Distractive's Take - How to Make Polkadot Events Relevant Again

Ecosystem
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Hey All - We just posted a blog on our site but wanted to put a TLDR here for folks who might not have seen it, though we do encourage folks to read the whole proposal. We’re excited to continue to shape Polkadot with all of you and please feel free to comment or reach out.

Context and Issues: Recent feedback from Polkadot-branded events, such as Decoded in Brussels, revealed significant concerns from the community and outsiders. Issues ranged from venue size and catering to inconsistent branding and digital marketing. Attendance at large conferences like EthCC also showed a declining interest in big events and long keynotes, with a preference for smaller, topic-focused gatherings.

Key Recommendations for Polkadot Events 2.0:

  1. Global Event Strategy:
  • Static and Rotating Events: Combine a static event in Europe with rotating locations globally (US, LATAM, Asia, Africa) for broader audience reach and engagement.
  • Topical Events: Shift focus from general Polkadot infrastructure to diverse ecosystem topics to attract specific interest groups and create sub-communities.
  1. Event Promotion and Structure:
  • Word of Mouth: Leverage personal interactions and event evangelism to boost attendance.
  • Networking Focus: Prioritize networking opportunities over lengthy presentations to enhance attendee value and engagement.
  • Piggybacking: Host Polkadot-centric events alongside larger conferences to attract new audiences and reduce costs.
  1. Targeted Audiences and Event Design:
  • Audience-Specific Structuring: Tailor event content to specific audiences (new builders, VCs, new users) with focused sessions and clear information.
  • Shorter Talks: Implement concise keynotes, general talks, and pitches to maintain attention and provide valuable Q&A opportunities.
  1. Enhancing Attendee Experience:
  • Basic Needs and Memorable Features: Ensure adequate catering, clear information, and engaging features like unique merchandise and interactive maps to improve overall experience.
  • Interactive Spaces: Create visually appealing and interactive spaces for teams to showcase their products effectively.
  1. Visual and Brand Identity:
  • Leveraging Polkadot’s Vibrant Identity: Use Polkadot’s colorful brand to create visually stunning and interactive event experiences. Incorporate elements like interactive showcases, interoperability layouts, and NFT artist collaborations.

Future Event Concept: Propose a shift from traditional conference setups to a series of thematic side events at major conferences and cultural events. This approach would draw diverse audiences and culminate in a smaller, non-conference event structured around Polkadot’s core themes.

Culture and Location Utilization: Emphasize community building through social events, integrate local culture into event design, and engage local staff and vendors to create unique, location-specific experiences.

Business Development and Transparency: Ensure visible presence of Business Development teams at events and maintain high transparency in operations and financial reporting.

Call to Action: Distractive invites the community to join a dedicated working group to rebrand and reinvent Polkadot’s flagship events for 2025, fostering collaboration and innovation.

By embracing these strategies, Polkadot can revitalize its events, ensuring they are relevant, impactful, and reflective of its vibrant community.

We invite you to join the Polkadot events strategy channel. Distractive will establish a working group dedicated to rebranding and reinventing Polkadot’s flagship events for 2025. We welcome your ideas and collaboration to create exceptional events that reflect the vibrant Polkadot community. Your insights, enthusiasm, and active participation are crucial to shaping the future of Polkadot events. We look forward to collaborating with you.

Best-
Distractive Crew

9 Likes
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A few points are also needed as well on how to engage and manage press/media relationships. It is important also that any announcements/content/news about Polkadot before, during and after the conference is reflected in cryptomedia and, if possible, mainstream media as well - something that has not happened this year: particularly with any of the big announcements during the conference, a recap of the best info after the event and coverage of the event in media. I know this happened before the event, where media provided information to the general public, but only before the event is not enough - however, I am not a comms expert.

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Definitely much needed!

This years Decoded similarly as many of the events mentioned in the article have had several media sponsors. These arrangements usually come via “media partnership” usually you receive one or several press releases in exchange for logos, mentions on promotional materials and tickets.

This is usually the standard procedure which in my opinion doesn’t generate a lot of buzz when it comes to events. However if the event is interesting enough the Press that attends the event might choose to engage more and actually have something to write about other than that the event happened and the announcements that were held there.

If we want to engage main stream media, we need to create events that provide an interesting angle for them.

Another topic that I omitted in this article is:

Event Marketing strategy

With correct execution and targeting the right audiences, this can be inevitably one of the strongest weapons in our arsenal. We should not promote only the existence of the event, but as I mentioned in the article above, the wide topics and scope we will present there. Campaigns aimed at the desired audience with highly specific ads are the way to go. We need to show them why they should want to come, not just that we’re organising something.

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Great post and recommendations by Nate and Distractive Team, as well as the comments from RTTI-5220 and Eli.

The events need the presence of Polkadot representation (biz dev) for proper support and to maximize opportunities, while having a PR point of contact is needed to maximize press and media coverage for special announcements or events.

Since there is not centralized ‘committee’ of decision makers to take on the strategic planning or CMO duties, I think we need to request to have head ambassadors (should be more than one to avoid centralized authority concerns) with qualified experience that can take on those responsibilities. We need point people and that is what HA is all about, no?

Strategizing events and coordinating messaging for all the various marketing spends would be next on the wishlist and most importantly (imo) is maximizing the media spending. We spent $500k on Brave browser network - which I still don’t know what messaging was the focus of those ads, who approved it even reviewed and a missed opportunity to use them to promote Decoded - whether to drive registrations or to just raise awareness.

I think a complete marketing mix from grassroots to mainstream to decentralized to reach the desired target audience - will be the key to success for Polkadot.

Cheers
Peter

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Agreed.

I want to participate in events where I can work together, not be a spectator.

In our mostly virtual collaboration people talk, talk, talk (I do the same) - then we get together for a call or two and drop the ball on great concepts because, let’s face it, nothing beats getting shit done face-to-face.

I hope our events can serve our strategy (once we have one). :wink:

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Agreed on the “global event strategy”, Nate!

The drum I will continue to bang on is “make Polkadot more accessible to the Global South”!!! ESPECIALLY AFRICA. There is SO MUCH talent that are unable to access the power of a solid network due to visa issues etc. More needs to be done to address this because of the talent that is falling by the wayside. Let alone a huge retail investor audience peripheral to this.