Gimbalabs: Engaging Developers, Companies, and Users 365 Days/Year

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

Consider the following short list of scenarios:

Technology: Cardano Name Service (CNS). Platform for social networking on the Cardano network, empowering users to create and manage secure social profiles on Cardano, with .ada domains acting as gateways to their social identity.

Date of first commit to repository (according to project repository): Aug 14, 2023

Date of most recent commit (according to project repository): Nov 21, 2023

Date of presentation at Gimbalabs “Playground” session: Oct 10, 2023. Link to the session [here](<https://www.youtube.com/live/uSejXqFlHhQ?si=ulR8O0uMCQ1Pzoun >).

Courses published on the subject to date: none yet.

Technology: Apollo - Pure Golang Cardano Building blocks. Library written in Golang that gives developers access to each and every needed resource for Cardano development. The final goal is to be able to have this library interact directly with the node without intermediaries.

Date of first commit to repository (according to project repository): Apr 18, 2023

Date of most recent commit (according to project repository): Nov 17, 2023

Date of exploration in Gimbalabs “Live Coding” session: Nov 22, 2023. Link to the session here.

Courses published on the subject to date: none yet.

Technology: Cardano Web3 Auth - CIP8. Blockchain-friendly authentication approach.

Date of first commit to repository (according to project repository): May 6, 2022

Date of most recent commit (according to project repository): Jul 11, 2022

Date of presentation at Gimbalabs “Playground” session: Sep 21, 2022. Link to the session here.

Courses published on the subject to date: none yet.

Technology: Frontend and Headless Dapps (subject incorporated into the Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning - <https://plutuspbl.io/modules/204/slts>).

Date of first commit to Gimbalabs repository: May 4, 2023

Date of most recent commit in Gimbalabs repository: Nov 11, 2023

Date of exploration in Gimbalabs “Live Coding” session: Oct 26, 2022. Link to the session here.

Courses published on the subject to date: Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning (<https://plutuspbl.io/modules/204/slts>) and others.

Right now, the Cardano development ecosystem is in a vibrant moment of growth. The efforts led by the founding entities around Midnight and the governance stack that will bring CIP1694 and the Voltaire era (SanchoNet and other features and capabilities) to life are making headlines in Cardanoland. The efforts of the Cardano development community expand similar activity: TxPipe in the process of turning the existing Demeter.run platform into a federated frontend hosting provider; Spectrum Labs on track to make important advances in the area of programmable cross-chain communication with its Spectrum Network; NMKR making its NMKR Studio an Open-Source environment that encourages collaboration and contribution; Paima in the midst of its current campaign in the gaming area; and the list continues.

At this pace, Cardano must have specialized mechanisms in place that facilitate the diffusion and assimilation, in and out of the ecosystem, of what is in production at a technical level, with the depth that an academic program or comprehensive documentation can provide but with the speed, updating and effectiveness that would characterize a blog post or social media thread. Such mechanisms must be empowered with the knowledge and experience to understand the technical building blocks that make a specific core technology, feature or capability possible, and the expertise and skill to maneuver the learning pathways that enable to articulate high-level technical details to the point of making them suitable for people to connect the dots and continue their explorations on their own.

Over the past two years, Gimbalabs' “Live Coding” and “Playground” sessions have proven to be the embodiment of such a mechanism.

James Dunseith, Gimbalabs co-founder.

Every week, for the last 2 years, two “Live Coding” sessions (1 hour and 30 minutes each) and one “Playground” session (1 hour and 30 minutes each) have been held, free of charge and open to everybody.

This consistency has created a reliable public resource that developers and entrepreneurs turn to when

they want to share with the community the details of their work ("Playground" sessions);
and that is accessed by both developers who want to get up to date with the details of the Cardano architecture, and non-developers who want to move from lurkers to active members of the Cardano ecosystem ("Live Coding" sessions).

Useful information about Gimbalabs "Playground" sessions:

Concept: just for an initial reference, think of Gimbalabs Playground sessions as sessions similar to those that take place in well-known Silicon Valley startup incubators such as Y Combinator, where entrepreneurs have the opportunity to share the details of their work, with the difference that in our sessions there are no losers: no gatekeepers restricting entrepreneurs' access to the space, and the possibility of new collaborations and ways to contribute is a constant.

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Activity logs:

Activity logs of our first 27 Playground sessions (season 1 - period February 26, 2021 to October 12, 2021): https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lDRAbh0=/

Activity logs of Playground sessions - season 2: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lkwgRGI=/?moveToWidget=3458764532307955918&cot=14

Activity logs of Playground sessions - season 3: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMnYs6P8=/?moveToWidget=3458764563494331735&cot=10

Playground sessions are recorded and uploaded to the Gimbalabs YouTube channel: <https://www.youtube.com/@gimbalabs>

> To date, just over 115 hours of high quality Playground sessions have been provided to the community, free of charge.

Useful information about Gimbalabs "Live Coding" sessions:

Concept:

Live sessions, open to the general public, free of charge. Attendees include developers who want to get up to date with the details of the Cardano architecture, and non-developers who want to move from lurkers to active members of the Cardano ecosystem.

The topics covered in the sessions may vary, ranging from subjects addressed in learning programs previously created by Gimbalabs (such as the case of Gimbalabs Plutus PBL - <https://plutuspbl.io/>) to recent tooling within the ecosystem whose exploration can lead to new insights for the participants. Suggestions of topics from session attendees (tooling they are in the process of mastering, dApps they are building, etc.) receive equal attention.

Live Coding sessions are recorded and uploaded to Gimbalabs' YouTube channel: <https://www.youtube.com/@gimbalabs>

> To date, just over 230 hours of high quality Live Coding sessions have been provided to the community, free of charge.

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Fig 1. The [Gimbalabs YouTube channel](<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0hHm4l90iwg4qdMT96G1iQ >) is the publicly accessible repository of all our live sessions.

BONUS: Extra sessions. Sessions around the world delivered at the request of global communities.

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Fig. 2. Example of extra sessions. [Series: "Gimbalabs Train the Trainer"](<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnMV9YICkyOV4aJG-hbtsOjJbNDrJ8Ojb >), held on request of the Eastern Town Hall community.

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Fig. 3. Example of extra sessions. Presentation: 'Where Do I Start? (as a Cardano Developer)', created as a resource for all local Cardano Summit 2022 events.

The “Extra Sessions” category includes sessions on specific topics of certain technical complexity. For instance, the “Smart Contract Gladiator” series delves into a specialized logic created by Professor M. Ali Modiri (Professor Mix), one of our instructors. This series represents a significant contribution to the toolbox of governance in the Voltaire era.

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Fig 4. ["Smart Contract Gladiator"](<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCCIAmutGEbcaom-LVibiKa7meBYKoleb >), a really sophisticated Smart Contracts logic that comes as a glove for the Voltaire era of Governance: decision making and participation in a secure and transparent environment.

Extra sessions are recorded and uploaded to Gimbalabs' YouTube channel: <https://www.youtube.com/@gimbalabs>, and tend to live as an asset to the local community who requested the sessions on their own YouTube channel.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Since Catalyst's early funds, Gimbalabs has progressively positioned itself as the independent, community-based alternative to the founding entities' efforts in education and incubation (we have been a good complement, no competition, just collaboration). The high technical and academic qualities of our learning programs and spaces, our team, our contributions to the Cardano infrastructure (Dandelion: a collection of Cardano Services available for developers to use for free), and our consultancy to web2 companies, have earned us a reputation as a reliable source of onboarding, learning and incubation of important projects and startups in the Cardano ecosystem (JPG store, Mesh, Gods of Blocks, Loxe inc, and the list goes on). With our work we have contributed to globally spreading the practical knowledge of what can be done with Cardano's blockchain technology while elevating the potential of what people are capable of when there is no gatekeepers guarding the doorway of innovation and creativity.

> In practice, we have exalted an essentially human blockchain technology.

As has been the case to date, the Cardano community and all those still outside our ecosystem will find full access to the production lab that is Gimbalabs:

Gimbalabs sessions: Playground, Live Coding, Extras.

Current and future educational material: Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning (third version), Gimbalabs CSK (Cardano Starter Kits), others.

Infrastructure: Dandelion

Consulting: Joey's Hot Sauce, challenge "Spend ADA in your local community!", OneUpOneDown, Oxford University, Handshake, Blink Labs, CNS, Mesh, SingularityNET, and others.

Incubation: JPG store, Mesh, Gods of Blocks, Loxe inc, and others.

Community spaces: Gimbalabs Carnival, Emergent Strategy, Book clubs and others that arise as we move forward with the Cardano community.

> In short, we will continue to be an access point to the Cardano ecosystem for developers, companies and new users from all over the world.

Speaking of Gimbalabs sessions, the subject of this proposal, we will measure their impact as follows:

Monthly report following the activity derived from the sessions, in terms of attendees and type of collaborations that arise during and after its occurrence, among other relevant information that points towards the growth of the Cardano ecosystem. Based on the outcomes of the sessions held over the last two years, we are confident that the quality of activity to be tracked will follow the trend of contributing to the growth of the ecosystem that has already been displayed. Clarification: when making any analysis of the results of this proposal, the reading of the results should be extended to time horizons beyond the immediate one (period of execution of the sessions). Our experience and the results that we have shown to the Cardano ecosystem and that have been evaluated as valuable by it, show cumulative effects that result in large-scale collaborations and partnerships. Examples of this: our presence in important regions of Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and soon Hong Kong, with South Korea in the process of being set up); our collaborations with recognized organizations such as Handshake, Blink Labs, SingularityNet, among others.
The sessions will remain a public resource accessible to the community either through live formats or via Gimbalabs' YouTube channel. This condition makes them easily verifiable by any community member.
Relevant information highlighting the growth of the Cardano ecosystem will promptly be communicated through social media and other available channels. As an example (based on real events):

> We announced the launch of Gimbalabs Hong Kong*, an educational and technical development initiative directly coordinated by the Cardano community in Hong Kong and supported by Gimbalabs. This initiative joins similar efforts in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, which have been driven directly by local communities and supported by Gimbalabs.*

Gimbalabs' Discord stands as one of our primary community resources where students, organizations, enthusiasts, lurkers, and session attendees in general, engage with session topics and collaborate within the community. Therefore, it will continue to be the most direct means for any community member to get in touch with us.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

The main evidence is that we have more than 2 years of experience delivering the sessions that are the object of this proposal with the highest quality and reputation.

Some recent references for your consideration:

On the other hand, Gimbalabs is a lab with production capability:

Incubator: JPG store, Mesh, Gods of Blocks, Loxe inc, and others.
Infrastructure builder: Dandelion
Educational content creator: Gimbalabs Plutus Project-Based Learning (third version), Gimbalabs CSK (Cardano Starter Kits), others.
Community spaces: Gimbalabs Carnival, Emergent Strategy, others.
Consulting: Joey's Hot Sauce, challenge "Spend ADA in your local community!", OneUpOneDown, Oxford University, Handshake, Blink Labs, CNS, Mesh, SingularityNET, and others.
Training around the world: "Train the Trainer" program in East Asia; training sessions for Konma Group (India); "Cardano sin Tecnicismos" program in Spanish, for LATAM audience.

Some other facts of interest:

Gimbalabs was included in the IOG's guide: "The Essential Cardano Guide to the Ecosystem 2022", in the following categories: "Cardano in Education" (page. 14), and "Community-built resources and tools" (pag. 20).
Once again, Gimbalabs was featured in the latest Messari "State of Cardano Q3 2023" report, section: Ecosystem Analysis, sub-section Development and Growth, as an important community resource.
Gimbalabs is part of the CBIA alliance (Cardano Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance) along with recognized names in the ecosystem: Maestro, TxPipe, Koios, among others.
Gimbalabs is part of the Certification working group coordinated by IOG. An example of Gimbalabs' contribution is the document "CTI-2023-ADA-11-04: Multiple Satisfaction" authored by Professor M. Ali Modiri (Professor Mix), Gimbalabs instructor and recognized ecosystem developer.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Description: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Output: 4 Playground sessions (1 session per week, 1 hour 30 min duration each) and 8 Live Coding sessions (2 sessions per week, 1 hour 30 min duration each) will be delivered each month, in the live formats that have been consistently used (the live formats of the Playground and Live Coding sessions can be checked on our YouTube channel. Example of a Playground session, here. Example of a Live Coding session, here).

Acceptance Criteria: a) Recordings of the sessions run and archived on the Gimbalabs YouTube channel. Sessions must comply with the duration and format mentioned in the "Output" section. b) Monthly report following the activity derived from the sessions, in terms of attendees and type of collaborations that arise during and after its occurrence, among other relevant information that points towards the growth of the Cardano ecosystem.

Evidence: a) Link to recordings of the month's sessions archived on Gimbalabs YouTube channel. b) Monthly report following the activity derived from the sessions, in terms of attendees and type of collaborations that arise during and after its occurrence, among other relevant information that points towards the growth of the Cardano ecosystem.

>Description: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

>Description: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month + Closing report (1 month).

Output: a) 4 Playground sessions (1 session per week, 1 hour 30 min duration each) and 8 Live Coding sessions (2 sessions per week, 1 hour 30 min duration each) will be delivered each month, in the live formats that have been consistently used (the live formats of the Playground and Live Coding sessions can be checked on our YouTube channel. Example of a Playground session, here. Example of a Live Coding session, here). b) Closing report that follows Catalyst guidelines.

Evidence: a) Link to recordings of the month's sessions archived on Gimbalabs YouTube channel. b) Closing report in text and video format that follows Catalyst guidelines.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Gimbalabs. Lead Instructor. In charge of running the Playground and Live Coding sessions. <https://www.linkedin.com/company/gimbalabs/about/>

Sebastian Pabon, Gimbalabs team. Support Instructor. Responsible for the project management activities of this proposal, and for supporting extra sessions (coordinating and running them). Provide support to students attending sessions and to global communities requesting extra sessions. <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ing-sebastian-pabon/>

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone 1: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.
Zoom subscription: 588 ADA
Miro board subscription: 561 ADA
Adobe premiere pro subscription for editing video: 406 ADA

Milestone 2: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.

Milestone 3: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.

Milestone 4: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.

Milestone 5: To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.

Final Milestone : To deliver 4 "Playground" sessions and 8 "Live Coding" sessions per month + Closing report (1 month).

Instructor compensation: 2 weekly Live Coding sessions and 1 weekly Playground session. This same budget will cover extra training sessions requested by the Cardano ecosystem local communities (e.g. "Train the Trainer" Eastern Town Hall: free training of 5 sessions, each session of 2 hours). 14706 ADA.
Project Management activities: publicity, marketing, promotion, community engagement, educational support via Discord mainly, editing and distribution of session recording, reporting back to the community. 14706 ADA.

Total Budget: 178027 ADA

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The hourly cost of each session reflects not only a fair compensation for delivery of the session itself by instructors with high-level technical knowledge and experience, but also includes the heavy work that goes into areas such as:

create tools that enhance the learning experience and onboarding into the Cardano ecosystem (<https://plutuspbl.io/>)
cultivation of relationships with local Cardano communities (including free sessions and presentations in local Town Halls)
creation of new systems that expand the understanding of what is possible to do in Cardano (Smart Contract Gladiator)
support for Cardano startups and projects
support for startups and projects outside Cardano
Others that cultivate collaboration and contribution

Thus, this set of activities makes the Playground and Live Coding sessions a dynamic work that is not encapsulated in the session time itself.

bookmarked!