Author: Trewkat Working Group: Trewkat, links, HiroKennelly Date: February 13, 2023 6:00 AM

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BDIP SUMMARY

To date, the DAO’s practice is to set the exact dates for each upcoming Season during the final weeks of the current season, which are then ratified by the community via Snapshot. This has shown to be an error-prone and inefficient practice which negatively impacts planning in teams across the DAO.

This bDIP seeks to set season length at 16 weeks and designate formal downtime between each, to commence in 2024 following two adjusted seasons for the remainder of 2023.

BDIP BACKGROUND

In February 2022, the Forum proposal titled The Super Season: Proposing a 6-month season between April and October 2 suggested a one-off, six-month ‘super season’ to address perceived issues associated with a three-month season, specifically that budget planning “ four times per year … expends tons of bandwidth that could be going toward working on and in the organization.”

While there was general agreement for the concept of a super season, with 52% voting in favour and a further 26% voting for “maybe, with edits”, there was also positive support (10 likes) for a comment suggesting a 16-week season instead.

In March 2022 the original proposal author created a new proposal titled 4-Month Season Proposal: SuperSeason Revisions 2, which stated that “Based on discussions in the #seasons channel and feedback from many contributors, a four-month season (16-weeks) seems to be a happy medium.” Despite 93% of the 30 voters being in favour, no action was taken.

It’s possible that inaction was due to the timing of the proposal which suggested implementation within a few weeks’ time. These proposals occurred prior to the existence of the DAO Constitution and during a period of confusion around Forum and Snapshot quorum thresholds, which may also be a contributing factor in the lack of progression.

BDIP SPECIFICATION

|Current Form|Proposal| | --- | --- | |Section: DAO Cycles - Seasons 1|Section: DAO Cycles - Seasons 1 |Seasons are funding cycles (typically 3 months) intended to align the DAO’s collective energy to key objectives. These objectives are in the form of funded initiatives BANK token holders vote on before each season.|Seasons are funding cycles (each set at 16 weeks) which are intended to align the DAO’s collective energy to key objectives. These objectives are in the form of funded initiatives voted on by BANK token holders before each season. Between seasons, the DAO schedules designated ‘Gap Weeks’ and an ‘Annual Break’ in order to respect the need for contributors to rest. |Section: DAO Organizational Units - Grants Committee 2: | Section: DAO Organizational Units - Grants Committee 2:| |Grants Leads serve a 6-month term and can resign at any time.| Grants Leads serve a 2-season term and can resign at any time.| |Section: DAO Organizational Units - Grants Committee 2: | Section: DAO Organizational Units - Grants Committee 2:| |Grants Reviewers serve a 6-month term and can resign at any time.|Grants Reviewers serve a 2-season term and can resign at any time.|

The textual change to the Constitution is minimal in terms of word count but high-impact in terms of operational change. However, given that this change does not alter the DAO’s activities or priorities, only the way in which our time is allocated, it is therefore designated as a Minor change.

Further, it should be noted here and in any subsequent Snapshot vote that the update to the Constitution will only truly reflect DAO practice from 2024, due to the suggested adjustment period to cover the remainder of 2023.

Therefore this bDIP seeks not only a change to the Constitution wording in two places (as specified below), but also community consensus to specify season dates for the remainder of 2023 and thereafter as listed below. This is to ensure that the DAO can commence the 16-week season structure from January 2, 2024.

Although the Constitution will not specify season dates for 2023, 2024, or subsequent years, the intention of this proposal is to gain consensus to commence Week 1 of the relevant season on January 2 (UTC) of any year, regardless of what day of the week that falls. The season dates do not need to change thereafter, only the days of the week on which they fall will change.

As a global organisation that promotes work-life balance and flexibility for contributors, the DAO does not need to stick to the traditional approach that all working weeks begin on a Monday.

Beginning in 2024, and starting each year from January 2, the seasons would run for 16 weeks, with a one-week designated Gap Week between the first and second seasons, and another Gap Week between the second and third. Between the third season and the first season of the new calendar year there would be a 16-day designated Annual Break.

The Gap Weeks and Annual Break are opportunities to pause official events and encourage contributors to take a break. Teams within the DAO will have the ability to plan for budgeting and operational needs for these periods and may decide for themselves which activities should continue through breaks, if any.

The dates below provide a plan for the remainder of 2023 and the dates for 2024. Thereafter, each DAO year will start on January 2 and the season dates will be the same. The dates are intentionally omitted from the proposed Constitution wording because constitutions should capture high-level principles, not operational details. Please understand that if you vote to approve then you are signalling your approval of the dates as well as the Constitution change.

The Plan

According to the Snapshot vote titled Season 7 Specification and Community-Indicated Direction 1, Season 7’s designated Gap Week finishes on Sun, May 14, 2023.

Proposed Season Dates for 2023 (Seasons 8 and 9)

• Season 8: Mon, May 15 - Sun, August 27 (15 weeks)
• Gap Week: Mon, August 28 - Sun, Sept 3 (1 week)
• Season 9: Mon, Sept 4 - Sun, Dec 17 (15 weeks)
• Annual Break: Mon, Dec 18 2023- Mon, January 1 2024 (15 days)

Season Dates for 2024 (based on the specification detailed above)

• Season 10: Tues January 2 - Mon April 22 (16 weeks)
• Gap Week: Tues April 23 - Mon April 29 (1 week)
• Season 11: Tues April 30 - Mon Aug 19 (16 weeks) - Week 1 would incorporate bDAO anniversary
• Gap Week: Tues Aug 20 - Mon Aug 26 (1 week)
• Season 12: Tues Aug 27 - Mon Dec 16 (16 weeks)
• Annual Break: Tues Dec 17 - Wed January 1 2025 (16 days)

2025 seasons begin on Thurs Jan 2.

2026 seasons begin on Fri Jan 2.

… and so on.

EXPECTED IMPACT

As noted above, the textual change to the Constitution is minimal but this is a highly impactful positive operational change for the DAO. It is anticipated that hundreds of hours will be saved through the designation of set seasonal dates, particularly in workstreams associated with:

• Guild and Department role elections and budget planning.
• Project budget planning.
• Seasonal budgets assessment and approval (Grants Committee).
• Seasonal planning (operations).
• Season launch planning (marketing and design).

In addition, teams will be better able to plan contributor coverage for operational needs during Gap Weeks and Annual Breaks, whilst also recognising that contributors may also decide to take personal time away from the DAO at any time of the year. Having set dates for the year ahead enables productive discussions at team level about appropriate time away.

ANALYTICS

The DAO-wide sentiment survey could be used to collect feedback on the change.

Poll

Approve Reject Abstain