What actions and resources does the Zcash community have with which to hold ZCG accountable for paying out a grant milestone that’s incomplete and unreasonably delayed?
What was agreed upon:
8videos- Delivered by
30 June 2023 - Community engagement; content and skill sharing
What we’re getting:
6videos + some shorts- No delivery until
30 June 2024 - Zero communication; no content nor skill sharing
Milestone 1 payment should not have been made, at this time, for Zcash Media 2023 grant.
How do we address this @Dodger?
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@ambimorph comment on that - another edit: Hang on a second … Did ZCG just pay zcash media 300k USD with ZEC, during ZconV?
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The ZCG was ennacted to make these grant decisions on the community’s behalf and so there is the possibility of decisions that go against the consensus of the community. However, given the general disaproval of the community over such an extended timeframe, I would also consider the decision to extend this grant a bit strange.
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Dropping one video a month is just out of touch and unlikely to keep people engaged.
Game of Thrones aired an episode every week. I’m sure they carried out a tonne of market research on the psychology of audiences and engagement behaviour.
@David_Heisenberg & @aquietinvestor @ambimorph @ProfJWVerret is there anyway we can adjust the schedule of these videos for example maybe one every two weeks.
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No. ZCG does not pay out grants in ZEC. ZCG buys USD to cover grants at the time of their approval. Given price volatility, it would be irresponsible to do otherwise. The price of ZEC was much stronger when we set aside the USD for this approved grant.
Edit correction: Grants are hedged in USD between approval and payout as I said, but technically then paid in ZEC.
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Well, that’s a relief. At least this deal wasn’t completely undermining the months of massive coordinated effort by the hard working people of ZecHub and ZkAv Club.
The ones who deserve the money that was sent last week, for producing and delivering a full week of ZconV, in 4 languages, simultaneously.
edit: it was …
And, it’s good that ZconV was super cheap to produce, as announced by @dodger 21 seconds into his opening presentation:
edit: i just realized that this was on the same day as one of the 100k USD gifts paid to @37L
(see spreadsheet/dashboard)
and, can you please explain the ZEC value in the spreadsheet @ambimorph? it’s the one on the far right. Looks like really old price. Just want to clarify all the fine points here.
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Please see my correction above. Grant payouts are hedged on approval into USD and then technically paid in ZEC.
So, 13315.25 ZEC was sent from ZCG wallet to @37L in the last couple weeks as payout for an incomplete and delayed grant milestone?
I don’t think this comparison you are making is productive. ZCG didn’t fund the A/V club; ZF did. If you’re unhappy with that arrangement in comparison to the Zcash Media grant, that’s not the fault of ZCG or the ZCG grant recipients.
Everyone loves the contribution you’re making. It’s truly terrible that you’re feeling undervalued. No one wants that! And I totally get that the timing now of the payout for a large grant awarded in much more abundant times stands out so much. But we awarded the grant and the milestone was fulfilled, delays notwithstanding.
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Fair enough. The timing of these payments was absolutely awful and it hurts me personally.
My contributions aside, the milestone has not been completed to spec, according to the proposal, in the following ways:
What was agreed upon:
8videos- Delivered by
30 June 2023 - Community engagement; content and skill sharing
What we’re getting:
6videos + some shorts- No delivery until
30 June 2024 - Zero communication; no content nor skill sharing
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Well, well, well!
I hadn’t read this forum thread anymore, because I personally am very upset about what this delay means to the trust that the entire community has placed in the project.
I am one of few words. I’ll get straight to the point.
If I were part of the ZCG I would have long ago voted to end this grant.
I understand the delays, the stress and the “post-traumatic scars” that overwork can generate, but we are talking about MONEY. Money that could have been invested in other Zcash projects but was not, it was spent on videos that we have never seen.
I do not question the professionalism and credibility of the ZM team, because the videos they delivered 2 years ago were very good.
But 2 years of silence and delays have only served to enervate the community.
My suggestion to the Zcash Media team:
Don’t announce anything else, don’t meet anymore, don’t explain anything else. Just deliver the videos.
And let this unpleasant experience serve to make better decisions in the future for all of us.
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I understand.
The people clearly want videos and answers. I’m growing tired of this circus.
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If you understand that the milestone was incomplete and delayed then why did you approve payment?
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I understand your feelings, and I understand why your expectations are not aligned with what happened. As I said above, I don’t agree that the milestone was “incomplete”.
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6 = 8 ? 
Gaslighting, flattery and handwaving.
So long and thanks for all the (z)con 
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A quick search shows that the change from 8 long to 6 long + 18 shorts was communicated at least five months ago (and I think also before that, but I can’t find it right now). If I recall correctly people were enthusiastic about it.
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i have mixed feelings about this grant.
on one hand i love the videos that zcash media has delivered in the past and the ones that we get now will be for sure same high quality.
but, we need to send out a signal to other teams that apply for grants in the future, the way that this was handled is unacceptable and it feels that someone has taken advantage of the Dev Fund.
now that the videos are almost available to the public, we should move on and enjoy them. if Zcash Media is looking for another grant in the future, we need to discuss a few things in advance because the timing and communication was a fail.
sorry that you feel this way, @David_Heisenberg but if someone is giving you a ton of money, you need to keep what you promise. this is a business deal and therefore not acceptable!
All the best to you and the rest of the Team, hope you all can get some rest now! I can only imagine how much work has gone into these videos, really excited to see them.
@aquietinvestor one video a month is not enough to build up the excitement that we need, please give this a second thought.
what if we do one video every two weeks and in between you release a trailer of the next episode?
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Suggest funded projects have hard deadlines with penalties for missed milestones.
By ‘hard’, I mean ‘deadlines/penalties that DO NOT get re-negotiated’, important this does not happen again.
Considering the amounts involved I’m amazed at the level of tolerance.
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