**POLL ADDED!**Proposal: Language Operations Working Group (LOWG) Q4 2021

Situation

I am proposing the funding of a Language Operations Working Group (LOWG) for 3 months ending December 31st, 2021. This will be the second iteration of the working group and will address continued and growing interest in Index Coop (IC) products outside English speaking markets through the translation of core content. Contributions in Q4 will also cover immediate operational needs in relation to the new Index Coop website and also support expansion into new markets.

What is the core problem(s) you want to solve?

By facilitating content in several languages the LOWG has grown interest in IC products and supported the efforts of contributors in various regions.

In line with the IC’s North Stars and Core KPIs, the LOWG seeks to increase the number of holders of IC products by reaching and communicating with audiences in languages other than English.

The first iteration of the LOWG has helped grow audiences in the key target languages of CN, DE, and ES, as well as several others with promise. Now, with the soon-to-be-released website unifying IC content, there exists an opportunity to further increase engagement and reach because of the visitor-trust and SEO effects of having an authoritative site for our content.

We wish to build on the product knowledge of the group, their demonstrated commitment, and their results to ensure the language facilities of the new site are a great value-add to the customer journey and sales funnel of the IC.

The LOWG also seeks to maintain its open door for newcomers to the IC by having the facility to fund promising opportunities for content in languages that we currently do not serve. To date, we have played a part in supporting the introduction of several now well-established IC contributors, especially in the APAC region.

The LOWG wishes to continue its program of targeted, results focussed activities to serve the growth of the Coop’s North Star’s and KPIs outside of the anglosphere.

Why is this worth addressing today?

It is important to address this problem today because:

• We should retain and develop the great team already familiar with Coop content,
• We have the opportunity to translate present Coop’s successes into new regions,
• Strengthening linguistic and regional foundations will create new opportunities,
• The Coop should have a go-to team when language expertise is required,
• Maintaining a formal structure for translation contributions,
• To not work in languages other than English is to leave business on the table and risk trust and credibility

How will you address it?

This working group will focus on two main initiatives:

1. Translating and promoting core IC content in key languages.
2. Prospecting and nurturing opportunities in other languages as we build audiences around the globe.

While the LOWG establishes itself, all contributions are pro-rata.

For the proposed three month period, the LOWG will continue its focus on Chinese (Mainland), German, and Spanish for its key languages. These languages will feature on the new website and fit current Index Coop capacity. Each language will build on last period’s successes:

Chinese: @Tudou has done a phenomenal job of maintaining platforms for IC content (WeChat, Weibo, and Yuque), translating content in a contextually aware manner, and growing impressions - growing blog impressions 518% in the last two months to 3645 and increasing social media impressions 694% to 71,491 over the same two months. Additionally, new contributors have been introduced. Tudou has built on LOWG activities and is now a key part of the APAC IC community and its activities.

Met content targets of 4-12 blogs per month and exceeded 4x impressions target with 7x for social media and 5x for blog.

To maintain blog cadence and 2x impressions target for both social and blog content.

German: @ela and @metigoit both contributed to German content over the two-month initial LOWG period. Though held back due to unforeseen circumstances during the first month, DE content and social media has increased impressions and followers and also featured a new-joiner contribution.

Met content targets overall with 9 for the two months from a minimum required of 8. Started a Twitter channel with a follower target of 50. Almost met with 46 - most added in last month.

To target increased rates of blogging and social activity. Targeting 100 Twitter followers in October.

Spanish: @sver has followed @cryptotexan’s playbook on Twitter and has more than doubled followers in two months to 107. Tweeting multiple times per day we are now expecting a breakout. Blogs were posted at the maximum of 12 per month for both months.

Targeting full coverage of key IC content and 250 Twitter followers.

The three languages above will report engagement statistics and seek growth in impressions and followers. Longer term, as we move to the unified IC website, there will be efforts to attribute sales and other conversions, such as content engagement.

During the last two months, the LOWG rewarded consistent contributions in French 1, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish. All met and at least slightly exceeded their blog count target of 4 per month. In the case of the French blog, many more articles were added and they are circulated with a newsletter. For the Turkish content, @insidetrader moved IC content from his personal blog to a dedicated Index Coop TR substack.

Japanese and Portuguese contributions joined the LOWG during August and September. Both languages are promising in terms of their demographic coverage and crypto involvement. The LOWG will continue support for both. Notably, @larisaldanha has set up a dedicated substack and Twitter for PT. In light of this, Portuguese will be rewarded as an established channel at $1500 per month if the target of 4 blogs a month is met and with an expectation to increase impressions and content engagement.

The LOWG wishes to remain a place for the Coop to find talented and promising DAO contributors. In the previous budget there was little scope for additional funding of contributions. This budget proposal requests funding for 18 blogs in the 3 month period. Recently APAC members have signalled interest in Hindi and there is also Italian as a prospect. It will be the LOWGs task to choose and guide these contributions to evaluate their potential for the Coop.

What impact will this project have?

The LOWG is a supportive group, assisting all other working groups when called upon. Its independence as a discrete working group creates a focused environment for its contributors and acts as a clear point of contact for translation requests.

The LOWG works closely with the Growth Working Group and the Creative and Design Working Group. Often taking its lead from them, the LOWG seeks to further the impact of their work and maximise returns on content without creating additional overhead.

Though currently difficult to attribute, we want to measure the impact of the LOWG by it’s addition to growth and the Coop’s North Star & KPIs. We seek increased content engagement, impressions, and followers across all our channels. We will continue to assess the promise of other languages that currently have Coop content and work to identify where best to expend resources.

As in the last round, key languages (Chinese, German, Spanish) will produce 1 or more IC blogs per week and engage daily on social media. They will deliver statistics relevant to their platforms and channels.

Regular contributors should produce at least 2 pieces of content each month and provide supporting statistics appropriate to their platforms, such as impressions, subscribers, link click-through rates.

The IC should expect to see increased engagement with people from each language worked on by the LOWG. This may manifest as more people in Discord, more attributed purchases, the head of investment at Binance reading our content, or successes such as the group’s members going on to form other groups and business partnerships.

Working Group Lead(s)

Gavin (mrvls_brkfst), stipend - $5000/month

Request for Funding

Proposed Budget

Q4 maximum $80,700. If every language fulfils every possibility and we have three new languages trialling three blogs each. Funds do not need moving from FC because they are contributor rewards.

Use of Funds

Current contributors: ela , sver , Tudou , @blurb (nakamomo), Crypto_sova , @Cryptouf , insidetrader , laridsaldanha @Etsuran 閲覧用

Note: Social media activity might be covered by impression mining but currently the program is geared to EN content and LOWG contributors are in the early stages of establishing their profiles so some compensation is offered while they gain traction. If a channel transfers to impression mining, it will no longer receive LOWG remuneration for social posts.

By the end of the working group period, we aim to have completed the transfer of key languages to the new site and for the blogs to reside there.

Organization

How will it work?

What will you be doing?

How will you interface with the community?

The LOWG will be managed by mrvls_brkfst (myself). Through Q4, I am keen to mentor contributors as well as help with admin and coordination. I will aim to provide more workshops (similar to this quick SEO workshop) and to find new ways to leverage our content.

Contributors will manage their tasks independently and as they see appropriate for their language. Contributions will be tracked in the Index Coop Content spreadsheet 1. Feedback and reviews will take place. Contributors will be asked to provide statistics relevant to the platforms they use.

Due to time zone challenges, the whole group rarely meets. Communication is via 1:1 calls, chat, and the Discord #language-ops channel. Meetings do take place and are recorded for those who cannot attend. Should a weekly meeting become necessary, it will be facilitated.

Direct requests for translation assistance have so far been manageable and requests may continue via the language-ops discord channel or via myself.

Commitments

I am committed to Index Coop principles.

I am committed to serving the entire Index Coop with my work.

I am committed to open, rapid communication: I know that clear, constant, public communication lifts up the entire Index Coop community. I am highly aware and resolutely committed to this style of communication.

Shared learnings: I will share my progress, learnings with the entire community. I will ensure that anything I create is accessible beyond my own tenure for future generations of Indexers to access & build on.

Intellectual honesty: I am committed to growth and improvement. I am open to feedback and will use feedback to improve my work for the benefit of the entire Coop community.

I am committed to making Index Coop a welcoming, fun, and engaging community to work in!

The Language Operations Working Group opportunity

I believe the value of communication in a person’s native tongue is essential for understanding and trust. For me, Language-Ops and its contributors exemplify what is possible when people work together. The Index Coop is a magnificent recent creation that embodies the great elemental possibilities offered by the Internet and the Cryptosphere - it is a global coordinated effort to build a better future. The Index Coop is best summed up best in its guiding principles and it is with these principles and thoughts in mind that I will continue working to make the LOWG a valuable asset to the Index Coop.