Name of Retrospective Award
Rocket Pool Educational YouTube Videos
Who is the proposed retrospective award recipient?
Leighm.eth
What specific project or work is the retrospective award in recognition of? Please detail what the project or work entailed and the duration over which it took place.
Over the period of October 2022 to April 2023, 7 education YouTube videos were created to help node operators, who were just starting out, get a first-hand look at what was involved in running a Rocket Pool node.
When I first joined Rocket Pool community in August 2022, I immediately learned that you could run a test node on Goerli to familiarize yourself with the process of running a node before migrating to Mainnet. I am a hands-on, visual learner, and reading pages and pages of documentation can seem overwhelming. Because I had very little Linux experience, I wanted to see if there were videos documenting the steps that could guide me along the way.
Upon researching, I noticed there were almost no Rocket Pool specific videos documenting the steps on settings up and running a Rocket Pool node, and I knew that if I was searching for Rocket Pool videos, others might be as well. So, I took it upon myself to create my first Rocket Pool video showing every step required to successfully launch a Rocket Pool minipool.
The video ended up being 52min long, but, shortly after posting it, I could see the demand was there. In the last 16 months the video has garnered over 5,700 views. I believe these videos filled a gap that existed during a crucial time in Rocket Pools history. Many potential node operators were becoming interested in RP at this time due to LEB8s on the way. Looking at video analytics, views spiked leading up to, and shortly after, LEB8s launch in April 2023.
Videos Created:
Setting up a Rocket Pool Validator from Start to Finish - Post Merge
Setting up a Rocket Pool Minipool - Speed Run!
Updating Rocket Pool Smartnode Software
Pruning a Rocket Pool Node
Securing your Rocket Pool Node
Minipool Bond Reduction - Rocket Pool
Exiting and Closing a Rocket Pool Minipool
Videos can be seen here:
Are the subjects of this award entirely open source
N/A
Benefit
Group | Benefits
N/A
Potential rETH holders | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people looking to stake ETH for rETH?
The more Node Operators who watched the videos and became comfortable with the process opened up room in the deposit pool so rETH could be minted directly versus the secondary market.
rETH holders | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help rETH holders?
Node Operators are how the APR on rETH is generated.
Potential NOs | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people looking to run a Rocket Pool node for the first time?
This was the focus on creating these videos. I wanted to show potential node operators just how easy it was to run a Rocket Pool node.
NOs | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people already running a Rocket Pool node?
Many of the videos show basics steps for Node Operators, such as Updating the smartnode software, pruning your Execution Client, securing your node and Bond reductions.
Community | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given how does this help the Rocket Pool community?
Since many of the community members are node operators, I felt these videos would be helpful for both potential node operators and members already running nodes. After the videos were created, I could see the videos being shared amongst community members in discord.
RPL holders | How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given how does this help RPL holders?
As a node operator, it is important to understand the role that RPL plays when spinning up a node. I feel the videos do a good job showing the steps and reasoning why it is required.
Costs
65 RPL based on standard media rates. The 7 videos combined have a total of over 8,000 views, and as mentioned above, I truly believe these videos filled a gap during an important time in Rocket Pools journey. The costs are to cover the time used in preparation, creating, editing and answering questions asked on YouTube.
How much USD $ is the applicant requesting be awarded to the recipient?
$2,100 at time of writing
Is the applicant requesting RPL or LUSD?
RPL
Conflict of Interest
Does the person or persons requesting the retrospective award have any conflicts of interest to disclose? (Please disclose here if you are a member of the GMC or if you have nominated a member of the GMC for this retrospective award).
N/A