Foundation Mission Request: TechNERD S8 [CONTRIBUTIONS] #283
Description
Proposed Foundation Mission Request: This Mission Request is to maintain and expand the existing TechNERD program. TechNERDs provide developer support for the Optimism Collective in the Developers Support repo & [Developer Discord](https://guild.xyz/superchain-devs). This Mission will cover up to 6 techNERDs, and 1 lead, providing developer support for the duration of S8, as well as incentives for techNERDs to provide support to Optimism organized hackathons, and a new incentive for TechNERDs to help maintain and support the Optimism Docs team.
Intent: A set of interoperable Stage 1 chains doing $250M in cross-chain asset transfers
Total grant amount: (32,000 OP) 22,000 OP (excluding hackathon support) + 10,000 OP for Docs Issues.
- 4,000 OP per TechNERD x 6 (max)
- 6,000 for TechNERD Lead x 1 (max)
- 250 OP bonus per nerd per hackathon (see Hackathon Support).
Should this Foundation Mission be fulfilled by one or multiple teams: 1 Lead, up to 6 TechNERDs.
OP Labs or Optimism Unlimited Sponsor: TechNERD Management: Zak@oplabs.co, [email protected], Docs Issue management: [email protected]. Mission supported by opjulian.
Submit by: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Selection by: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Start date: July 24 2025
Completion date: Start date of S9.
How will this Mission help accomplish this Season’s Intent?
- In order for Interop to work, developers will need technical support. The TechNERDs are decentralizing support, allowing the developer community to help itself. The TechNERD program enables this by decentralizing the knowledge needed to debug, build, and deploy on the Superchain. TechNERDs are also spread over the major timezones, ensuring quicker responses and consistent monitoring.
What is required to execute this Mission?
TechNERDs:
Applicants need to meet the following criteria:
- Complete and pass KYC. This is a requirement to get the TechNERD role.
- Have a web3 technical background (ideally one directly related to the development or deployment of production systems).
- Have a solid understanding of the OP Stack and the Optimism ecosystem as a whole. Understanding of Smart Contract deployment process and tooling, debugging, and common troubleshooting. Some resources have been provided.
- Successfully close a discussion in the Developer support repo.
TechNERDs Requirements:
- Create or update their [“Contributor” page in the support repo](https://github.com/ethereum-optimism/developers/tree/main/community/support/technerd-program/contributors).
- NERDs need to track their weekly tickets in the GitHub, or that week will NOT COUNT FOR REWARDS.
- Attend bi-weekly techNERD calls in Developer Discord.
- Rewards are based on the number of active weeks.
- Activity is defined as at least 3 tickets closed a week or 5 t-shirt points worth of tickets. For more info see the Developer Support GitHub Discussions.
TechNERD Lead:
TechNERD Lead applicants need to meet the TechNERD criteria as well as:
- Have some experience leading a team or managing contributors.
- Have exceptional organizational skills, able to track and maintain data.
- Good people skills, able to give critical feedback in a supportive way to fellow TechNERDs.
Only existing TechNERDs will be considered for the Lead role this season.
TechNERD Lead Requirements:
- Operations: Manage day-to-day issue management (ensuring each issue has a techNERD, closing issues once a sufficient answer has been provided, combining and closing duplicate questions, ensuring issues have the correct tags, etc).
- Adding the weekly issue numbers to the tracking sheet.
- Community engagement: Gather feedback from developers getting support, encourage devs to join relevant community platforms, and foster collaboration between TechNERDs and the developer community.
- Strategic: Work with Mission Sponsor to improve the TechNERDs program, and improve performance metrics and quality standards for TechNERDs.
- Attend a bi-weekly call with the Mission Sponsor to relay any common questions, missing resources, weekly issue count and topics, and fellow TechNERD performance.
- Hackathon support is not optional for the TechNERD lead. Lead will need to collaborate with volunteered TechNERDs to ensure consistent hackathon support (especially for longer-form hackathons), and collaborate with the Optimism team to support workshops or other live resources.
- Before hackathons, the Lead will work closely with the team to ensure that sufficient resources are available, and resources (tutorials, guides, docs, etc) catered to the theme or goal of the hackathon are available and tested.
Hackathon Support:
- TechNERDs will be informed of upcoming hackathons during TechNERD calls and will be able to sign up to support hackathons.
- Hackathons may be online or in person. Hackathon support is optional, and as they are outside of regular support channels, these bonuses will be at the discretion of the Optimism Foundation. Activity is roughly defined as 5 questions or t-shirt ticket sizes per 24-hour period. This may be different for IRL or longer-form hackathons.
- For online hackathons support may be in a different discord/github, depending on the hackathon. Support locations and expectations will be set during calls.
- For IRL hackathons TechNERDs may be flown to the event (with certain expenses covered) to provide support to developers.
Docs Issues & Bounties:
- All bounties for docs will go through the [TechNERD DeWork bounty board for S8](https://app.dework.xyz/optimism-community/technerds-s8/overview).
- Bounties are reward as follows:
- Small - 200 OP
- Issues that require no contextual understanding or are minor amount of work (for example, checking a tutorial is correct).
- Medium - 690 OP
- Issues that require some context or effort (for example, updating outdated docs).
- Large - 1420 OP
- Issues that require high context (for example, brand new docs, new tutorials, deep dives, etc).
- Small - 200 OP
- TechNERDs are not expected to write docs perfectly, but the docs must be technically correct (the formatting and language will be improved when the PR is reviewed).
- Bounties can be submitted by the docs team, but can also be submitted for approval by the TechNERDs. For example, if a techNERD sees an outdated doc and creates a PR to update the doc, they can submit the PR to the docs team during the TechNERD call. The docs team can then accept or reject the issue, and assign a size to it.
- Note that issues and contributions done through the program are able to apply for RetroFunding should there be an appropriate round to apply to.
How should progress towards completion be measured?
Token House milestones are mostly about accountability, so they should measure progress toward completion.
- Hackathon(s) require less team time on assistance than previous hackathons.
- Testimonials from developers helped by techNERDs.
- Weekly ticket close times recorded by TechNERD Lead (goal is 60% closed or resolved within 48 hours).
Please note: All of the contributor roles and associated rewards described here are intended for independent and engaged community members who volunteer to provide their knowledge and expertise to the Collective and receive an honorarium in the form of OP. These volunteers are not employees of the Collective, the Foundation, or any of its affiliates for any purpose.
Application Instructions
TechNERDs:
To apply for this Foundation Mission, please complete this [linked application form](https://optimismfnd.typeform.com/techNERDs-appS7). Existing TechNERDs MUST reapply through the same link (even if you have filled this application form in before). Note you cannot be accepted without successfully completing KYC.
TechNERD Lead:
Those wishing to apply for the TechNERD Lead role please fill in the same form as well as posting the following template filled in as a comment on this issue thread.
- Discord Handle
- Experience Leading a team or contributors: (this can include other NERD roles or contributions in DAOs or non-traditional leadership roles)
- Relevant experience tracking contributions or tasks: (data tracking, data tracking automation and interpretations, etc)
- Why do you think you would make a good lead: (why are you the right person for this role?)
Note that TechNERD lead applicants will also need to participate in a recorded interview with the team before selection. Should no acceptable TechNERD Lead applications be submitted before the start of this Mission proposal, a TechNERD may volunteer during the course of the Mission.