for official Dash YouTube channel.
This will include interviews on partnership announcements and AMA sessions with Ryan Taylor that will be broadcasted and multi-streamed live on the official Dash Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin accounts as well as YouTube.
What is a newsroom?
An online newsroom (also known as a pressroom, mediaroom, press center or media center) is a website, web page or site section that contains distributable information about a corporation or organization.
The trend of newsrooms is on the rise and has become the online industry standard for press and media relations.
Here are a few notable examples:
https://news.microsoft.com/
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/
https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/
https://newsroom.mastercard.com/
https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom.html
https://news.nike.com/
https://news.mcdonalds.com/
https://www.t-mobile.com/news
https://www.uber.com/newsroom/
Why do we need a newsroom?
An online newsroom is an essential piece in a modern digital communications strategy. As traditional media outlets continue to decline, journalists and publications are seeking original story ideas and communication directly with the source and are visiting newsrooms more than ever. Newsroom will be used in conjunction with a dedicated Public Relations CRM and Press Release distribution management system that will help optimize workflow increasing productivity and coverage in the media while also helping Dash.org rank higher in searches improving SEO and domain authority.
With Dash News defunded, and currently no external PR Firm funded by the network, Dash needs a professional solution and a long-term strategy for an official announcement outlet, team and tools to report on Dash announcements. This is currently a problem for business development teams and for the international community that needs to be resolved asap. We also need a press release announcement section that can be offered to partners in a negotiation, and a reliable source for those who want to follow Dash easily. This is especially true for people who don’t speak English since in other languages coverage is more scarce.
By doing this on Dash.org domain, we also solve some of the problems Dash News had from lack of “official” status. Media outlets are much more likely to cite and report on Dash announcements when it is published directly from the source. Many cryptocurrency media outlets viewed DashNews.org as a rival publication not an official outlet. This meant by using Dash News a publication independent from Dash Core Group and Dash.org as one of the main communication vehicles to report breaking Dash news and to publish announcements in many instances hindered our reporting coverage results on external media outlets. As editorial teams don’t want to report on yesterday's news and they do not wish to cite and create articles from what they viewed as a publication competitor as the source.
What will the Dash newsroom look like?
This is a photoshop mock-up image and is only for illustration purposes as proof of concept. The final result and look of the newsroom may change. The mock-up is included in the proposal so the network can get a feel and better understanding of what the solution will look like.
Please see following link for a full-page mock-up of newsroom: https://imgur.com/8xcE8y8
How does the media feel about newsrooms?
A 2020 report by tekgroup surveyed journalists on what they want in an online newsroom.
97% of journalists say that an online newsroom is important.
96% visit online newsrooms at least once a month.
40% visit every day.
98% like to receive information via email alerts.
Less than 3% of journalists use wires (press releases via paid newswire distribution)
How do we plan to do this?
We will expand and improve our PR efforts and strategy by utilizing dedicated top of the line PR software tools to optimize and professionalize our coordination, communication and outreach to achieve more quality external media coverage. We will also establish and build a database of journalists, outlets, titles, articles, and pitches. Use the CRM media database and communication tools to maximize outreach for announcements. Furthermore, we will continue to connect DCG with journalists and media in order to build articles and long-term working strategic relationships.
The structure and tone of announcements / press releases published in the newsroom will be very objective and adhere to strict industry standard press release guidelines. By following industry best practice we’ll work directly on improving press distribution and public relation efforts so the newsroom can be used by journalists to write their pieces, and syndicate announcements.
One important piece of feedback we had from journalists about branding was that publications had already paid for previous stock images they wanted to repurpose or that the stock images available on Dash to purchase were using the old logo not giving them much choice. To resolve that issue we plan to fund the creation of additional Dash stock graphics/photos that we will own the full rights to, and we will offer journalists and publications free use of them. This will help improve brand recognition and make sure publications are using the correct logo and branding style guide. Having a dedicated press center offering free materials directly from the source will help overcome this as each press release will be published on dash.org with media assets included with every announcement with partner graphics etc. as well as links to extra resources and press kit. Infographics, PDF’s like legal and regulation, and if the budget allows, updated professional headshot photos of Ryan Taylor and DCG leadership with executive bios and creation of b-roll footage (people using Dash wallet app) photo and video.
Right now there are multiple Dash funded organizations doing business development for the network onboarding new partners and integrations. To improve the process and workflow of announcements for Dash, we will create a new announcement guideline that standardizes the process so that teams performing business development can follow instructions and requirements clearly. Streamlining the press release process will enable us to maintain quality control.
What features and functionality will the newsroom have?
⦁ Press releases (current and archived)
⦁ Contact details to make it easy for the media to contact the Dash press team.
⦁ Press-kit including high-quality visual materials (e.g., images, logos, or videos, in different sizes and formats)
⦁ Recent media coverage section (shows active demand and provides an incentivized positive feedback loop for journalists to publish content on Dash as it gives them more exposure)
⦁ Online media assets and resources including history, branding style guide, product/service info and FAQ.
⦁ Improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and help Dash's domain authority, search ranking position, website traffic and media leads. Search engines prefer websites with active regularly posted content. Becoming a press center has the advantage of having original content links published on our domain (press releases/announcements) and also being shared by partners syndicating our announcement links via their social media network followers (growth hacking). Press release links will also be shared on social media in general by the public in addition to direct links to our press releases on publications as the source that receive high traffic.
⦁ Blog feed and social network profiles links.
⦁ Subscribe email options for the media to follow and be alerted about latest releases/developments. This will include the ability from our end to easily embargo, manage and control specific announcements before public release date allowing vetted journalists and publications early access rights to prepare articles for date of release and in some cases offer high-tier publications / media outlets exclusivity.
⦁ Press releases available in various languages.
Why is multi-language support so important?
Dash has a vibrant international community. Dash Force previously published news in 7 languages but halted operations at the end of 2019 due to lack of funding. This has left a massive void in communications for our international communities as they now do not get updates on news and announcements.
"When Dash News got defunded the Russian Dash community and other international communities stopped getting any Dash news or product updates in our native languages since December 2019. I've been contacted by a number of big Russian Dash investors that are very concerned because of this who haven't participated in the voting process as they don't speak English and can't read budget proposals. The Dash network needs to make sure it doesn't neglect the international community and find a long-term announcement solution for languages. I previously worked with Mark Mason to help with Russian translation work when he was volunteering for Dash Core Group many years ago when he was managing international outreach and translators before he started working with Dash Force. Mark is a well known respected international community leader and I believe he is the most qualified individual in Dash today to lead this new initiative for the network providing multi-language communication support. This new proposal if funded will only improve upon what we had before with Dash News."
Statement by Alex-Ru - Dash Russian Community Coordinator
Why not just build a newsroom with Wordpress?
It’s important to clarify to the network that the proposed dedicated newsroom section and underlying infrastructure is separate to the Dash.org wordpress CMS solution. The newsroom will be hosted on a subdomain on Dash.org for example news.dash.org or press.dash.org, but how it functions and works on the back-end will be very different from the main Dash.org site as it will be custom built front-end on top of specialized PR / CRM software at the heart of its operations on the back-end. This decision was taken after weeks of research, brainstorming internally on pros and cons of different solutions, having discovery and demo software video calls and meetings with multiple specialists and exploring what top-tier companies are currently using to be most effective. The feedback and input from industry professionals helped us to select the best solution for our needs. Bottomline is that by using a dedicated PR and CRM software in an all-in-one custom built environment will save us time and money in the long run because how we organize, communicate, pitch, manage and track our performance will enable our international team to operate in different time zones and streamline administrative and internal duties so that we can focus more on the task of securing Dash external media coverage and expanding our media contact database.
Is there any more to this proposal than the newsroom?
Yes, it’s all about output, organization, having an official voice and press contact for Dash and creating content unifying collaborative efforts by all DFO’s including DCG doing business development to provide an outlet for announcements. We will aim to do 8 to 20 releases per month (dependent on the number of Biz Dev announcements) emphasizing quality over quantity and initially translate releases in 4 additional languages: Spanish, Russian, German and Portuguese. We will look to scale languages once we are settled with a working solution. If this proposal is funded by the network it will revamp how we report and manage announcements. Essentially the workflow will be Biz Dev teams onboard partners, when integration is ready for announcement, they follow press release guidelines we will provide with requirements that will help streamline and standardize reporting process. Mark will work with Michael on drafts, everyone edits, with final approval from partners with agreed date. Mark coordinates translations and publishes release and pitch media with ability to embargo releases for exclusivity for high-tier publication and news networks. Mark does video interviews with partners of interest and creates graphics for content to publish on official Dash social media promoting announcements. Everyone involved in the process does media outreach. This proposal is not only a tool but a solution for the network at large.
Will this proposal require more funding in the future?
Yes, but it will likely be a much smaller ask to pay the salaries for Mark Mason, the translators and potentially new team members. We have tried to keep costs as low as possible. This initial proposal will pay for software licenses for a 12 month period which includes expense of building a custom newsroom design. We are starting small with the essential foundations to build upon. After the 3 month period we will review performance and assess whether it is needed or worthwhile to scale operations within the press and communications team. We may require more assistance in areas of content creation for Dash social media, new educational materials on Dash or more administrative support and resources in helping with public relations.
What makes Mark Mason qualified to take leadership on this initiative?
Mark Mason has close to 4 years real-world work experience in public relations, specifically in the blockchain industry as a representative of Dash working directly with external media outlets including publications, TV networks and several PR firms including frequent communications with high-level individuals of key strategic partners.
This includes industry professionals Wachsman PR, BTC Media and more recently Shift, but Mark has also worked with other firms and made contacts in this space due to partner announcements via the partner’s own internal PR or external PR Firms that the partner used. During those four years, Mark also worked directly with publications, journalists and networked with key industry influencers of interest.
In terms of media training and skills, Mark has experience in web-design, graphic design, social media management and video editing. Mark is currently the highest followed individual in the Dash eco-system on Twitter. For example, Mark had over 10 million impressions on his personal Twitter account in 2019 alone. Quite often Mark’s tweets are enough on their own to create news articles on external publications. This position of influence has enabled Mark to network on behalf of Dash to unlock doors to new opportunities for media relations.
In addition, Mark is actively involved with business development performing a crucial and fundamental role in communicating as an ambassador for Dash. This involves onboarding and introducing the DCG Biz Dev team to new high-level integration opportunities for the network. This is possible because of Mark’s influence, reputation and hard work in this industry to date. Mark has gained invaluable experience over the years by networking with the key players and influencers in our industry. Mark is able to perform in high pressure environments where good temperament, communication and social skills are required. For example, Mark has assisted in crisis management on behalf of Dash directly with PR Firms, media, journalists and industry professionals. Mark has often acted as a "Mr Fix It" for the network performing thankless tasks as much of what Mark does happens behind the scenes. Whether it's retrieving funds back from Charlie Shrem, which also resulted in TenX returning their funds, playing the middle man to correct FUD on publications or lending his influence and communication skills to onboard new partners including large announcements. A recent example of this was the Simplex integration where Mark initiated contact and connected Biz Dev teams towards the end of 2019 which resulted in Dash now being available to purchase via debit / credit cards through many of their 128 active partners including Binance etc.
Despite not being paid for several months, Mark remains committed to seeing Dash succeed and still chairs and moderates the weekly Biz Dev coworking meeting with DCG and other DFO's lending his experience, history and contacts, giving his time and efforts into helping facilitate onboarding new partners for Dash. Often big partners want something in return for integration and Mark more often than not plays a key role in the process of onboarding many partners by offering media exposure via video interviews, podcast appearances or simply by raising awareness on social media with video or graphical content.
Marks previous PR efforts achieved Dash news coverage on Forbes, Bitcoin Magazine, Cointelegraph, Business Insider, MarketWatch, ambcrypto, CoinDesk, Bitcoin.com, NewsBTC, Investing.com, FXStreet, Yahoo Finance, Hacked, NullTX and many more.
Mark is also a networked elected Dash Trust Protector and he takes pride in his role in being a representative and ambassador for Dash. Mark takes his obligations seriously and he’s incentivized to see Dash succeed long-term.
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Discussion: Should we fund this proposal?
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Dash Watch Monthly Report: April 2020
Proposal: Dash NewsRoom
https://reports.dashwatch.org/APR20/official-dash-newsroom.pdf
Did you see the number of views on their videos or the quality of their journalism?
In participial no push back on the way DCG is proving back value to Dash!
How much per hour are they getting paid?
https://www.dashcentral.org/p/DashBrazilQ2-2020
Also see the infographic from their previous proposal, which was at an ask of only 160 Dash:
https://www.dashcentral.org/p/DashBrazil2020
There you can easily compare their reach with the reach of DFN, Mark Mason etc. I think judging by BrazilCommunity's work, that this proposal for Dash news room is overpriced. Rodrigo is basically doing the same thing and at a much cheaper cost, with waaaay more work shown. I mean, have you seen his Venezeulan Documentary?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PbciVl3nYU
17 k views, with 19 k subscribers
this interview below with channel "world alternative media" had 13 k views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlmNhqkydKw
Here's his youtube channel, you can see he has A LOT of videos with some pretty good view stats. Roughly between 5-10x what DFN was getting:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5WA2NjZp8VHK_Vl8TdWTtQ/videos
You can quickly see how he's gotten nearly 1 million youtube views. I think for a paid PR proposal, BrazilCommunity is more inline with what the MNOs are looking for both in terms of cost and actual ROI for the network. Not just interms of overall content produced, but quality as well. I think the proposal by BrazilCommunity currently sets the bar for any sort of paid PR work, and the DashNewsroom proposal, in my opinion falls short of that bar.
$15,000 seems like a lot. Would it be possible to have a bit more detail?
1 - Which software product are you licensing and what does it cost?
2 - Who are you hiring to do what and how much are they being paid?
3 - How much do you intend to pay yourself?
Thank you.
One comment though - I do think it would be in everyone's interest for you to report to DashWatch. Not just having them verify the webmaster report like DF did, I mean reporting to DashWatch the same way that most other POs do and including the same information. It's one thing I never really understood about the previous DF proposals. Reporting to DashWatch in the same way as everyone else is not just for a good look, it also sets a good example for the rest of the DAO, and it does not place an undue hardship on DashWatch, even if you might feel it's redundant or that your project's value speaks for itself. DashWatch has been funded since 2017 for a reason, and this is it. This is an easily avoidable potential sticking point.
Getting a commitment from you about DW reporting will not make or break my vote, but my position is that of agreement with anyone who applies pressure on this topic.
I appreciate Mark that you have clearly made efforts in the last few weeks to improve your presentation work for DASH. Your latest videos and announcements are considerably improved. You are also a hard worker and clearly passionate about DASH and if you continue improving like this I would not have a problem with voting for your project provided.
However if you appear on presentations with Joel continuing to act childish and distorting the Dash brand from what it should be which is trustworthy and reliable then I do not wish to support that damage to our brand.
Dash is people's money. People take their money seriously. Therefore we need to present a professional trustworthy image for the Dash brand. Joel does not seem to get that point and continues with his childish pranks on the podcast. I don't support that, so if Joel will get any money for doing any work with DASH then I will not vote for this proposal.
Joel consistently worked over many months to get them defunded. That's not only petty, childish behavior, but it was severely detrimental to the network and hampered our adoption. DFN has been alleged by several other Masternode owners to have operated as a sort of "nerd mafia", which intimidated and browbeat others who didn't toe the party line.
Obviously, such behavior should not be rewarded, nor should it be encouraged. It certainly shouldn't be paid for. For all these reasons and more, it makes sense to verify that Joel will not be participating in this funding. DFN was DEFUNDED by the network. The MNOs took a look at DF, their behavior and they said we don't want to pay for that any more. Subverting the will of the MNOs cannot be said to be and act done in good faith, for the good of the network.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DashUncensored/comments/bt8jjm/discussion_of_the_rules_governing_this_subreddit/:
"Those individuals are capable of answering for themselves, but just like when I argued there that day, Joel hid like a coward from me for hours, now I know why of course. I didn't even know he was the ring leader because instead of facing me himself, he hid behind his stooges, but he was very scared to acknowledge his obvious side in this (he'd been on that side for at least 8 months by that time).
He spent 45 minutes just trying to pretend he was barely affiliated with the split or issue. He was very nonchalant. Almost as if he barely knew anything about the issue. Someone on the discord had to PM me the real details of the split. That Joel was actually the mastermind of it, and had been working for months to cause dissension and discord on the Discord chat group.
And that he had also been working to defund KuvaCash behind the scenes, surreptitiously, for about 5 months prior to that1. Finally, after about 2 hours of this back and forth which was around 6-8 hours after my discussion with his underlings began earlier, he began to relent and start discussing his 'grievances'.
The reason why he was so reticent to even engage with me then became apparent: His grievances/list of demands were completely nonsensical! They were personal, minor ego slights, not even close to significant enough reason to disband a 30-member DAO team funded by the treasury and throw away $1.2 million that had already been invested by the Dash network over the last year at that time - which no other coin can say, btw, which proves this was a blockstream-esque attack on Dash's unique value proposition.
TL;DR his 'list of demands' was basically constructed in such a way that the other side would've never given in. This would've been just as obvious to most people watching as it was to me, which is why he didn't want anyone to know about it! This was back in September.
Quote from Joel's minion:
"You are not free to just make libelous claims without showing your properly cited sources."
My Response:
I was there, personal experience. I argued with Joel's minions and then with Joel himself for about 24-36 hours in total over two days. Are you really going to attempt to call me crazy again?
Quote from Joel's minion:
"You are now in violation of Discords public use policy and if you do not stop creating unproven written accusations against these people we will be forced to report you directly to the Discord administration."
My Response:
You see what I mean? Threats. Intimidation. Just like Blockstream. Cowards who hide behind 'rules' and other people in order to attack and control the narrative. Notice in his stalwart defense, he never denied it."
And also, I allude to his behavior in this thread, posted Sun Apr 28 2019:
https://www.reddit.com/r/dashpay/comments/bi64ek/one_of_the_things_our_infiltrators_will/
"They've done this many times before over the last year with KuvaCash, Dash Nigeria, Dash Ghana, Dash Haiti. This is not hypothetical. I have been fielding complaints for months from independent, unrelated teams in the 'third world' that there is a concerted effort to get them defunded. Both from the Treasury and from DashBoost. It appears we have infiltrators that are working to make us pass the most expensive but least effective proposals."
https://np.reddit.com/r/dashpay/comments/ahasrv/the_final_and_strongest_weapon_against_us_will_be/
Then again, six months ago, I called out Joel and George again on DashCentral here in this comment on the Dash LaTam proposal:
https://www.dashcentral.org/p/dash-latam-60-txday-2000-active-merchant
"therealDashman21
0 points,6 months ago
There are a lot of community members who are working against the best interests of the DAO and trying to halt our growing adoption in LatAm and abroad. George Donnelly, Joel Valenzuela were both personally at the head of this charge to completely retard and reverse our growing adoption.
They did this by using the same tactics as the monero community, which include malicious, punitive lies, fud and other hit-job tactics. Their purpose seems to be to prevent Dash from continuing to grow naturally, they are likely funded by and working for the monero community. Henry Georgist is a member of the monero community as I showed from his reddit account:
https://www.reddit.com/user/henrygeorgist
And he supports george's efforts to take over Venezuela, which means they're working together to stop Dash. This is an act of war gentlemen."
Also, in this thread documenting my permaban from the r/dashpay subreddit (yes despite being a MNO who never broke the rules), I call out Joel directly and provide evidence that he was working against other POs, post Sun May 26 2019:
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/bt8ka9/active_censorship_in_rdashpay_i_was_gaslit_into_a/
Relevant section:
"TL;DR There was a big proposal in the Dash treasury called KuvaCash and some members of the Dash community had been working behind the scenes to get them defunded, ostensibly out of spite. Joel Valenzuela, a Dash-famous personality with Dash News, was one of these individuals and this sparked a large part of my concern about 'infiltration'.
Then I started getting reports from third world teams that DashBoost, a supplement to the treasury for small projects, was being abused by Joel to prevent them from getting even that meager funding. This was clearly not the behavior of anyone working for adoption in our community.
Why would you actively work to sabotage the growth of Dash in Zimbabwe by lying about Kuvacash in the same way the Monero community lied about Dash for five years? And I mean the exact same way, same playbook, same ridicule, same 'hurr durr' low brow memes designed to foster a sense of ego/superiority of their side/inferiority and poopiness of the other side, etc. Well, I wrote a different version of that thread that was suspiciously deleted."
Here is my field report from my argument with Joel and his underlings on their discord:
https://old.reddit.com/r/dashpay/comments/9s3rl7/kuvacash_proposal_our_next_shot_missed_and/e8npwpn/
So I saved you a bit of trouble, although there are more posts, this is more than enough imo.
Suffice to say that during the Kuvacash debacle, the defunding of Dash Ghana and other African proposals, as well as direct communications with POs that were forced out of DashBoost by Joel last year, it became clear that Joel was working in some capacity against the other POs in certain regions.
Indeed, today we can still see that same cabal of MNOs consistently and routinely downvote all the proposals in the third world and leave lies and make untrue accusations against them here, while leaving much more expensive and less performant proposals, like this one, untouched. On Feb 24th, (someone with) 124 masternodes downvoted all the "third world" proposals while leaving other proposals untouched.
Joel and Mark were both instrumental in IGNORING Dash Nigeria, again, something else that I documented on reddit twice over the span of about six months. I had to repeatedly ask them to add Dash nigeria to the front page of DiscoverDash even though they had more stores accepting Dash than 3 of the other countries on the front! I was given excuses as to why they were not given any story coverage by Dash News as well.
Joel was instrumental in defunding Kuvacash and I personally argued with him and his "nerd mafia" about that for nearly 48 hours 1 and a half years ago in an attempt to reach a peace agreement. It was during this argument that another MNO privately informed me that Joel had secretly been working against other POs in Africa for nearly a year (at that time) and basically was going around spreading rumors about them and trying to get them defunded. I was actually aggressively threatened with legal action by a lackey of this nerd mafia when I documented Joel's behavior on reddit.
Ostensibly as retaliation for the Ben Swann defunding, which Joel did not support and which caused him to lose face. As you can probably imagine, anyone accused of such behavior should not be entrusted with network funds as that behavior is anti-competitive and destructive to the network as a whole.
There is no reason to be a naysayer for Dash NIgeria. Dash watch and all the positive press and metrics speak for themselves. Dash Nigeria has gotten Dash integrated in many top rate African exchanges and services. Yet they consistently meet with unnatural resistance and downright rude behavior.
They usually involve some sinister monero plot to infiltrate Dash even saying top Dash Force members were secret monero spies trying to take down Dash from within. This batshit crazy theory came about because some of us dared question the kuva proposal, so therefore we must be monero infiltrators???
Dash force helped support African proposal owners and community members for years with the meetup program, video interviews as well as tons of articles documenting ever significant happening on the continent.
https://dashnews.org/page/1/?s=africa
We even hired Iyke Aru, a Nigerian-based blockchain and crypto writer as well as gave Nathaniel Luz his own guest opinion piece.
https://dashnews.org/nigerias-e-commerce-problems-and-dash-as-a-potential-solution/
That was the only reason I was banned from r/linux, because I criticized the fact that Flenst and the monero community followed my around online by abusing reddits "follow" feature to see whenever I would post, so they downvote brigade my comments and kill my karma. That's against the rules of reddit, yet here you are celebrating that act of censorship.
Aren't you in the wrong community? Why are you so protective towards monero when they have attacked and spread lies about Dash for years? Are those just "crazy conspiracy theories", as well? You must certainly be aware that they have attacked and lied about us, right? Don't you think that's strange behavior? Why are you trying to call me crazy for pointing out the obvious fact that if someone attacks you, you should defend YOURSELF, NOT YOUR ATTACKER? Why are you trying to endorse and inculcate the idea of behaving like we have "stockholm syndrome", where we try to "love people who abuse us", into the community? We should defend ourselves from liars, not coddle them, and suck up to them as you wish.
Your values seem to be diametrically opposed to what this community fundamentally stands for. Yet you have a masternode and "participate" in these discussions. This is just further evidence I was correct and we have a masternode infiltration problem. You and Joel and your nerd mafia worked together to dramatically slow down our adoption. How else do you explain the dramatic decline in proposals from Africa?
You call it a 'wild conspiracy theory', is it a coincidence you use the same condescending language and tone as govt officials denying something that later turns out to have been 100% correct? Even your friend and fellow mafia member solarguy2003 admits in a quote below that I was correct in calling out monero infiltration, and yet I was censored on the dashpay sub. Which means the dashpay sub doesn't work for the dash community, it works for the monero community. Y
ou can call me names all you wish, but can you respond to this? How can you say you work for the dash community, if you ban MNOs who fight against monero, and protect monero community members who, you even admit were caught attempting to infiltrate and spread FUD about our coin? Yet here you are instead using that ban to try and twist the screws on someone who is supposed to be a colleague of yours.
Now its clear why you and your group were classified as a "nerd mafia". Mafias always ruin everything they touch, because they're lazy and arbitrary and their "rules" are bullshit. You want us to support and praise MEDIOCRITY and UNDERACHIEVEMENT instead of the proposals that work really hard and get real results. This MUST MEAN that you have PERVERSE incentives and motives. It could mean nothing else. So you and Joel and your mafia worked to defund all the third world proposals who were getting crazy integrations, building crazy cool services like DashText, DashHelp, Dash Mall and Parking, EletroPay POS in the third world.
Joel also made sure to take money from DashBoost even though he had a 325 Dash 4 month proposal currently active at the time. Talk about FREAKIN' GREED! You defund all these teams, just so you and your dingy website wouldn't look like slackers by comparison. You're behaving like PARASITES! Which is why your toxic mafia was defunded. You should've rage quit like George Donnelly and LEFT US ALONE! But you won't do that, will you? You're in it for the "long haul" to make sure we don't succeed, isn't that right?
We're trying to grow the network, and fund adoption. You're trying to siphon as much money as possible to centralize your control over the network so you can ride it down to zero. We want to grow, provide financial freedom, and economic independence. But no, to you, nothing like that matters. You just want everyone to accept your BULLSHIT as truth despite the facts to the contrary. Its all about CONTROL with you, which is why DFN WAS DEFUNDED FOR BEING TOXIC! And now you're coming out again to bat...
Furthermore, I succeeded in calling out monero infiltration by the user flenst as he attempted to infiltrate our community, and speak for us, despite having spent many years lying about our coin and spreading FUD around subreddits like r/cryptocurrency, with impunity. The fact that you come out to defend him and that behavior, as well as to "control the narrative" and call my well-evidenced posts "crazy conspiracy theories" ironically goes a long way to prove that I was correct both about him and about you.
That successful call out took place in this thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/dashpay/comments/ame5bw/this_youtube_video_is_the_kind_of_propaganda_i/
"solarguy2003
6 points ·
1 year ago
We all know Flenst is our "loyal" opposition.
Thank you for posting reams of evidence without going all disrespectful. As we have discussed, it is perfectly fine to attack the ideas and statements when they are untrue. WELL DONE."
And that quote is from moderator solarguy2003 and it proves that I was correct as even your own guy agreed with me. The guy who is on your side and was the moderator who violated the rules of r/dashpay to get me banned (as well as basilpop), that same guy said that my thread calling out monero infiltration WAS CORRECT.
Rules that I was fundamental in establishing as they helped me succeed in my at-the-time months-long battles against monero trolls. Battles which I won 100% of btw. Thanks to that tireless effort, the narrative around Dash has completely shifted since years now! Which results in less and less deliberate animosity towards us, which leads to more integrations and positive press, and growth... ...I've done more for the network in the last 3 years than you ever could've in your WHOLE LIFE. Not even if you tried could you come close to accomplishing a fraction of what my posts have accomplished. Because of my visible success in shutting down fud across the cryptocommunity in mutiple subreddits, lies about the instamine were exposed and stopped being repeated. In fact, one of the reasons it is now widely known that LTC had the same fastmine bug as Dash is because of one of MY COMMENTS!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/bo04tg/til_litecoin_had_about_the_same_premine_as_dash/
That thread was born out of a reply to the user lubokkanev in r/btc where I informed him that LTC had the same fastmine bug as Dash by pointing to the post he linked to. That post by lubokkanev then went viral, and people began talking about the fact that LTC had the exact same fast mine as Dash. Thanks to that, FUD about the fastmine was drastically reduced so my comments and "crazy conspiracy theories" have a provable, demonstrably positive effect for the network, while Joel and your behavior has been shown to have the opposite effect. Even a child is known by their actions after all...
There were even articles about it like this one:
https://cryptobriefing.com/litecoin-charlie-lee-crusade-against-dash/
"Lee has raised this fact several times over the past few years, but it became especially controversial at the end of July when Dash’s proponents reminded him that Litecoin was instamined as well.
In fact, according to proponents the instamine originated with a bug in Litecoin’s code, from which Dash was forked. In Litecoin’s case, just 500,000 LTC was created, which only makes up about 0.6% of Litecoin’s eventual total supply."
Furthermore, I exposed the truth about anonymity sets and how Monero's anonymity set was only 5 (at the time, its 11 now) while Dash's is much, much higher. Even Vitalik Buterin parroted my description on privacy coins and anonymity sets WORD-FOR-WORD when he described Monero's shortcomings here in this article:
https://www.coindesk.com/vitalik-proposes-mixer-to-anonymize-one-off-transactions-on-ethereum
May 23, 2019 at 16:45 UTC
In a follow-up email with CoinDesk, Buterin explained,
“Anonymity set is cryptography speak for ‘set of users that this thing could have come from.’ For example if I sent you 1 ETH and you can’t tell who exactly it was from but you can tell that it came from (myself, Alice, Bob or Charlie), then the anonymity set has size 4. The bigger the anonymity set the more privacy you have.”
The main thrust of my thread from Sep 2018 or more than nine months before Vitalik made his comments in May 2019 linked below:
https://np.reddit.com/r/CryptoTechnology/comments/9ibrh0/cutting_to_the_chase_or_how_to_properly_evaluate/?utm_content=comments&utm_medium=hot&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=CryptoTechnology
"So with no further ado, here is your simple guide to evaluating privacy coins! Like daily tx throughput is a key metric of btc/blockchain adoption and usage, privacy coins have their own 'key metric' to determine their ability to hide your tx history: the size of their anonymity set.
This is basically the number of other people with which your transaction is plausibly 'mixed' so as to sever the link between your address and that coin. The greater this number is, the more difficult it is to associate a coin with your address, thus making it more private."
You need to rethink your tact and your tone here because you are not speaking with someone whom you can intimidate with your ham-fisted attempts to rewrite history. You ask for facts, you get facts, YOU GIVE FACTS OR YOU SHUT THE HELL UP! You're talking to the man who single-handedly DESTROYED ONCE AND FOREVER THE MONERO COMMUNITIES VAST LIES AGAINST US and you're pretending that it was all some fantasy. Well, not on my watch you won't. EVERY prediction I've ever made has come true. EVERY ONE!
Your comment acts as if the Monero community hasn't verifiably lied against our coin since 2014. I've posted quotes hundreds of times of them impersonating Andreas Antonopolous in order to shill for Monero, infiltrate our coin, as well as their core team members creating and spreading verifiable and known lies. And you're here taking up for and defending them. My my my, what a coincidence. Looks like you're the guy I've needed to be speaking to this entire time as you're clearly at the head of the infiltration attempts on our coin. I'll tell you once more, LEAVE OUR COIN ALONE!
As I wrote in my field report I had NO FEELINGS OR EVEN KNOWLEDGE EITHER WAY towards Kuvacash or any of the personalities involved (didn't know who Drako was and was only vaguely familiar with Valenzuela) so I had absolutely no bias going into that debate. None until about 24 hours until they were defunded by Joel's meanspirited efforts. I did my research on the fly the same evening-into-the-morning that I spent 8-10 solid hours before a brief intermission.
After that we reconvened the discussion again, which is how I learned both about the progress the Kuva team made with the Zimbabwean government, the plans they had to massively increase Dash's daily transactions by being used for transportation, as well as Joel's meanspirited, month's long efforts to drum up angst and MNO hate against them.
Again, Dash Force News STONEWALLED Dash Nigeria for more than six months. I was in communication with the PO at the time, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! I wouldn't make an accusation that was unsourced, unlike you who has no evidence, no facts and no logic on your side. That news piece happened long after I started calling out your anti-competitive behavior in stonewalling the growth story of Dash Nigeria. You made those moves as a desperate ploy to hide the fact that you were working against someone and teams that you should've been supporting. If you were truly for the Dash network and growing its adoption, you and Joel and Dash Force would've wholeheartedly supported Dash Nigeria, instead of begrudgingly after I spent months calling you out for your behavior.
As an elected Dash Trust Protector my first priority to the network is to make sure Dash Core Group is sustainable long-term. At the current market price if the Dash USD price doesn't recover it means that DCG will be currently operating at a loss with its current burn rate. It goes without saying that the Dash development road-map is and remains the priority for the project. Therefore if there is no DCG development there will be no press releases or no major business development efforts to report on in an official newsroom.
In December 2018, Ryan Taylor gave forward guidance on a blog post that Dash Core Group expressed its intention to draw no more than 60% of the available budget, except in extreme circumstances. I would argue that recent economic events is an extreme circumstance so the survival of the project should be the priority.
If that means we might have to re-route proposal treasury money back to DCG for development efforts, that should be seriously considered by the network. While Dash Evolution is still in development and not on mainnet, I personally feel the treasury budget and masternode network should really prioritize DCG with the utmost importance. At this point in time, if market conditions remain everything is secondary and sadly that includes funding Dash Funded Organizations, the Dash Investment Foundation and other proposals.
If the cryptocurrency market stagnates and grinds to a halt. We must ensure Dash continues to develop and be a innovator in blockchain technology and lead from the front. As Brock Pierce once said: "Bull markets produce bull shit. Bear markets bear fruit." now is the time to build and how we utilise our treasury budget allowance should reflect that notion.
To summarise, I will proceed with the proposal outlined. However, if DCG operations exceed their reserves. I will strongly consider the use of proposal funding to be redirected for development purposes. We should always put the network before the individual.
Should any funding remain, we will apply it toward future expenses and marketing efforts.
His past actions have been very divisive such as the dash news discord ordeal
Then to try go on and get under the DCG wing to salvage whatever he can.
Furthermore there has been instances where Dash news has nitpicked which articles they would like to publish, i.e on many occasions they have not published dash brazil Rodrigos articles and Rodrigo had had to approach Ernesto to get it done
Point being if these guys arent team players and they wish to run you over with the bus every chance they get then why vote for them?
Voting NO
I don't believe this is factually true as I'm not aware of any events like this happening. In fact my personal experience was the direct opposite. Ernesto reached out a few times asking us to provide press coverage on exchanges etc. that Rodrigo helped to on-board with details via Google Docs. Dash News obliged and did provide coverage as they were great integrations. Rodrigo does great work and is a fantastic ambassador for Dash. So I'm perplexed by your accusation and use of that as a justification to vote no.
I honestly have absolutely no idea about any events taking place like you are referring to here. Therefore, I will reach out directly to Rodrigo and Ernesto for comment. As I feel there has been a misunderstanding.
I had to ask you twice online over the span of about 6 months before you begrudingly added them. Dash News also very rarely published any articles about Dash Nigeria, despite all the massive adoption, partnerships and growth they have provided the network as the only real cryptocurrency option in Nigeria.
You'd think a story like that would be very important for a "Dash-centric" news service to curate and get the scoop on. But nope, silence from you for months! So for the first (and hopefully last) time ever, I can echo mrrealhack's comment, if you're not going to be a team player and you want to be "king maker" and shun POs and countries that aren't in your interest, why should we fund you?
Yes Yes Yes!
Secondly, the problem with DFN wasn't that they weren't 'official'. At least, that's not why they were defunded. Certainly not being an 'official' arm may have hindered their own operations, but they were defunded primarily because they didn't work well with others, wouldn't submit to DashWatch oversight, and provided very little demonstrable ROI. As other MNOs noted, DFN spent more time increasing their influence within Dash than outside of it. Which is why there is still considerable mistrust towards Dash despite years of 300 Dash worth of funding for DFN. DFN was a bad investment. A paid media arm may be worthwhile for the network, but these hands have not proven capable with network resources.
Thirdly, and most damning, this proposal is waaaaay too expensive. 200 Dash for a website?? We pay other teams less than that and they're on the ground, spreading adoption, holding conferences, doing live tv interviews (like the recent national tv broadcast about Dash in Venezuela), getting Dash integrated in local exchanges and businesses, etc.
This is just going to be a Dash news website. We already have one of those. In my opinion, this proposal doesn't increase the net value to the network, because we've already tried this idea with this management team. Mark Mason may be able to make content, but he's not a professional at this. Yet he's demanding professional salary even though for years this same strategy provided little ROI. Being under core isn't going to change that.
As I see it, we have gotten far more ROI for much less spent on other proposals, precisely because they provide cost breakdowns, submit to DashWatch for oversight and offer much more than merely a website. They offer repeatable, verifiable growth metrics. We can see the growth in the active number of Venezuelan android wallets. We can see the growth in transactions in the Eletropay POS. DFN had terrible viewership ratings, low virality, extremely low engagement from non-Dash communities and users, and in general did not provide much for the amount of Dash they were given. The same appears to be the case to me here, so I will vote no.
Please let me address your concerns.
Firstly. Your claim that Dash Force News did not report to Dash Watch is not totally accurate. So there may be some misunderstanding there. Please allow me to explain why that may be the case:
Dash Watch verified Dash Force metrics and KPI's on several occasions. I had video-calls with Dash Watch sharing my screen going through metrics and KPI's including Google Analytics, Webmaster tools and multiple website backends to show number count of articles and translations, social media metrics etc.
This was confirmed on several of the Dash Force proposals for example:
https://www.dashcentral.org/p/dash-force-may--august
https://i.imgur.com/AUk2gIC.png
In terms of accountability. I always published webmaster reports for the network for transparency reasons. To be clear, I did these reports before Dash Watch was even operational.
This was the first webmaster report from April 2017, the very same month the news website launched.
https://dashnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Dash-Force-News-Webmaster-Report-April-2017.pdf
As Dash Force operated in the public eye it was very easy for the network to verify that work and proposal deliverables was being delivered. Whether that was of value or not is purely subjective at an individual level. I personally felt we needed that solution at that point in time and the network voted to fund it. However, you are welcome and entitled to your opinion. As the network continues to grow and professionalize I do believe this new proposal and approach is a step in the right direction to not only stay relevant in this space but to also amplify our efforts. In my opinion that should be the main focus of the comment section for this proposal in how we create positive change.
Finally, your claim that this is too expensive for just a website. I would kindly encourage you to re-watch the proposal video or re-read proposal description as your summary of this being just a 'news' site is not an accurate portrayal as that is not the full objective of the proposal.
This is not about simply creating another publication website. This will be a press centre with a dedicated public relations CMS/CRM solution to professionalize Dash’s marketing and press outreach by building relationships with journalists, providing a platform for press releases, and improving the communication between DCG and market participants. As of right now we don't have a PR firm. This is putting strain on how we report on announcements in an official capacity in addition to our business development efforts on-boarding, supporting and working with new partners and integrations.
As I clearly stated in the proposal video I personally believe treasury funding should prioritize Dash Core development efforts to deliver on the roadmap outlined by DCG. However, if we are unable to effectively communicate and achieve external coverage on those developments then the results of those achievements will be futile. If the network isn't prepared to allocate 200 from a 5735.52 Dash total available budget per cycle for official communication efforts then the project in my opinion will stagnate and continue to decline over time due to too much noise in the markets.
If Dash wants to be taken seriously we require a professional solution that is fit for purpose. I don't believe simply comparing another crypto project alone is the best approach to analyse or address the needs and ambitions of the network. In order to breakthrough and permeate into the mainstream we need to provide resources and tools that traditional and legacy media is conditioned to and more importantly expects.
That is my position.
Thank you.
https://beta.dashwatch.org/reportlist?month=Nov19
Which clearly states that DashForce is a proposal listed under the heading:
"Proposal teams opted out of Dash Watch reporting"
So, while there may be some discrepancy there, it is true that Dash Force has in the past submitted multi-month proposals without DashWatch oversight. While it is correct that there has been *some* oversight, I stand by the main thrust of my commentary based on that evidence.
And note, that even though you had those brief oversights, the overall problem that the MNOs did not like the lack of DashWatch oversight, and that you thus rebranding and falling under DCG's wing, which we accept (for now) to not have DashWatch oversight, still remains. Can you address this? The MNOs were explict in the Dash Force proposal that we wanted to see DashWatch oversight over DashForce. Can you respond to the criticism that you rebranding under DCG is merely a dodge of the will of the MNOs?
As to your claim that it is not affiliated with Dash Force, aside from the fact that Dash Force was primarily a news organization/website, and this proposal is also primarily a news organisation/website, the reasons I also surmise that it is affiliated are as follows:
1. Mark Mason is/was a member of Dash Force.
2. Dash Force and its members have been alleged by several other masternode owners to have been running a sort of "nerd mafia", where they (Joel and Mark and some others, I believe Mastermined as well was named in this group) work together in order to both increase their share over the network, and decrease the share of other POs. Dash Force was alleged several times by other masternode owners to have spent most of their efforts increasing their influence internally, while completely neglecting growth metrics externally.
Again, Mark Mason was a part of this failed strategy. What justifies giving you another 600 Dash to try it again under DCG rebranding? I apologize that I do not have 20 minutes to listen to you explain why we need this, especially when you state "for more details and information, please see the full proposal description section", which means that the description should have more information than the video.
That means I shouldn't need to watch the video in order to know all I need to know about your proposal. Do you disagree with this reasoning? I see nothing in this proposal that is worth 200 Dash. Perhaps if you provided a detailed cost-breakdown like other proposals do we could discuss more about it. But so far, it just seems to me like an attempt to formalize a previous failed strategy.
" This will be a press centre with a dedicated public relations CMS/CRM solution to professionalize Dash’s marketing and press outreach by building relationships with journalists"
But WHY do we need this? Let me further clarify my opposition to this idea. In venezuela, recently and in the past, we have had many national tv interviews about our growing adoption there. National tv interviews about Church's Chicken, Subway, Dash mall and parking events, a documentary from Rod that got tens of thousands of views, etc.
So you see, we have all this great press in Venezuela, all this media and good PR, yet we never paid for such as this proposal asks. How can you explain this discrepancy? How can you explain the fact that despite having Dash Force for YEARS, our position and favorability in the overall cryptocurrency market has fallen behind and remains overall low?
You must accept that your attempts in this regard have failed. I think we can agree that is part of the reason DF was defunded. So what's different now? We have over 100 podcasts of you and Joel talking about Dash, dozens upon dozens of articles, yet none of it seems to be very effective. I do not wish to throw our money after failed strategies. "Professionalism" is not what's needed here. Dash is a very professional organization already. I think it is a red-herring to view marketcap and price in the market as a referendum on Dash, its technology and its growth potential.
Many coins are "larger" than us despite being completely backwards and behind us technologically. So the idea that our growth relies on good, professional, paid PR when the coins above us don't have anything close to that means that your strategy is likely to tilt at windmills. Can you address this concern as well?
Thank you for reading and replying to my comment.
To be clear, this proposal is not for a news publication, rebrand or related to Dash Force operations in any shape or form. Joel and Brian AKA Mastermined are not involved with this initiative. I am the only former Dash Force member involved. The decision to disband Dash Force operations while the proposal was passing was a difficult decision to make but I felt the right one. I had made friendships and spent years putting my heart, time and energy into Dash Force. However, I also shared the same criticisms and frustrations that the network shared and when I reflected on what I truly thought was best for Dash as a Trust Protector it was the proposed solution that I knew was needed to be done for the betterment of the network.
You ask "WHY do we need this?" I do accept and acknowledge your criticism but please do allow me to expand upon on why I believe this solution is so dearly needed.
I don't believe we need hype or Dash op-eds on an independent publication to achieve external media coverage or to publish press releases. What we need is an official voice and outlet to solely focus on announcements and support for our partners. There is no better place than Dash.org website. This is where I agree with you about Monero not needing an external PR firm to achieve coverage. However I must stress you do need dedicated resources and a press team which we currently don't have.
For example: Monero takes this approach with their own newsroom, press-kit, contacts for media inquiries on their official sites etc. https://monero.org/news/ and https://web.getmonero.org/press-kit/
I believe Dash needs to do the same and I think we can also improve upon this.
Although I should inform you that Monero has used external PR Firms in the past for press releases and announcements. Please see:
https://www.dittopr.co/portfolio-item/monero/
So I actually agree with parts of your assessment. To support your argument further towards the end of 2019 I spoke with the Head of Business Development for one of the biggest crypto publications that achieves tens of millions of page views per month. I asked why Dash wasn't getting the same amount of coverage it did in previous years. He told me firstly that coverage on cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum generate more page visits. As publications are dependent on advertising revenue and sponsorships this was understandable. He then told me that the editorial team had been pitched and approached by external PR Firms in the past on behalf of Dash trying to push press releases / announcements. I asked what the problem was? and he told me bluntly if Dash can pay for an external PR Firm then why can't Dash pay the fee to have a press release on the publication. He then referenced how Bitcoin and Ethereum don't require the use of PR Firms for their announcements.
The industry is growing rapidly and daily blockchain news is highly saturated and competitive so we need to adapt our approach. Using third parties to distribute announcements and be a point of contact has not helped Dash in fact in some instances it has damaged media relations. If a journalist wants to write about Bitcoin Cash for example they go directly to the source and not an external entity middle man as the bridge of contact. I know personally first hand that certain youtubers and journalists that were put off reporting on Dash as we used PR firms to coordinate communications. They found this approach to be highly distasteful as they would not have to jump through these hoops and layers of chain of communication with other cryptocurrencies with more brand recognition and higher marketcaps. We have to realize and appreciate that this corporate behaviour doesn't do us any favours in an industry that was built on the principles and champions itself taking pride in being a permission-less, open-source, border-less project created for financial freedom. It's time to bring PR in-house and in the spirit of DCG continue to professionalize our efforts.
Currently Dash uses the Medium platform as its blog for official product updates. This means we lose domain authority and valuable SEO. If Dash wants to achieve media coverage outside of crypto publications and engage with mainstream traditional media whether that is journalists, TV network producers, youtubers etc. we must have an official outlet for announcements and provide the media assets and tools they require so they can focus on reporting.
The structure and tone of announcements / press releases published in the newsroom will be very different to Dash News reporting as the press releases will be very objective and adhere to strict industry standard press release guidelines.
As of right now we don't have a PR firm. This is putting strain on how we report on announcements in an official capacity in addition to our business development efforts on-boarding, supporting and working with new partners and integrations.
Dash doesn't engage in pay for play tactics. When onboarding new partners they expect a level of professionalism and official support with not only a press release for announcement but also support in terms of social media etc. This proposal is about Dash official communications and also being more media friendly at the source.
I truly want what is best for the network. I have skin in the game the same as you. It's in my best interest to see Dash succeed. I will try and be as candid as possible to paint you a clear picture as to why this is so important as I do appreciate and fully understand many are not privy to what happens behind the scenes leaving only room for speculation. So please allow me room to explain.
I have been very open and transparent in the proposal description about why Dash News was not an ideal solution for breaking announcements in the eyes of the media as it was seen as a rival publication and also why Dash Force wasn't a suitable outlet for official Dash PR purposes. More often than not when Dash Funded Organizations including DCG who perform business development for Dash got new partners Dash News would be used as bait and bargaining tool offering them press coverage, video interview, podcast guest and social media support to sweeten the deal to facilitate integrations.
The problem with this and my ongoing frustration was that I was constantly having to explain to partners who were initially excited about their big announcement or integration be confused as to why they were being passed on to Dash News for announcement purposes and why it was not going out through official Dash channels. I would have to breakdown every time how the DAO works and explain that Dash News was a network funded publication independent to DCG. In the partners eyes this was their big announcement for Dash but the reality is it wasn't a good look for Dash. This is not how partners should be treated and we desperately need a solution that is fit for purpose. We want partners to feel supported and have an exceptionally good onboarding experience with Dash as reputation and credibility is everything is this space. If Dash is seen to treat and support their partners well it will only inspire more integrations and send a strong message that working with Dash has its advantages over other cryptocurrency projects.
Typically with big integrations the partner either has their own internal PR team or uses a third party PR Firm to handle and distribute their announcements. Why this is important to understand is that Dash needs the resources, bandwidth and outlet to facilitate this. As for announcements we are expected to work directly with them and currently we have no PR Firm, solution or dedicated resources to facilitate these integration announcements at the level of commitment that is expected of us. We need to fix this ASAP.
This is why inbound PR and newsrooms are so essential in an era of 'fake news' and why journalists now opt to go and report straight from the source.
I always intended and wanted Dash.org to be a one-stop shop solution for announcements. The reason why Dash News was launched in the first place was because the network wasn't happy with external media coverage or reporting on Dash. At that point in time it was believed that Dash Evolution was due in December 2017. Dash News was only meant to be a stop-gap solution to fill the void until Dash Evolution launched as Dash Core were focusing on development and it was expressed by DCG leadership that an external independent publication for Dash reporting was a good thing to keep Core accountable etc.
As I clearly stated in the proposal video:
Masternodes we have a problem.... Dash currently has no external marketing. In the past, the Dash network paid for several PR firms to do this work (Transform PR, Wachsman PR, and more recently Shift PR), in coordination with DCG and other teams. This approach had mixed results, but, in general, the observed effectiveness was declining, mostly because journalists in crypto publications trust less in PR firms than they did in the past. With Dash News no longer operational, nor a PR firm funded by the network we must resolve this promptly and provide a professional long-term solution to this problem as business development teams and partnership announcements depend on external coverage and media support for press releases.
I hope that addresses some of your concerns and provides greater insight. I do apologize for the length of my comment but there has been a lot of ground work and methodology behind putting this solution together and I want to make sure that it is communicated clearly and effectively.
Thank you.
Mark
I do not want to see an independent and rebranded DashForce News installed under dash.org. I would rather the DAO fund a profession PR firm that takes direction from Ryan.
They had and still do have people willing to lie and yell and shout our coin down. Even though we had shift PR and other DCG "official efforts". The problem is that cryptocurrencies are new and they don't work well with traditional institutions. PR for crypto is hard, especially when every other coin is deliberately lying about you online.
We paid DFN 300 Dash a month and they didn't make a dent in this negative impression. They created their own discord, they further ingratiated themselves to the network, but our position in terms of likeability and clout within the community did not grow at all despite paying for a dedicated "news media team" in DFN. Why do we need a PR firm AT ALL? Its clear the best PR comes from results and passionate community members.