Next Steps for the Ambassador Program

Ambassador Programme
63

Have you considered other reasons for this? Perhaps the drama level was lower because a) there was no OpenGov, and b) the market sentiment was happy-happy-joy-joy (with DOT 10x higher than today).

Now that we have a negotiation and decision-making system based on open and transparent exchange of ideas and opinions, a certain level of chaos and drama is needed to keep the creative spark alive. However, we also need some structure, to make the decision making effective and execution efficient, as @alice_und_bob put it.

I copy-paste and highlight the ambassador program related findings from your insight article here:

  • Promote Accessibility and Education: Ambassadors should focus on making Polkadot more approachable, helping institutions, enterprises, and governments understand how they can leverage the ecosystem.
  • Facilitate Meetups and Community Building: Organizing local meetups and fostering grassroots engagement are seen as vital for growing the user base and gathering insights into community needs.
  • Provide Feedback to Decision-Makers: Ambassadors are encouraged to channel community feedback to core teams and leadership, advocating for changes that address user concerns and improve the ecosystem.
  • Maintain Unity and Mediate Conflicts: With internal divisions and debates, Ambassadors can act as mediators to “keep the peace of the family,” ensuring that drama doesn’t spill into the public sphere and harm Polkadot’s reputation.

That’s pretty much it: the focus of the ambassador program. I hope @Lucy & co takes these into account in designing the new program. Keep it simple and define clearly what it is but also what it isn’t.

Ambassadors are not decision makers or rulers. They simply communicate “what is” to build bridges between the community and the external society.

Most of them are not supposed to be salaried employees either. It is not a job. There can be budgets for incentivizing the good work done, yet, people shouldn’t depend on this as their source of livelihood.

Ambassador is a title given by the community to an individual that states something like: “We trust you to represent Polkadot and communicate it externally, factually and truthfully, for the benefit of the network.”

1 Like
64

Yes I did. I think there are two other stronger reasons for this. First is we had a structure managed by W3F which everyone followed. Second is nobody really wanted to go against a program initiated by W3F.

Elodie was a good in her role I think and it seems @Lucy is the new Elodie, which Im happy about. Someone needs to take in charge and lead it full time.

65

Shared in another duplicate thread with the same exact topic/content, still relevant:

With the recent resignation of the head ambassador, it’s clear that the current ambassador program is not fulfilling its intended purpose and may be doing more harm than good. Rather than driving meaningful engagement and growth, it has created an environment of misaligned incentives and inconsistent contributions that do not reflect the high standards of the Polkadot ecosystem. Continuing the program in its present form risks further resource drain and reputational damage, especially when genuine, value-driven contributions are what the community needs. This is an opportune moment to shut down the program, reassess its core goals, and potentially redirect efforts toward initiatives that foster authentic, community-led participation and long-term sustainability for Polkadot.

1 Like