This week, we’re taking a look back at the first six months of Cloud Scouts and retrospectives in general.

Though I’ve been imagining what I would create for over a year, Cloud Scouts was announced on April 10th, and since I’ve been in discovery mode recently, I thought, why not talk about it?

In these phases, I typically take a look back at what inspires me and that continues to be sci-fi and glossy chaotic designs of the Y2K era, which has seen a resurgence. Along with many peaceful walks in crisp Fall weather.

Cloud Scouts ☁️ 

Since I’m in this personal liminal space (maybe more on this another day), it’s natural that I examine where we’ve been with web3 scouting so far.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Our first collection, Together, has been minted by 123 unique members who contribute the most wholesome, soft, safe support and knowledge to one another. This collection represents early support for onchain scouting as we adventure into new technologies and connections.

If you’re a holder of one of these badges and not in our Twitter/X group chat, send me a DM I will add you!

At the moment, owners of this specific badge are granted access to chats, decision-making, forums, and open calls.

Focus on simple access as utility is a limited view of what the community offers folks. Going forward, Cloud Scouts will imagine various mechanisms that allow us to rely less on minting NFTs for access and more on identity creation within the ecosystem that is both adventurous and feels more personal. There’s much more we can do with NFTs 😃 

Cloud Scouts Tech Stack:

• Charmverse: I’m a Charmverse Ambassador! We use their product for decision-making, documentation, and member directory. Check out our homepage on Charmverse and join here.

• Disco: Weekly newsletter Bookmarks are just the start! With this newsletter standing as our 5th official verified credential, I’m excited to continue exploring all Disco and VCs have to offer.

• Sobol: Currently standing at 65 members in our Sobol circles that visualize where members live within our core ecosystem. Mapping our structure and managing operations within Sobol is super easy and lets members focus on the mission rather than a complicated mess of DAO crossed wires. View us on Sobol here.

• Zora: Minting on Zora means aligned incentives, missions, and an exploration of what Ethereum has to offer. Internal open calls allow Scouts opportunities to creatively envision new communities and design spaces. More on this collection soon!

• Mirror: I have a very special type of love for Mirror as a writer and use it as a place for discovering news and keeping up with announcements. It’s also where I’ve written on Dynamic Governance a few times.

• Deform: We use Deform for onchain surveys and forms that allow token-gated access to feedback, allowlists, and more. We announced our first Scout badge, the Content Creator, with Deform.

A few things not mentioned that I use weekly:

• Productivity/Design: Notion, Canva, Arc Browser, Figma

• Social: X, Warpcast, Interface, IG Stories, Discord, Telegram

• Keeps Me Sane: Spotify, IG memes, friends 💖

• AI: ChatGPT, Claude, MidJourney

• Curation: are.na, Pinterest, Interface, Landing, Glasp

  What tools should I test out next?

Tools I’m eager to test: Hats Protocol, Quests, Sofamon, Vessel, Guild

Cloud Scouts was part of Gitcoin Grants 18, earning nearly $400 with over 50 contributors, going directly to funding future work by members.

Coming up in two weeks, we are participating in Artizen Season 3 with artwork by Anna Vargas. Artizen mints will be priced at 0.01ETH or roughly $15-20.

Looking Ahead:

This stack is in progress. It will expand and contract as new tools emerge that bring advanced, simple functions for members to enjoy.

We define our success by how happy members are interacting with one another, what they learn through aligned values, and how we actually, tangibly grow together with the use of nascent technology.

Human creativity and innovation thrive in the darkest moments of irrelevancy, and so do Scouts.

We are prepared to meet the challenge of the loneliness epidemic through small, interconnected, and permissionless expressive troops of learners with new products in the coming months.

Retrospectives are Fun

In this discovery period, I’ve been looking back at the things that inspire Cloud Scouts, which are coincidentally things that shaped me.

The past few months have been an exploration of the early internet, science fiction, physical libraries, and 2000s music. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what I’ve been watching & reading.

This week I was inspired by this video essay by Elliot Sang on Gen Z and libraries. The connection between physical libraries and onchain community design is clear. Libraries have always been magical places for me and you should definitely visit your local library!

• Memberships/DID: library card

• Protocol: hello decentralized system designs

• Gathering: maker spaces, casual lounges

Fashion of the 2000s is here to stay for a while - this video specifically credits the Black community for inspiration of these styles. Visit Zora or nearly any other crypto app to see how Y2K designs in both fashion and web apps have influenced web3 culture too. Zora is Pure Internet. See also: Boys Club, Crypto Witch Club, and Console

I’ve been fascinated by old episodes of the Computer Chronicles series, where early software and hardware developers are interviewed on the latest tech in the 80s & 90s. There are so many ideas and lessons hidden in these interviews.

Going back to my favorite shows like Star Trek and community-centric shows like Cheers in retrospectives inspire the creation of aligned gathering spaces. If you’re a nerd like me, you’ll get where we’re going with Cloud Scouts.

Upcoming

A new article on Mailchain coming this week. I interviewed prominent community professional Max Pete in an exploration of the Community Layer. Check out previous articles here.

As Scouts, we are explorers, adventurers, and observers. It is our mission to add thoughtful art, frameworks, essays, and more to breathe life into our shared spaces ☁️ 

Current Request: seeking design, content, and advising contributors to our upcoming Onchain Scout Handbook

If you’d like to work directly with me or partner on the seminal work, reply or send me a DM and let’s chat!

Open Call

We aim to highlight Cloud Scouts members and supporters to diversify our work in the space. This is your chance to have your work featured early as we grow into an onchain Scouting organization.

Submit your work to the open call anytime. If you have any questions or want to get some feedback on your submission, I’m always open to chat.

In the last week, we’ve had 181 new mints of Epansive Communities for a total of 199 on Zora as the first in this collection.

That has led to 0.082ETH (or $138) in protocol rewards with around 30 days left to collect.

Thank you to all the collectors! If you have any questions about the writing, please send me an email. Happy to chat about it anytime!

Expansive Communities is minted as a 15-page PDF including extra details and visualizations, the first of the series to live in The Nursery. 🪴

Your weekly source for all things upcoming with our lovely Scouts. Learn more at our website!

Bringing Scouting Onchain ☁️ 

While our identities are an internal mystery, our onchain adventures aren’t. Scouting offers adults an opportunity for coordination through service to self and others, exploring new technologies, media, and apps our friends build.

Show your support by Bookmarking this newsletter issue, sharing it with others, and collecting our membership.

Troop Chat!  💖 

Sign up for all sessions here!

Every other Thursday, we come together for Patrol meetings, feedback sessions, and updates.

Where to next?

Want to partner with Cloud Scouts? Send me a DM on Twitter or reply to this email for a chat.

Disco is your Friendly Data Backpack 🎒 

Verifiable Credentials (VCs) allow you to take your identity, including memberships, GMs, self-attested credentials (shirt size, dark-mode preference, etc.), and Badges 😏 anywhere and keep them private!

Oh… and it’s totally free! You just need to have a web3 wallet to claim!

Already have a Backpack?

Click below to claim your Bookmark for this issue and share it on Twitter! 🪩