As announced on Meetup and the Cardano Forum Post, on July 21, 2024, the first Intersect Meetup in Vietnam was held in Ho Chi Minh City at Vien Dong Hotel with the participation of over 35 attendees (55 registered).
At the event, the Cardano Vietnam community and guests explored the following topics:
Decentralized Governance on Cardano - CIP1694
Overview of Intersect
The Five Core Pillars of Intersect
Updates on Intersect’s Activities and Grants
Opportunities with Intersect
Instructions for Registering for Intersect Membership
In the first session, "Decentralized Governance on Cardano - CIP1694", Mr. Quang Daniel from Vcoincheck presented the differences between centralized and decentralized governance, the process of building decentralized governance on Cardano from previous eras to the Voltaire era, and the differences between governance in the Shelley era and the Voltaire era.
Before moving on to the “Overview of Intersect,” we played a minigame together. Participants were divided into several groups, each designing a floor of a house. Then, we assembled the floors and invited representatives from each group to present. Through this minigame, participants understood that unity and collaboration are needed to create a desired house. Without someone to connect and manage, it would be difficult to create a perfect system.
Intersect plays such a role, helping Cardano build decentralized governance by supporting and managing community-voted funded projects.
In the “Overview of Intersect,” we explored what Intersect is and why it is needed. Many interesting questions were raised, such as “How is Intersect different from Catalyst?” and “Will Catalyst continue to operate if Intersect works well in the future?”
Next, we learned about the five core pillars of Intersect, helping participants understand the role and direction of Intersect now and in the future.
We also updated participants on Intersect’s activities, current and funded grants, highlighting the opportunities Intersect offers and sparking interest in becoming an Intersect member.
In the “Opportunities with Intersect” session, Mr. Quang Daniel highlighted funding activities, opportunities, and benefits for participants when they become Intersect members.
Following this, Mr. Alfred Pham from Miverse presented the benefits for individuals and businesses when becoming Intersect members, including business opportunities, knowledge, early access to information, rich relationships, brand building, and marketing…
Mr. Alfred Pham also highlighted specific cases funded by Intersect and how collaborations between unfunded and funded groups provide win-win support. This helped participants recognize many opportunities for themselves and their businesses when joining Intersect.
Participants were very enthusiastic about the presentations by Mr. Quang Daniel and Mr. Alfred Pham. Many asked questions during the Q&A session. Notable questions included:
-
Is Intersect a solution to replace Catalyst in the future? If not, how can both coexist?
-
How many grants are organized per year?
-
With experience as a CR in Catalyst, what can be contributed to Intersect?
-
If a funded project fails to meet the timeline set by Intersect, will it affect future opportunities?
-
Can bad projects exploit Intersect?
-
Governance on Cardano is based on the amount of ADA in the voting wallet. What if groups want to sabotage Cardano?
-
Please share details about the application and evaluation process in the Intersect Community Grants program. What specific steps do applicants need to follow?
-
Which project areas will be prioritized for Intersect funding during this period?
-
Are there challenges in working with Intersect and seeking funding from this organization?
-
What special notes should applicants consider when applying for Intersect grants?
-
How does Intersect ensure the quality of its projects is better than Catalyst? What factors help Intersect achieve this?
-
Can you share more about Intersect’s specific plans to develop multimedia educational resources such as instructional videos, online courses, and study materials to help ADA holders better understand the new governance features of CIP-1694? Education and marketing need to lead to truly attract and help people understand the benefits of building on Cardano. Previously, Cardano didn’t really focus and do well in this area. Does Intersect have clear plans to improve or call on the community to do better than what Cardano Foundation, IOG, and Emurgo have done before?
-
Can you share specific steps that a business or individual needs to take to participate in Intersect projects? How can a small group compete with larger groups? Are opportunities truly open to small groups?
-
If I lack resources and the team is just myself, can I still collaborate with Intersect?
-
What specific support can Intersect provide to small businesses and individuals in this case?
And then, we guided participants in registering for Intersect membership. However, there was an issue as the membership registration interface did not work at that time. Therefore, we guided participants to join the Telegram group and supported them in registering for membership later.
We also plan to create articles about Intersect, including links to register for Intersect membership, and share them regularly in Telegram and Facebook groups to attract more people to register as Intersect members.
Many participants appreciated the shared content and expressed a desire for more events like this in the future. Particularly, the Cardano community members in Hanoi (northern Vietnam) were eager for an Intersect Meetup in Hanoi. We plan to organize an online Meetup to provide more information to members in Hanoi and hope to host an Intersect Meetup in Hanoi in the future.
The Intersect Meetup went smoothly, all thanks to Intersect and Cardano’s support in promoting and supporting the event. 
We are grateful to Intersect and Cardano for creating opportunities for the Cardano Vietnam community to learn more about and deeply participate in Intersect, contributing to building Cardano’s decentralized governance. 
Sincerely,
On behalf of the Cardano Vietnam community
and the organizing committee of Intersect Meetup Ho Chi Minh,
Ha Nguyen.