Meeting Minutes 05/12/2026

Attendees:

Name	Attendance	Role	Voting Seat (Y/N)	Election Cycle
Laura Mattiucci	Yes	Chair (interim)	Y	April 2028
TBD	No	Vice Chair	Y	TBD
Lara Bonasorte	Yes	Secretary	N	N/A
Andy Hung	Yes	Member	Y	April 2028
Alexa C. aka Thyme	Yes	Member	Y	April 2028
Josefine Birkigt	Yes	Member	Y	April 2028
Marco Moshi	Yes	Member	Y	April 2028
Maggie Schmidt	Yes	Member	Y	April 2027
Otavio Lima	Yes	Member	Y	April 2027
Reshan Fernando	Yes	Member	Y	April 2027
Wes Parkinson	Yes	Member	Y	April 2027
Yoram Ben Zvi	Yes	Member	Y	April 2027

Other Guests:

• John G.

• P. Lucas

• Seun Gibri

• Terence McCutcheon

• Wilco van de Burgwal

Recording: Growth & Marketing Committee (Intersect) - 2026/05/12 - Recording

Transcript: Growth & Marketing Committee (Intersect) - 2026/05/12 - Transcript

Chat Transcript: Growth & Marketing Committee - 2026/05/12 - Chat

Intros/COI

Andy: Pacific Meta Alexa/Thyme: GMC committee, Vice Chair CPC Josi: TBD Lara: TBD Laura: Director Marketing and Comms at CF Maggie: TBD Marco: TBD Otavio: TBD Reshan: TBD Tex: OS Program Manager(Intersect), OSC Secretary, Committee Member Advocate Wes: Rare Network Yoram: TBD

Agenda 5.12.26

• Open Forum

Decisions/Actions

Decisions

• Approval of Meeting Cadence Change Review: The committee decided to formally reconsider and change the day/time of the GMC meetings due to a clash with the MCC meetings and time zone issues for US and Asian members.

• Establishment of Recusal Guidelines: The committee agreed that members with direct affiliations or involvement in active proposals (specifically Marco, Wes, and Yoram) will recuse themselves from providing GMC commentary on those specific projects.

• Expansion of Proposal Review Scope: The committee decided to expand their marketing evaluation list to include proposals bypassing Intersect that go directly to the treasury (such as the Summit), agreeing that these should be evaluated under the same macro framework.

• Adoption of a Standardized Evaluation Format: The committee decided to use a uniform, criteria-based spreadsheet template rather than a freestyle format to compile individual member feedback on the active proposals.

• Endorsement of DRep Guidance Strategy: The committee agreed that their official platform comments will not serve as endorsements or voting recommendations, but will strictly serve as educational feedback to help DReps think with a marketing eye.

Actions

• Lara: Send an official email to all members requesting their specific time zones for the archive records.

• Lara: Put out an official poll on Discord to finalize the new meeting cadence once transition onboarding is complete.

• Lara: Create a structured evaluation spreadsheet based on the four agreed-upon 2030 strategic criteria and distribute it to the committee by Friday.

• Lara: Review all member feedback, concise the notes into a single output, and dedicate Wednesday/Thursday of next week to posting the official GMC comments on the platform.

• Lara: Audit the direct treasury proposals, identify the 3–4 marketing-specific ones, and add them to the master review list under a separate category.

• Committee Members (Eligible): Review the provided list of marketing proposals by the end of the week and input questions/opinions into the shared spreadsheet.

• Laura: Compile and share her industry benchmark marketing expenditure research with the committee via email/Drive.

Topic	Discussion	Notes
Welcome and Committee Introductions	Lara welcomed everyone to the transition phase meeting and invited newly elected members to introduce themselves.	The committee welcomed new members and celebrated their election victories.
New Cohort Terms and Continuity	Lara clarified the structural timeline for the newly elected cohort to ensure organizational continuity.	Newly elected members will serve a 2-year term expiring in April 2028, which avoids the historical stop-and-start process of reboarding.
Meeting Schedule and Time Zone Optimization	Lara raised the issue that the current meeting time clashes with MCC meetings and fails to accommodate members on the US West Coast, while being very late (9:00 PM) for members like Andy in Japan. Thyme noted the current time is 8:30 AM EST and nearly 8:00 PM in Vietnam, which works fine for them. Wes noted the time works better for him now due to less travel, while Maggie mentioned the central time zone (7:30 AM) can be difficult.	Lara will issue an official email request for time zone availability and post a Discord poll to reset the meeting cadence. Next week's meeting remains at the current time.
Marketing Proposal Reviews	Lara shared a list of marketing-related proposals compiled based on the GMC framework and strategic pillars. The committee needs to group their opinions and submit official commentary under a single wallet access before the deadline on May 22nd.	The next meeting will focus on consolidating committee feedback so Lara can post the official GMC comments on May 20th and May 21st.
Conflict of Interest Guidelines	Lara addressed conflict of interest regarding members who have participated in submitting active proposals.	Marco (two proposals), Wes (Scribe 3), and Yoram (Service Plan) are advised to recuse themselves from commenting on those specific proposals.
Proposal Evaluation Criteria	Laura and Lara recalled the four foundational evaluation criteria established during the previous call to evaluate proposals uniformly. Yoram asked if the feedback format was freestyle or structured.	The criteria include alignment with Cardano 2030, growth elements, and budget/teams. Lara will create and share a structured spreadsheet template by Friday to align all reviews.
Voting Period Communications	Lara outlined plans to increase social media presence during the upcoming Hydra voting period.	The committee is prepping a communications plan with the Intersect ecosystem team to encourage community evaluation of proposals through a marketing lens.
Ecosystem Budget Allocation Strategy	Yoram proposed that the committee should recommend an ecosystem-wide framework outlining what percentage of the total budget should go to tech infrastructure, adoption, and governance/admin. He suggested adoption should receive at least 40% to 50% of the total budget based on 2026–2030 KPIs.	Lara noted it needs to be confirmed with the ISC whether recommending broad allocations falls within the GMC's explicit remit, but welcomed a general framework recommendation.
Marketing Benchmark Research	Laura shared industry benchmarks for marketing expenditures, stating that established companies typically spend 6% to 10%, while scaling entities like Cardano require 15% to 17% for growth, excluding BD. Yoram noted the Cardano investment fund already represents about 15% of the total budget (50M ADA).	Laura will share her compiled marketing benchmark research with the committee to assist in the evaluation framework.
Onboarding and Document Access	Lara verified that official documentation, including the spreadsheet for the GMC framework, needs to be formally distributed.	Marco confirmed that new members received their email invites and have successfully onboarded to the GMC Google Drive, granting them access to historical archives and meeting records.
Direct Treasury Withdrawals vs. Intersect	Thyme raised a concern regarding entities that bypass Intersect by requesting direct treasury withdrawals, noting they miss out on information resources and can consume budget before Intersect proposals initiate. Yoram insisted that the GMC framework should evaluate the whole budget pie regardless of the submission pathway.	Direct treasury funding avenues will be factored into the committee's broader strategic overview.
Standardized Feedback Mandate	Josefine asked for clarification on whether the committee is making voting recommendations or just providing feedback. Laura and Lara clarified that the goal is to guide and educate Decentralized Representatives (DReps) on alignment with the ecosystem's 2030 strategy without explicitly endorsing projects.	Secretarial staff received a standardized, step-by-step commentary template from Intersect staff to ensure the GMC prompts critical thinking rather than telling DReps how to vote.
Treasury-Direct Marketing Inclusion	Laura asked if proposals heading straight to the treasury (such as the Summit) should be added to the marketing review list. Yoram and Marco agreed, stating it serves as a valuable tool to educate the ecosystem.	Lara will identify the remaining 3–4 treasury-direct marketing proposals and append them to the master review spreadsheet under a separate category.