Sndbox Project Spotlight 1: Interview with @heymattsokol [A Steem-Powered Music Venue in Raleigh]

Spotlights are interviews! @sndbox reaches out to creative individuals and communities pursuing unique projects. These can be Steem-powered projects, philanthropic work, meetups or big picture ideas. Our goal is to raise awareness for special initiatives and help with funding for deserving projects. (50% of the SBD earned from this post will go directly to @heymattsokol’s account to support this project.)

@sndbox : Hey Matt, tell us about yourself and what you're working on!

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@heymattsokol : My name is Matt Sokol, and I’m working on a whole bunch of projects, haha.

Most importantly, I am working with Sndbox to build a non-profit organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina, aimed to support the incredible local music scene here via steem. We’re one of the fastest growing cities in America, known for great art, great food, and our huge network of technology start-ups.

The goal is to put more money into the local music ecosystem while hosting highly visible steem-funded events. We’ll be recruiting hundreds of local musicians into the steem ecosystem in 2018.

@sndbox : Why did you start this steem-powered music initiative?

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@heymattsokol : A few years ago, a friend of mine invited me to help with a charity event. I ended up running logistics for a two day event in the middle of Brooklyn, headlined by world-famous comedian Bill Burr (Breaking Bad, F is For Family, etc), where we recruited hundreds of volunteers to pack 100,000 meals to send to hungry people around the world. It was insane.

Ever since then, I’ve been looking for a chance to pursue another epic charity project. When the Sndbox crew reached out to me about starting a steem project in Raleigh, I knew I had to do it.

@sndbox : Tells us all the juicy details! - What's your timeline, projected cost, stakeholders involved?

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@heymattsokol :I’ve been talking with a group of 5 other music influencers in this area to bounce ideas around. Here’s what we know for sure:

• We’re going to put on local shows funded by steem, hiring local musicians and artists every step of the way. This will serve two purposes: (1) To recruit bands onto the steem blockchain, and (2) to create a powerful use case for steem, since it’s replacing the government as a source of local arts funding.

• We’d love to team up with some of the great local charities here for events and projects as well. There are a few we’re looking at, such as Girls Rock North Carolina, an amazing organization empowering young women to participate in the local art community.

TIMELINE :

• November: We’re going to start raising funds via creating steem content in November. This content will double as steem promotion, since we’ll be interviewing a lot of local musicians/influencers and introducing them to the blockchain in the process.

• Early 2018: By March 2018, we’ll take a look at the success of the fundraising period. (There will be regular updates between now and then).

Depending on how well funded we are, we’ll aim for one of two options: (a) Getting a lease on our own full-time space in downtown Raleigh to put on shows & host touring bands who are passing through, or (b) Renting out prominent local venues (Slim’s, Pour House, many more) one night at a time, to put on huge steem-funded shows that double as steem recruitment drives. We might team up with house venues to do some DIY stuff too.

• May 2018: By May of next year, I hope to be fully operational with shows happening on a weekly basis. This may seem far away, but keep in mind that we’re trying to do something really big and awesome here. I also suspect that patience will be useful because steem’s price could go up between now and then.

The team is in the process right now of setting up a legally binding contract for all members to sign, to ensure that all funds will be protected. I want to set up a multi-signature wallet to secure the funds further - I’ll be looking into options for that soon.

@sndbox : After the completion of the project, how do you hope the Steemit audience and those beyond may perceive your work?

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@heymattsokol : I hope that the project will grow over time. In a true dream scenario, Raleigh would become one of the world’s biggest hubs for steem. Musicians from around the world would look to us as an example of how to use steem to fund local art projects, and other “copycat” initiatives would be launched by steemians in other cities.

Who knows - maybe this could be the beginning of a whole new way to fund musical events. I’m a true believer in this technology, haha. Steem could revolutionize the way that music is funded and distributed.

But it’ll only happen if we do the work. I’m grateful to Michael, Kirk, and everybody else at Sndbox for making this possible. Let’s do something amazing together.

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A big thanks to @heymattsokol for the interview! Make sure to follow his page to learn more about the steem-powered venue unfolding in Raleigh. (50% of the SBD earned from this post will go directly to @heymattsokol’s account to support this project.)

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