Q&A: Find Out More About ApeComms And What The Group Plans To Do If Their Proposal Is Passed

The ApeCoin DAO is currently voting on an Ape Improvement Proposal that, if passed, would establish the ApeComms working group as a key part of the DAO.

AIP-175 titled "Establish ApeComms" is an ecosystem allocation fund proposal written by Bored Ape Yacht Club member TheHodlrCollective.

“This proposal would put in place the ApeComms working group, which would provide full time AIP development assistance to community members in the ApeCoin ecosystem, educate and provide resources to community members about AIPs and other issues important to the ApeCoin DAO, assist the DAO administrators with communications, and develop a public Discord,” TheHodlrCollective wrote in his proposal.

The ApeComms team is made up of eight members, Waabam, Lost, Amplify, Vulkan, Halina, SSP, AdventurousApe, and 0xSword.

In total, the ApeComms team is asking the ApeCoin DAO for $114,129 USD for a three-month term, according to their proposal. Take a look at the cost breakdown below:

At the time of this article’s publication, 76.01% of $Ape cast has been against AIP-175.

To find out more about ApeComms and why the DAO should support AIP-175, the Bored Ape Gazette reached out to TheHodlrCollective. Take a look at the Gazette’s full interview with him below:

1: Tell me a bit about you and ApeComms?

“I’m Lost, I run The Hodlr Collective account and I’ve been in the BAYC ecosystem since day 0. I’ve helped artists to launch their own NFT collections, been an active supporter of creators in the space, coordinated VIP events for apes in LA, and survived the Annual BAYC Death Nuts challenge. I enjoy working with people and elevating others. ApeComms would solve 3 distinct problems: Discourse is unwelcoming and DAO participants struggle to communicate there, official communications lack support and resources- like FT employees, and there is currently no public Discord for the ApeCoin DAO.”

2: How did ApeComms begin?

“ApeComms formed in a private ApeCoin DAO Discord which is populated with several hundred apes from the community. We recognized the need to onboard more contributors, and therefore to enhance the DAOs channels of communication. With constant community input, we started to develop what that could look like : ApeComms."

3: In a sentence or two can you explain ApeComms and its mission?

“Definitely, we actually created an acronym for that, we want to increase Awareness, Participation , and Education. A.P.E. Awareness: Communication in the APE ecosystem should be transparent and consistent. Participation: Driving proposals forward will create opportunities and more demand. Education: Understanding ApeCoin DAO processes & decisions will encourage further action and DAO development.”

4. What does “assisting the DAO administrators with communications” mean? If passed what can $Ape holders expect to see happen?

“That wording is used rather specifically , although admittedly it sounds a bit ambiguous. What it means is that we would not be taking ownership of any official DAO assets (website, Twitter, Discourse, etc.). We’ve several stated deliverables. We would be doing copyright work: drafting recent events and relevant new information into tweets as well as hosting several Spaces per week through the ApeCoin Twitter handle, drafting announcements to post on Discourse and helping to educate users there, developing a Discord where members can find announcements or other aggregated information, and ask questions.”

5. Why should the DAO fund full time AIP development assistance? What impact will this assistance have?

“The special council is under an NDA which prevents them from always saying directly what needs to be said. Our team has experience with AIPs both as authors, and as active members of the community who are in frequent contact with other AIP authors. We’re able to have more direct conversations with contributors, make suggestions and recall past incidents which have caused AIPs to be sent back to authors for reconstruction. This saves time during the AIP submission process for the Special Council, administrators, legal team, and AIP author. This saves money and helps prevent fatigue for the community during the AIP process.”

6. What impact will a public Discord have on the DAO?

“There are many opinions about Discord as a platform, but this ecosystem is familiar with using Discord as a town square. People don’t always feel comfortable communicating on Twitter, Discourse favors long-form text and not quick conversations, these are the only two public communication platforms currently available to the DAO. A public Discord for the ApeCoin DAO will create a new opportunity for discussions and creation.”

7. What should the DAO at large know about ApeComms?

“The ApeComms team consists of 8 diverse members of the community who set out to solve a problem, formed a group and stuck together since late August ‘22. We have 7 ape owners, members outside of America, a mixture of men and women, a broad range of birthdates, and varying perspectives. This team is committed to the community, each other, and the work we’ve been doing."

8. Where do you see ApeComms in a year from now?

“We are building a brand for the DAO. We have always seen ApeComms as a long-term operation, and we believe there will be more opportunities to collaborate with other groups (Events, Governance, Gaming, etc.) as they form within the DAO. Our goal has always been to onboard more people to the DAO and we have been largely successful. If the DAO approves Establishing ApeComms then we will continue to iterate with the community to create the best version of the services and the process for providing them. If ApeComms is not approved, then we will continue to reiterate with the community to find the best place in the chain for our team.”

9. Do you have anything else you’d like to add or say?

“This group has already shown long term commitment and alignment with the DAO. We’re all yuga asset owners and continue to support the ecosystem as consumers/collector/apes. We have all been working for the DAO for months, many of us full time, for free. We have been some of the only members of the community to raise their hands to do work when many others decided to step away and wait for Yuga, and despite several of us being overly qualified - none of us ran for Special Council, because we recognize the opportunity to build valuable new things here in the DAO. We enjoy doing this work and we will continue to support this community.”

The window to vote on AIP-175 is currently open and $Ape holders have until January 11th at 9 P.M. EST to cast their ballots.

The Bored Ape Gazette highly encourages all $Ape holders to read TheHodlrCollective’s full proposal here: https://forum.apecoin.com/t/aip-175-establish-apecomms/9697

The Bored Ape Gazette will continue to follow ApeComms and AIP-175. Stay tuned for updates!