Hi, everyone.
I wanted to pop back onto this thread to let you all know that two of the three scheduled workshops for at-risk populations and vulnerable communities that I talked about in my last update have now occurred. The third one is still in the process of being finalized.
Both previous workshops also went very, very well! Between the two workshops I was able to guide an additional 25 new users to install Zashi, receive ZEC from me, and many of them then went on the make their first Crosspay payment!
I’ve now been explicitly invited to Chicago, Seattle, Poughkeepsie, and Pittsburgh by an extended network of contacts to run more of these same workshops. I’ve met with social workers, adult industry performers, adult game developers, various gig workers, and people of other descriptions who are all interested in “crypto as cash” instead of “crypto as investing.” I would love to continue to iterate on the workshop material and run more of these workshops.
After some of them, participants who are comfortable doing so have begun posting about their experience on social media. This includes the aforementioned Sex Work Survival Guide group, but now also includes individuals. Here are a few recent examples from Bluesky.
Additionally, I attended an adult industry convention (sort of on a whim, honestly) and ended up organically on-boarding an additional 9 or 10 people, including two vendors, at that convention as well. @readymouse and I have started collecting selfies with people who are willing to let us take some with them and we have a growing collection of some incredibly fun moments. Here’s one of my favorites from the adult convention. (The entire quote thread is worth a look, too.)
As I write this, I am now on my way with @readymouse to Buenos Aires to meet some more members of the Zcash team personally and attend parts of DevConnect. When we return, we’ll continue to finalize the details for the last already-funded workshop.
I’m extremely heartened to see how receptive so many people in these communities that I’m speaking with have opened up to this and intuitively understand the power and importance of self-sovereign financial independence and privacy. It is absolutely something most people understand if the message arrives in a form they can relate to via a messenger they can trust. I’m honored that I can be one such messenger!
As usual, donations for the continued funding of these workshops and perhaps these likely future ones in both nearby and further away cities would be absolutely amazing and appreciated!
After the final already-in-the-works workshop for NYC, which would be the FIFTH(!) one in New York City, I would like to go to Poughkeepsie, as we are already in discussions with a venue that could host us and is safe for the at-risk students up there for a date sometime in late January or early February.
As before, we are aiming for:
- $50 USD student tuition assistance per student
- $50 USD student starter stipend
- ~$500 USD for venue rental (highly variable but it’s proven to be a decent estimate)
Total estimate per workshop = $3,500 USD
Additional travel costs, per workshop = $3000 USD (lodging, airfare, as needed)
(Workshops outside of NYC will also require travel time, costs, and possible additional funds for lodging.)
To summarize, we’ve been asking for about $3,500 USD per workshop in NYC or approximately $6000 USD per workshop with reasonable estimates for workshops that we must travel to.
All of the above addresses should still work as donation deposit addresses should anyone still be excited about offering their support to continue these efforts. This additional unified address should work, too:
u16g8x7f3ug6j3z68h94yfgzzyjhvn799sewwyt5eczvmm4c2nst9w9cgnuyvcjty5thdyfr37cszwcnzs6zrm5xwar7ygnjz252gp9uenqtgrzxfgu242mta2fkw9pne7wey3c7rhqkcskd752ks4faqjxvvxv4nh7cxdwxuseumjtwg3
Finally, please say hi if you see me (or @readymouse ) in Buenos Aires this week! <3