Panvala at MCON
What is Panvala up to these days? Supporting Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, aka DAOs! That's why we attended MCON last week, September 15-17, in Denver, CO to meet up with DAOs within the Panvala League and connect with members of the crypto community. We hosted a peer-to-peer discussion, sponsored a rad party (Panvala Palomas included), and spurred dialogue around the future of work. Here's how it went!
DAO Summoner Learning Session at the Lodge; (left to right) Steff Browne, Niran Babalola & Spencer Graham
DAO Summoner Learning Session
We started out strong with the DAO Summoner Learning Session on Wednesday, Sept 15 at the Lodge. Steff Browne, Niran Babalola, and Spencer Graham hosted this open peer-to-peer discussion to allow for the audience to share what it has been like to create DAOs and raise issues they have encountered throughout the process. While there was overall enthusiasm for the current ecosystem (you have to be at least a little bit excited about DAOs to attend a DAO conference) there was also a variety of learnings and coordination troubles shared.
The DAO space is nascent and thus many community members are running into similar problems such as:
incentivizing engagement and participation
organizing DAO operations
choosing platforms to launch on
onboarding with a diversity-first mindset
figuring out how to fund or finance their vision
It was refreshing to have members not only be open-minded to sharing but also be proactive in making a change. Thus enter the DAO Coaches Telegram chat! As a concluding action item for this conversation, a Telegram chat emerged from the shadows and was created for DAO ecosystem members that consider themselves to be "operations" and "people-oriented" type collaborators. The goal of the Telegram is to have these like-minded individuals connect, learn from each other, and work with DAOs looking for these skills. Panvala is facilitating this working group as a perk for being a part of our community and an opportunity to create growth within the DAO landscape.
Join the conversation with the MCON DAO Facilitators group on Telegram.
Drinks with DAOs ft. Meta Gamma Delta, MolochDAO and Uberhaus
All that deep DAO discussion could lead to nothing less than letting off some steam at the Drinks with DAOs party sponsored by Panvala Wednesday night! In partnership with Meta Gamma Delta, MolochDAO, and Uberhaus, this inclusive and free event gave MCON attendees an opportunity to chat about the ideas and initiatives forming at the conference over a Panvala Paloma🍹. Niran and Steff shared a few words about Panvala's current matching round and perk opportunities. This planted the seed for folks listening in to consider joining Panvala as a fellow or a part of the League. We're always open to bringing in new perspectives!
Niran and Steff sharing Panvala's mission at Drinks with DAOs at the Rally Hotel in Downtown Denver.
Let's Discuss the Future of Work
Panvala began coalitions this year to enable DAOs, companies, and contributors of the Panvala community to meet with others interested in pushing forward aligned concepts and initiatives. One of these groups, the Future of Work Coalition, hosted a chat at the Lodge on Thursday, Sept 16 for supporters to meet IRL.
What did they learn from one another?
Most attendees expressed that working in Web3 has created a general shift for the better in their quality of life. They feel a sense of empowerment and autonomy they had not experienced in prior work environments.
There is more of a "people" focus than anyone entering the DAO space ever imagined. DAOs may launch on blockchains but they're powered by humans.
The general archetype of the type of person that does well in a DAO is one that is a self-starter, doesn't ask for permission, and works at all hours of the day. However, many agreed that this is not a large portion of the DAO population and thus there is a push to create work opportunities for different personality types not just those that have been traditional to DAOs. It's time to expand beyond what we know and embrace a new life.
The DAO experience has been similar for many → join a DAO, get overwhelmed, break down, pause, realign, try again, focus on what you care about most, and love it. This is clearly not sustainable by any means, but it has nonetheless become a pattern. The Future of Work coalition aims to change this narrative and hopes to create a more streamlined onboarding process for new contributors joining DAOs so they can enjoy the work from day one.
Future of Work Coalition meeting on-site at Woods Boss Brewing Company for MCON; (from left to right) Scott Moore, Yalor Arnold, Niran Babalola, Steff Browne & Joshua Ladipus
That's a Wrap
Well, that's it, folks, thanks for reading along! Overall, MCON was a massively productive time for Panvala to be visible as a community pillar, connect DAOs with one another, create new coalitions, and formulate goals for Panvala as we continue to grow. Huge shout out to the organizers of MCON, we can't wait to see everyone again soon!