Almost three years. So much has originated and grown out of this forever project, ⌐◨-◨
A lot of learnings about things we couldn't know, some we could've or should've, and a lot of revelations of good. And hey - we're still here and kicking!
My line of work is in brand development and marketing. One of the things I've been thinking deeply about is how we foster more integrated cohesiveness and connectivity in executions. The simple answer is that we need more "management" and "structure". There has been rising demand and discussions around (more) centralized leadership.
Frankly, I don't believe in this being the great unlock for "the things" we want to see happening.
Not for this experiment in which we're on a quest to reduce point of failures, to do things differently, and right. Not for this forever project where centralized structures are the antithesis of its existence.
We have good reason to double down on what we know works and believe in ourselves. It's probably not "wagmi", a little less delusional and optimistically pragmatic.
Be a Pioneer.
When we boil it down, there are two pressing questions that remain unanswered:
Where do we funnel people to learn about ⌐◨-◨ ?
What does onboarding look like to a shared and headless brand?
This essay is an attempt to provide one of many answers for both. But before we jump right to the answers, let's take a step back: there's something we can learn from what we know.
Traditionally managed brands have finessed onboarding and cultivating super fans through one tool: Stories. You might have heard it in your line of work: story telling is the key. And I have to break it to you, it is.
Overly simplified, the reason why super brand fans and self proclaimed brand ambassadors exist, is because of the stories they share with the brand. Those stories not always were experienced together, mostly independently. Yet the strongest stories are the ones experienced together - memories.
These stories are onboarding tools for brands. And, the reason why people stick around to eventually become super fans.
It's stories that trigger the feeling of:
I felt like this too!
I feel like this too!
I want to feel this too!
I want to feel this again!
Past. Present. Future.
Looping back to us - what's the story of Nouns?
A lot of our story traces back to the foundational principles of ⌐◨-◨ a shared brand, open source protocols and pioneering (Ethereum) on chain governance. The belief that we can do things differently and change the world to the better by doing so. And that is where the story of Nouns pretty much ends.
There are some fragments of shared stories through Gnars, Nouns Esports, Nouns Breakers, and many many more. But I believe the nut we need to crack is keeping everything intentionally decentralized and independent, yet cohesive in the story that's being told and timely integrated considering the impact we're aiming for.
There's more that goes into this train of thoughts, but to cut this essay shorter and to the point, I believe the answer to the questions listed, is by collectively creating experiences that celebrate ⌐◨-◨
A place and time we collectively agree upon to show up and present what we worked on, connect, align and cultivate more of the great we want to see coming to life through ⌐◨-◨ and make that a celebration.
It's a place and time teams and communities can work towards to.
An annual [Place] and [Time] are two new data points that can be governed.
Both provide an ecosystem wide synchronicity that don't create artificial dependencies in "management", "structure" or "leadership".
Two new data points that can guide growth, expansion and proliferation.
And, result in the creation of shared stories for onboarding and retention, experiences to funnel people to.
Closing the loop to the two questions:
Where do we funnel people to learn about ⌐◨-◨ ?
What does onboarding look like to a shared and headless brand?
I believe that for both questions "Nouns Town LA" can be one of the answers.
Benjamin ⌐◨-◨