Welcome to edition 34. October is upon us and in this special update… We’re excited to open voting for committee and board seats, highlight our first annual member's meeting, the constitutional workshops, information on the Cardano budget, and more. Let’s get stuck into the update!

Intersect elections 2024 - Voting is now open! What to expect, timeline, and how to participate

Voting is open! The 2024 Intersect elections provide a unique opportunity for members to influence the organization's future. With seven key committees and two Intersect member seats available on the governing board, these elections represent a pivotal moment for our governance model.

• Committee elections: members can vote for 50% of the seven committees' seats, offering a chance to steer key areas of Cardano’s development. The remaining 50% will open in April 2025.
• Board elections: two seats on the governing board

These elected members will be essential in driving Intersect's strategic direction and operational oversight.

How to participate

The election process is fully inclusive, and members can participate in a variety of ways:

1. Meet the Candidates: members can review candidate profiles for both committee and board elections via the links below:
   • Committee election candidates
   • Board election candidates
2. Join one of our Election Candidate X Spaces (keep an eye on our X account for reminders!)
   • Mon 7th Oct - Board and ISC Candidate X-Space
   • Thu 10th Oct - OSC Candidate X-Space (hosted by @IntersectOSO)
   • Sun 13th Oct - MCC Candidate X-Space (hosted by MCC X Space)
   • Mon 14th Oct - Product and TSC Candidate X-Space
   • Wed 16th Oct - Civics and Budget Candidate X-Space
3. Voting: voting officially opened today, October 4, via the member portal. All registered paid members can cast their vote online, ensuring maximum participation from across the globe.  Watch this Loom video to learn how to vote on the portal.
4. Attend additional AMMs: if you couldn’t attend the meeting in Japan, there are still multiple engagement opportunities. Five more in-person AMMs are scheduled throughout October, alongside a special town hall virtual meeting on Tuesday, October 8. Be sure to RSVP if you can attend in person or join the virtual session to stay updated.

Important election dates

• October 4: voting officially opens on the member portal (10.00 AM  UTC)
• October 20: voting period closes (10.00 AM  UTC). Preliminary results will be audited before release.
• October 23: election results will be announced at the Cardano Summit in Dubai and available to view by all members via the members portal.

Where to find out more?
The committee knowledge base contains an Intersect election 2024 area where you can learn about the Intersect elections covering both committee and board seats.

We have also been holding weekly drop-in question-and-answer sessions with four left to go, so please feel free to drop by and ask any questions you may have.

• Tuesday, October 8 at 1700 GMT
• Tuesday, October 15 at 1700 GMT
• Tuesday, October 22 at 1700 GMT
• Tuesday, October 29 at 1700 GMT

For any membership-related questions, or if you're a candidate wanting to promote your platform, check out Intersect's knowledge base or join the conversation on our Discord channel. Candidates can engage with the community, and the community can ask questions via the dedicated candidate Discord channel.

Annual members’ meetings
Yesterday, October 3, 2024, the very first Annual Members Meeting kicked off in Tokyo. Led by the Intersect Japanese community hub, sixty-nine members attended and celebrated the successes this year, with a look ahead to 2025 and areas we can improve on. The Japan Hub, led by Yuta and Yuri, has supported the Japanese community and the broader global goal of decentralized governance on Cardano. We extend our heartfelt thanks to them for their kind hospitality and hard work. 

Where’s next?
To ensure maximum participation and inclusivity, we’re hosting seven AMMs globally: six in-person gatherings and one special town hall virtual meeting. Our community hub managers are operating events in locations worldwide, making them as accessible as possible to our diverse global membership. These events also serve as the formal launchpad for the 2024 Intersect elections, where members will vote for seats on our committees and the governing board.

We would like to give a huge thank you to all of the Intersect hub team members around the world who are working extremely hard to deliver this inaugural series of AMM sessions and make them a great success!

Where and when?
You can RSVP for one nearby if you’d like to attend the following events:

What to expect at an AMM
Our annual members’ meetings are not just about sharing and discussing ideas, but also about the active participation of our community. These meetings provide a platform for our community hubs to share and discuss ideas for new projects, share progress on our core objectives, and most importantly, provide a platform for questions and feedback. Your active involvement in 2024 will guide us as we evaluate new ideas and focus on how the community will shape Intersect’s future in 2025.

The agenda at one of our AMMs will look like this (with some caveats for our virtual special town hall):

The events will begin with a reception, followed by a welcome and introduction to set the tone for the day. Next, attendees will hear about Intersect’s vision for 2025, outlining key goals and initiatives for the future. A retrospective will follow, starting with a review of significant milestones and lessons learned. After a short break, the second part of the retrospective will continue the discussion, and we’ll end the day with a drink (or two!).

AMM special town hall
Additionally, those who cannot attend one of the in-person events should join us at the virtual annual members' meeting town hall. Intersect would love to have you at our special virtual AMM on October 8, 2024. Register now: https://lu.ma/9ydajznf.

If you’d like to attend any events, you can read more and RSVP to an event near you. Also, check out the AMM Q&A session on Intersect’s YouTube channel - don’t forget to like and subscribe!

Membership and community
Intersect passes 1500 fully subscribed members!
In impressive news, given that our paid membership option has only been open for four months, we’re excited to announce that we’ve passed the 1500-member mark!

It is fantastic to see so much enthusiasm for supporting Cardano’s progression toward a completely self-sustaining ecosystem. Intersect members enjoy front-row seats on decentralized governance, not just for Cardano but trail-blazing the way forward for the entire blockchain space. Welcome new members, and here at Intersect, we are stronger together!

Intersect is proud to warmly welcome enterprise members: Cardano Foundation, Chainapp Technologies, Intersect CoinCeylon x Sri Lanka Hub, Dquadrant bv, Socious, Wada, Waffle Capital Ltd. And last but not least, Well-Typed LLP. We look forward to collaborating with you all!

If you’re considering joining Intersect but haven’t yet done so, you can learn more about our membership benefits. Click here to join us.

Note: for those who’d like to upgrade their membership from associate to individual or enterprise, log in to your members' area and follow the steps or contact the membership team members@intersectmbo.org!

This week's membership stats are as follows:


Intersect committees
For the next seven weeks, we’ll highlight each committee and subcommittee. This week, we’ll zoom in on the budget committee. As always, you can catch up with the latest committee, subcommittee, and working group developments in the bi-weekly Committee report.

The Cardano budget and budget committee
The Cardano treasury is essential to transitioning Cardano to a fully self-sustaining blockchain. In the new age of Voltaire, the community is firmly in the driving seat regarding how treasury funds are assigned. The Cardano constitution requires an annual budget process. This committee facilitates the processes for the ecosystem to complete this yearly requirement.

The processes for enabling that are in the preliminary stages, with crucial elements installed throughout the Chang hard forks. Intersect supports and facilitates forming these processes through our advisory budget committee, which brings together relevant stakeholders within the Cardano ecosystem. Its purpose is to use these individuals' knowledge and observations to provide guidance, support, and oversight for Cardano’s annual budget processes.

Goals of the Committee

• Transparency: all budget-related information, including revenues, expenditures, and financial reports, is openly accessible to stakeholders, fostering trust and accountability.
• Collaboration: stakeholders, including employees, partners, and sometimes the public, can contribute to the budgeting process. This input can be gathered through forums, surveys, or collaborative platforms.
• Flexibility: the budget process should allow adjustments and iterations based on real-time feedback and changing circumstances. This makes the budget more adaptable and responsive.
• Community-driven: the process should include the Cardano community and the Intersect membership. They should all work together to develop and refine the budget. 
• Use of tools: any tooling used should be visible to the Cardano community and free to use should they need to use it.
• Education and training: stakeholders are educated about the budgeting process and tools, enabling broader participation and better-informed contributions.

Next week the Budget committee will release a public survey to gather insights and inputs from across the ecosystem. In the meantime, check out this episode of Governance Matters to learn more about the Cardano budget. It delves into the future of blockchain governance and reveals the Intersect budget committee's approach to managing Cardano's annual budget process.

Constitutional workshops 

As we head toward the Cardano constitutional convention this December in Buenos Aires, the importance of community involvement cannot be overstated. There is still plenty of opportunity for you to engage and influence the creation of a constitution that reflects the diverse voices within the Cardano ecosystem. Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Join an upcoming workshop: workshops continue worldwide, allowing community members to participate actively. Review the full calendar to find a workshop near you and sign up. These sessions are pivotal in gathering insights that will help shape the constitutional framework.
• Meet your elected delegates: each workshop selects a delegate and an alternate to attend the convention in Buenos Aires to represent their community. These individuals gather feedback and represent the perspectives shared by their regions. Take a moment to review the delegates and alternates chosen so far from across the globe.
• Submit your feedback online: can’t make it to a workshop? You can still make your voice heard. Submit your feedback individually online, and rest assured that all input, whether from workshops or individuals, will be carefully reviewed as we finalize the constitution.

Head over to our knowledge base for more information, including the full schedule of workshops, resources for hosts and attendees, the draft constitution, and the complete list of delegates elected to attend the convention.

Intersect YouTube content
Our YouTube channel keeps producing content, including an interview with Adam Rush, a member of our civics committee and parameters subcommittee, who gave us insight into the important work to ensure all community voices are heard. We also caught up with James Meidinger from USDM/Moneta, who talked about his role within the community and the work he’s been carrying out within the Cardano ecosystem. 

Feel free to subscribe to our channel here and watch out for more exciting content in the coming weeks!

Community hubs
As mentioned above, our community hubs are planning their upcoming annual members’ meetings. The Japan event occurred yesterday, and our Europe (Lisbon, Portugal) event will happen tomorrow, Saturday, October 5. We’ll share more about that in next week's update.

Last week, our Sri Lanka hub (run by Coin Ceylon) held its monthly town hall with 41 attendees. You can watch the recording here.

Our Sub-Saharan Africa hub (run by WADA) also held a town hall with 12 attendees. The recording is available here.

As well as the AMMs, our community hubs have also been busy hosting the following events:

Japan hub

• LINE Live Talk is being held today, October 4. The link to the chat is here; however, due to app restrictions, only those in Japan can access the chat.

Coin Ceylon (Sri Lanka) hub

• Members held a physical town hall event on September 30. There were 32 attendees, and the event included insightful discussions on the upcoming AMM event in Sri Lanka and the ongoing committee and board elections. To view some photos of the event, please click here.

WADA (Africa) hub

• A constitutional workshop will be held tomorrow, October 5, in Liberia. The invite is available here.

AWEN (North America) hub

• The first town hall was held at X on October 2. It discussed all things AMM. To listen to the recording, click here.

You can follow our North America hub’s new X account here to keep up-to-date with their activities.

DReps 
For those curious about the role of DReps or looking to register as one, we encourage you to explore our knowledge base. It provides comprehensive details on the responsibilities of DReps, the registration process, and valuable resources to support you on your journey. Becoming a part of the DRep community has always been challenging. These step-by-step guides and helpful insights are invaluable.

Cardano community survey

First of all, thank you for participating in the survey. We are excited to share the results with you. The Cardano community survey received 163 responses in total. 

One of the key questions we asked was about the interest in becoming a DRep, and the results show that a majority of 102 respondents (64.2%) expressed interest, demonstrating strong engagement within the community.

91% of community members interested in becoming DReps contributed to Cardano governance as their primary motivation, with 73% also interested in blockchain technology. 83.7% prefer to act as individual DReps, while 21% would represent organizations, indicating that individual representation is dominant. 40% represent themselves, and 60% represent local communities or other groups.

Social media is the top engagement method for DReps, followed by meetups, workshops, and webinars. Forums were the least popular. For the 6.9% hesitant to become DReps, the main concerns are time commitment (50%), preferring other forms of involvement (33%), and technical skills (16.7%), highlighting the need for more education and training.

We are currently analyzing this data to offer additional support mechanisms for those wishing to learn more about becoming a DRep, those interested in learning more about how they can delegate to DReps, and, of course, those who are already DReps and require additional training on how to engage with the community more effectively. Watch this space for more information in the coming weeks.

Governance tooling
The current version of the GovTool, which is in its bootstrapping phase, is under active maintenance. It will continue to release updates to ensure optimal performance and readiness ahead of the upcoming hard fork, which will introduce full governance capabilities.

Additionally, the CC-Portal will soon feature enhanced navigation, which will be implemented in the coming days. These improvements reflect our dedication to listening to community feedback and continuously refining the platform to meet user needs.

Governance in numbers

As we progress following Chang upgrade #1, it’s essential to follow the progress of governance actions on-chain here every week. Since last Friday, September 27, 2024:

• We've advanced from Epoch 512 to Epoch 513

• Unique delegators increased by 1,065 (7,500 -> 8,565)
• Total number of vote delegations increased by 1,172 (8,276 -> 9,448)
• Total delegate representative (DRep) votes increased by 30 (194 -> 224)
• Total number of DRep registrations increased by 21 (516 -> 537)
• DReps who have attached metadata increased by 6 (255 -> 261)

To learn more about how you can start using GovTool, explore the GovTool documentation. Here, you'll find everything from step-by-step guides to detailed explanations of its features.

On the Intersect Discord server, you can connect to the core maintainers of governance tools via the new request channel and the new help & support channel.

Community grants
The LATAM community hub has completed the final two translations of the interim constitution in Spanish and Portuguese, completing the set of six. Italian, Japanese, French, and Swahili translations can all be found here.

Three more close-out reports have also come through from our core tech grants that were issued at the start of the year:

• Gimbalabs have updated the Dandelion for the Conway ledger era: Close out report
• AdaStat updated to capture new governance data types available in the Conway ledger era: Close out report
• Strica has implemented CIP-95 in Typhon Wallet and updated Cardanoscan with the necessary informational features required for the Conway ledger era: Close out report.

For a detailed breakdown, visit the grants page.

Delivery assurance
The delivery assurance function within Intersect enhances reliability, fosters trust, and promotes transparency through regular communication. Aligned with the technical steering committee, delivery assurance upholds technical excellence. It supports Cardano's continuity and growth by improving efficiency and meeting strategic goals, ultimately benefiting the Cardano community.

Here are the latest stats from the delivery assurance team:



If you’d like to explore these milestones more deeply, visit our knowledge base.

 

Well, that’s it for this week's update. Thanks for reading! 

And finally, we’re interested in hearing more from you about subjects important to you, such as Cardano’s governance. Your ideas and suggestions are crucial to us. If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, please get in touch via email, X, or LinkedIn.