Quote from: IconicExpert on May 02, 2014, 06:08:50 PM

BlackCoin Community Plan

As promised I came up with a basic plan that we all can build upon over time. I think as a community need to be on the same page to achieve our common goal to make BlackCoin #1.
Before starting I was going to put this into a PDF and I decided to post it here so everyone can add whatever suggestions and comments to the plan. This is very long so please take a few minutes to read it.

Introduction:
Over the past few weeks this community has accomplished some amazing things in the name of BlackCoin, but lately we have lost focus on our main goal of making BlackCoin #1. Some of us have been conducting ourselves like juveniles on this forum, including myself. The first thing that needs to change around here is our decorum. We cannot continue to act the way we have been acting. There are some very talented and intelligent individuals here , and we do not have to attack each other to get our point across. We can have intense debates and still be respectful of each other. If and when trolls do enter our thread, we have to adopt a no tolerance policy. Do not quote them and kindly ask them to refrain from posting FUD. Do not aggressively engage or argue with them. This thread is key to attracting new talent and investors, and it needs to remain open but it also needs to remain fairly professional.

Mission:
Everyone keeps making the mistake of suggesting we can be the next Bitcoin. I do not want to be the next Bitcoin. In the eyes of the world Bitcoin doesn't exist. Yes we know about Bitcoin, and maybe 1 or 2 million people know about Bitcoin. However, if you ask 20 random people on the street if they know what Bitcoin is, I am willing to bet at least 19 of them would not have a clue what Bitcoin is. So although Bitcoin was the first, there is a very good opportunity to become the standard crypto-currency everyone knows and uses. There have been many examples in recent history when the first product to market is overshadowed by the newcomer because the newcomer had better marketing and branding.

Our mission is to strive to be the most recognized and used crypto-currency in the world.

Structure:
This is a hard one. BlackCoin is not a corporation and it will never be a corporation. It is a community funded project with many moving parts. However, it seems to have turned into a central organization with a community that has limited say. There are major issues with this approach but I will not address that now. Moving forward I propose we decentralize BlackCoin and turn it back into a community controlled project.

1. The development team focuses on development and the technical aspect of BlackCoin

2. The BlackCoin foundation focuses on supporting projects and whatever else they feel passionate about.

3. The community focuses on building the brand and handling the business side of BlackCoin. No one person or small group should decide the fate of BlackCoin.

I own the domain GoBlackCoin.com and we can turn that into a community hub for discussions, new ideas, projects, events, and everything else related to BlackCoin. We can have tutorials, market info,...etc..etc. Senior members of the BlackCoin community can be admins and mods. it will be a complete social network for the BlackCoin community. I can have that up and running by mid June.

Technology:
The current BlackCoin client is based off the original Bitcoin client. We should begin to move forward with a more unique design that is tailored more for BlackCoin. Every wallet client is pretty much a carbon copy of the previous client with little differences here and there. It is hard to portray unique and innovative when the software for the wallet is similar in design to every other wallet.

Using BlackCoin at retail locations will be made easier using CoinKite, but I must admit I think cypto is going backwards with this approach. Using cards and terminals to make purchases is 20th century technology, and I have no idea why the currency of the future needs to use redesigned 20th century technology. Google has it right with their technology using an ordinary smart phone to make purchases.

We need to make it easier and cost effective for any merchant to accept BlackCoins without the hassle of extra terminals and cards. There are tons of locations that already support Google's technology, and maybe we need to tie into that network somehow.

Marketing & Brand Awareness:
We have already proven that press releases have a positive effect on getting investors excited and garnering the attention of the crypto-community. But there is so much more we can be doing
a) Social media should be a top priority. We have members who have graciously offered to Tweet regularly and upload photos to Instagram. We must utilize every aspect of social media.

b) Events will be crucial to building brand awareness. The Wall Street event is just one example of how we need to be creative and think out the box. We need to sponsor small concerts, raise money for charities, and sponsor high profile non-crypto related events

c) Traditional print ads in magazines is an option we will need to explore. Bitcoin placed an ad in Wired Magazine. That was a good idea but I would have opted for one of the financial magazines first. We need to go where the money is, and financial magazines is where we need to be.

d) Times Square billboard! Yes we need to go big! At this time it is not feasible to buy a billboard in Times Square, but as the marketcap of BlackCoin increases we can have a BlackCoin billboard in the middle of Times Square.

e) Radio is also an option we need to pursue. Radio is not expensive at all and can be effective with the right ad and audience.

f) Celebrity endorsements. A-list celebrities are expensive, but there are very popular celebrities that are not exactly A-list but have a huge following. Their fees are significantly less than an A-list celebrity but can be just as effective at making BlackCoin popular.

g) Sponsor poker tournaments and have the players paid in BlackCoin.

Infrastructure & Partnerships:
We have been very lucky to have been added to some of the top exchanges and services in such a short span of time. I think as a community we have been very effective in this area and we just need to keep contacting services and keep requesting they add us.

Coinbase is a Bitcoin only service but I think they are rethinking their position on that. If we can show how powerful and innovate BlackCoin is, maybe in the future we can convince them to add us.
Every time I send BTC to an exchange it takes a lifetime to confirm. However, when you compare that to BlackCoin it seems almost instant. This is a major advantage and we need Bitcoin only services to understand Bitcoin is yesterdays technology.

Recruitment:
We need the most talented people onboard to help with this project. Talented and knowledgeable people are priceless, and we need to establish an environment that welcomes and nurtures talented people.
BlackCoin will succeed or fail based on the efforts of the community. Without a passionate and active community BlackCoin will slowly die like many coins before it.

"If you do what you have always done you will get what you have always gotten".....

thanks once more, good ideas.
I like the idea with an independent platform for all things that are about organization and infrastructure.

One thing we should keep in mind that we cannot focus on internet and the english-speaking part of the world only.
For example, Bitcoin has become pretty big in Germany by now but that started with a localized version of MtGox and later an "own" exchange bitcoin.de.
I would be happy to do translation/localization for websites, press releases and software (i am pretty sure i'll find something where i can help with coding as well...).
The more people we find who help with those localizations the more professional it will appear to potential investors from the respective countries.