who is who? - a review of each of the parties throughout the process: authors, admin team, special council, delegates, community members, TSB DAO Foundation
walking through the process step-by-step
reviewing an exemplary SIP (components, scope, depth)
DAO Admin Team answers questions from participants
The recording is in editing, just polishing it up a bit, like touching up the captions for accuracy.
SIP Training 1.0 video will be be posted to YouTube.com/@TheSandboxDAO and I will share the link here… probably tomorrow, but certainly by this weekend.
20:00, Each SIP goes to the Foundation where lawyers read it and the Director approves it. Thanks for spelling that out, I don’t think I knew their role to the full extent until now.
20:26, Council Recommendation. I’d like to learn more about this. Right now we have 3 SIPs in all various states with the SC Rec. SIP-19 doesn’t have an SC Rec, SIP-20 has one but it’s located in the middle of the SIP details and it doesn’t contain a recommendation, SIP-21 has a SC Rec at the beginning of the SIP with full rationale.
27:00, Dawwww. Thanks for the shoutout @Geraldine Yes I am still taking votes away from my older SIP ideas to be able to vote in new SIP Ideas and it’s getting to the point where I can’t keep votes on all the SIP ideas I support that are being watched by DAO Admin Team for movement to SIP submission.
31:15, The trigger for when a SIP moves from Ideas to Submission. So it’s a combination of qualitative and quantitative, and it sounds more qualitative with how the DAO Admin Team believes when a SIP is widely supported. I really like how aware Geraldine is of many new users joining to comment how great it is.
34:16, Rocksy’s questions about legal review. I’m glad to hear that the DAO Admin intends to provide the rationale why a SIP is rejected by the Foundation’s legal team. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to list out the lawyer’s and Director’s approval of a SIP so we can get used to hearing their voice? Not sure how I feel about it, but I feel it enough to write it down.
42:00, I have a passed SIP, as does @pepe . I did not have to sign a contract, as Geraldine said, the SIP is the agreement that the DAO Admin executes with you. Milestones met = payment.
As for SIP-20, it’s possible the SC didn’t give any rationale.
Hmmm. Tagging @Geraldine here for more info.
That’s a clear point for improvement in the SIP Process, @Lanzer!
For those who don’t know what Lanzer is referring to: All SIP: Ideas have a vote button in the upper left corner. Each Forum user gets only 10 votes. So, in order to keep voting on SIPs you support, you must remove votes from past SIPs. This is a result of our using that feature in a way it wasn’t intended to be used.
Why don’t you be the one to open a thread in General for us titled “SIP Process”? Outline the points of improvement that people have mentioned thus far. And let’s get that convo jumpstarted!!
If the Foundation were to reject a SIP at any point, the Admin Team will certainly summarize the rationale for everyone. It hasn’t happened yet. This is part of why we have a curation process, though, to avoid any possible friction further along in the process.
HERE is the first SIP Training session we hosted.
(We will provide videos in other languages in the months ahead)
BELOW is a SUMMARY of the Training linked above:
SIP Training 1.0 - Briefing Document
Main Themes:
Democratizing Development through SIPs: The core objective highlighted was that SIPs are the “Dallas core product,” representing a community-driven approach to improving the Sandbox ecosystem. Bobby Kunta emphasized, “This is like a training on how to create the Dallas core product.”
Iterative Improvement of the SIP Process: The training itself is labeled “1.0,” indicating an ongoing effort to refine and enhance the SIP process. There’s a commitment to holding these sessions monthly, translating them into other languages, and hosting them in different time zones to increase accessibility and participation. The presenters actively sought feedback on the current process.
Emphasis on Community Engagement: The entire SIP process is designed to incorporate community feedback and prioritize ideas that garner significant interest. Geraldine stated, “We want to see more sips, we want to see better sips, higher quality that are addressing things more directly that uh can move through this process quicker.”
Structured and Standardized Proposal Submission: The introduction of a mandatory form for SIP submission aims to create a standardized format, ensuring consistency and clarity for the community when reviewing proposals. Geraldine explained, “We want to have the SIP that are that have always the same shape… because we want the community just to have the same, I would say logic when reading a SIP.”
Collaborative Approach between Authors and the Admin Team: The admin team plays a crucial role in guiding authors through the SIP process, offering support in areas like format standardization, milestone definition, budget considerations, and timeline planning. Geraldine mentioned, “The admin team is working closely with the author to make sure that different steps are respected.”
Phased Advancement of SIPs: The training clearly outlined the distinct stages of a SIP’s lifecycle, from initial ideation to voting and implementation.
Most Important Ideas and Facts:
1. Ideation (Forum Posting):
This is the initial stage where community members propose their ideas for improving the Sandbox ecosystem on the dedicated forum.
The forum serves as a place to brainstorm and gather initial feedback.
Engagement is measured through votes, likes, and, most importantly, thoughtful discussion. Geraldine emphasized that the team looks for “great interaction” and reads “absolutely every um different idea.”
The entire team, not just the PM team, monitors the forum.
Authors are encouraged to use the forum to gauge community interest before formally submitting a SIP.
2. Submission (Filling the Form):
Once an idea gains traction, the author may be invited by the admin team (Bobby or Geraldine) to submit a formal SIP. Geraldine stated, “If we see a great engagement, we would invite the author to submit the SIP.”
Submitting a SIP involves filling out a comprehensive form detailing the idea, problem, proposed solution, implementation plan, and budget.
The form ensures a standardized format with key elements like a TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) summarizing the “who, why, what, when, etc.”
Budget requests are preferred in USD and potentially EUR.
Supporting materials like links and visuals are highly recommended.
Community members can offer assistance in filling out the form.
A formal invitation to submit helps prioritize ideas with community interest and manage the SIP pipeline.
3. Creation (Admin Team Collaboration):
The admin team works closely with the author after submission to refine the SIP.
This includes standardizing the format (e.g., TLDR), reviewing milestones, and ensuring budget realism.
The admin team can assist with defining a realistic timeline and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for measuring success.
Milestone-based funding is implemented, meaning funds are released upon completion of agreed-upon milestones that reflect engagement and progress towards the solution and KPIs.
4. Review (Legal Compliance & Foundation Recommendation):
Submitted SIPs undergo a legal compliance review. Geraldine stated, “we need to check that’s simply it’s compliant the the Sip and what is asked is compliance.”
The legal review is a “go or no-go” step to protect the DAO. Examples of potential rejection reasons could involve conflicts with regulations or dealings with entities in sanctioned countries.
The Sandbox Foundation may provide a special recommendation to aid the community in decision-making, although the community is not obligated to follow it.
5. Discussion (Public Feedback):
Once the review is successful, the SIP is assigned a number and posted publicly on the forum for a two-week discussion period (“sip active in discussion”).
Authors can make edits to their SIP based on community feedback during this time, with the help of the PM team. Geraldine noted, “during these two weeks you can make any edits that you judge uh interesting to your SE.”
6. Voting (Snapshot):
Following the discussion period, the SIP moves to a two-week voting phase on Snapshot (“sip active in voting”).
SAND and LAND holders can vote “Yes,” “No,” or “Abstain.” Some votes may involve choosing between options.
Campaigning for votes is encouraged during this period.
Key Takeaways and Points of Clarification:
Measuring Community Engagement: While votes, likes, and comments are considered, the quality and breadth of the discussion are crucial indicators of community interest. The admin team also considers the activity level and history of forum participants to avoid artificial engagement.
SIP Timeline: The duration of the SIP process can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the proposal, the level of community engagement, and the responsiveness of the author and involved teams (e.g., legal).
Contractual Nature of Accepted SIPs: An accepted SIP that passes voting on Snapshot acts as a “contract” where the DAO commits to funding the project based on the agreed-upon milestones and adherence to the proposal. Failure to meet obligations can result in funding cessation.
Voting Limitations on the Forum: The forum’s voting feature has limitations, potentially restricting the number of votes a user can cast. Workarounds involve unvoting on archived or active SIPs to free up votes. This is a known issue the PM team is looking into.
Legal Review Process: While no SIP has been legally rejected yet, the process is in place to ensure the DAO’s protection. Reasons for rejection would be communicated to the author, and revisions might be possible if the core idea remains within legal boundaries and the DAO’s mission.
UGC Platform SIP: The SIP for a dedicated UGC platform involved a Request for Proposals (RFP), leading to two candidate proposals being presented for a vote with a choice between the two (or abstaining). This deviated slightly from the standard yes/no voting process. The UGC platform aims to drive traffic to user-generated content and provide independence from the main Sandbox platform’s curated experiences.
Next Steps:
SIP Training 2.0 and subsequent sessions are planned.
Future trainings will aim for translation into other languages and hosting in different time zones.
Community feedback on the SIP process and the training is actively encouraged.
POINT OF CLARITY
since there’s been some questions around this matter…
The “discussion” phase of the SIP process can be more than just conversation!
It’s a chance for SIP authors to revise the language of their proposal to demonstrate the most potential value to the most stakeholders before the proposal officially advances into the voting phase.
The SIP authors are NOT obligated to make changes. But voters can certainly specify exactly what they’d like to see changed to earn their vote. The sooner in the 2-week cycle this is done, the better.
Speaking as someone with 2 failed SIPs (-14 & -18) and 2 passed SIPs (-16 & -21)…
Don’t wait until voting starts to get feedback on what would prevent someone from voting Yes.
Ask the Delegates if they will support your SIP
Ask Kunta to host an X Space and make sure you deliberately invite listeners to give you the good, bad, and ugly of their feedback.
Instead of arguing with someone’s perspective, demonstrate to them how your SIP improves the Sandbox Ecosystem.
Negative feedback is an opportunity to persuade an anonymous “No” vote to a “Yes”. Even if the person you’re talking to isn’t persuaded, others watching may be.
No matter how insulting or hurtful, when someone shares their feedback they are giving you the gift of information and engagement, those who resist trading insult-for-insult are more successful than those who don’t.
If you don’t ask because you’re nervous about them saying no, you hurt your chances of success.
The SIP Training 1.0 video is now on YouTube:
Please contact me directly if you’d like to lead a training like this in your native language and in your local timezone.
Yes I am still taking votes away from my older SIP ideas to be able to vote in new SIP Ideas and it’s getting to the point where I can’t keep votes on all the SIP ideas I support that are being watched by DAO Admin Team for movement to SIP submission.
SIP: Ideas
General
is a SUMMARY of the Training linked above:
The “discussion” phase of the SIP process can be more than just conversation!
It’s a chance for SIP authors to revise the language of their proposal to demonstrate the most potential value to the most stakeholders before the proposal officially advances into the voting phase. 
