Impact Measurements and Metrics for Optimism Town Hall + RetroPitches
Overview and Context
This page provides an overview of the impact and metrics for Optimism Town Hall and RetroPitches, two innovative initiatives designed to enhance governance discussions and public goods funding in the Optimism ecosystem. Optimism Town Hall is a collaborative forum dedicated to discussions about Optimism governance, featuring innovative community agenda games. RetroPitches are friendly competitions where public goods creators present their projects, and participants rank their pitches.
These events, launched in May 2024 and November 2023 respectively, serve as unique platforms for community members, delegates, and builders to share ideas, showcase their work, and contribute to governance discussions. The purpose of this page is to showcase the impact of these initiatives on Optimism governance between October 2023 and September 2024, particularly in the context of our application for Retroactive Funding Round 6.
This impact page and the associated application have been created by Dan Singjoy, founder of the Optimystics, who organize and facilitate these events. For more details on our application, please visit our Optimism Town Hall + RetroPitches application. It's important to note that this project has not received any previous funding from the Collective. For a broader understanding of our work across different projects and our funding context, please refer to the Optimystics Projects and Funding overview.
Table of Contents
- Impact Measurements and Metrics for Optimism Town Hall + RetroPitches
- Overview and Context
- Event Participation and Engagement
- Governance Innovation and Experimentation
- Content Creation and Distribution
- Qualitative Impact
- Conclusion
Event Participation and Engagement
Over the past year, our weekly Optimism Town Hall events and periodic RetroPitches have fostered vibrant discussions and engagement within the Optimism ecosystem.
Key metrics for Optimism Town Hall include:
- Total Events Hosted: 17 weekly events between May-September 2024
- Unique Participants: Approximately 40 diverse contributors to Optimism governance
- Average Attendance: 7-9 participants per event
- Topic Proposals: 43 topic proposals posted on Optimism Town Hall Snapshot Spaces, with most of the topic proposals including deeply researched presentations and educational resources
For RetroPitches:
- Total Events Hosted: 3 pilot events
- Unique Participants: Approximately 30 public goods creators and community members
- Presentations from RetroPGF Project Owners: 13
These numbers represent a wide range of participants, including delegates, badge holders, builders, and governance enthusiasts. The engagement is evidenced by consistent participation and the development of long-term collaborations among participants.
You can verify this participation by viewing OptimismTownHall.com/videos and exploring the timestamps in the video descriptions.
Governance Innovation and Experimentation
Optimism Town Hall and RetroPitches have been at the forefront of governance experimentation and innovation:
- Cagendas Implementation: We've pioneered Cagendas, a collaborative agenda-setting game that empowers community members to propose, discuss, and vote on topics using Respect tokens. This has enhanced community engagement in governance discussions.
- Between May and September, 35 topic proposals were created in the Optimism Town Hall Snapshot Space and 49 votes from 10 unique community members. You can verify the stats and see the voters on the leaderboard and see how this space is used here.
- OPTOPICS Development: We've introduced OPTOPICS, an innovative community agenda game allowing participants to propose, vote, and dynamically coordinate discussion topics during events.
- Between September 3rd and September 26th, there were 8 topic proposals created in the OPTOPICS Snapshot Space and 19 votes from from 6 unique community members. You can verify the stats and see the voters on the leaderboard and see how this space is used here.
- RetroPitches Format: We've developed a unique format for public goods creators to showcase their work and receive community feedback called RetroPitches, enhancing the RetroFunding process.
- We’ve also created a detailed article showing the history and future of RetroPitches, which shows various related experiments and demonstrates how the pilot program fits into a larger context designed to optimize impact evaluation with onchain interactions.
- Governance Education: Our events have served as an interactive platform for newcomers and existing community members to learn about and engage with Optimism's governance processes, including RetroFunding, missions, and protocol upgrades.
- Many builders and leaders across the Superchain have praised Optimism Town Hall events as an excellent educational resource that greatly helped them. We’re working to curate this feedback to help you understand these qualitative benefits.
Content Creation and Distribution
Our events have produced a substantial body of educational and historical content:
- Event Recordings: 17 full Optimism Town Hall recordings and 3 RetroPitches recordings, each with comprehensive show notes
- Total Video Content: Over 14 hours of governance discussions, experiments, and presentations
- Viewership and Reach: Around 1,000 views across event recordings and 5,000+ impressions on social media posts promoting events and sharing highlights
- Educational Resources: Developed a rich library of resources on Optimism governance, accessible to the entire community
You can watch these videos on OptimismTownHall.com/videos and Optimystics.io/retropitches. You can explore the timestamps in the video descriptions. Our episodes feature custom artwork and promotions on dozens of channels/accounts (such as the Optimystics X account) to enhance engagement and visibility. We’re working to provide more details about the reach, distribution, and impact of these episodes.
Qualitative Impact
Optimism Town Hall and RetroPitches have had profound qualitative impacts:
- Enhanced Governance Participation: By providing an accessible entry point to governance discussions and pioneering novel agenda games, we've increased engagement in Optimism governance.
- Improved Information Flow: Our events and video content have created a more informed governance community, facilitating better decision-making in various governance processes.
- Cross-Community Collaboration: We've facilitated discussions between various stakeholders in the Optimism ecosystem, including delegates, council members, and builders, fostering a more cohesive governance community.
- Public Goods Promotion: RetroPitches have provided a platform for public goods creators to showcase their work, supporting the RetroPGF evaluation process by offering badge holders additional insights into projects' impacts.
Conclusion
Thank you for visiting our impact page. By providing consistent platforms for community engagement, experimentation with novel governance processes, and showcasing public goods, these initiatives have contributed significantly to the evolution of Optimism's governance landscape.
We invite you to join our weekly Optimism Town Hall events and future RetroPitches to experience these initiatives firsthand. You can find event details and RSVP on our events page. If you have any questions or would like more info, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Dan Singjoy. To learn more about our work and see our resources, please explore OptimismTownHall.com.
We appreciate your time in reviewing our impact and look forward to any feedback!