POAP Issuer Guidelines

Overview

The POAP Issuer Guidelines are written to provide insight into the POAP Curation Body review process to the POAP Issuer Community. While it currently exists as a humble set of guidelines, this document will one day house everything from our shared history, to our philosophy, to a comprehensive policy and guide on accepted POAP usage. The POAP Issuer Guidelines (hereafter, the Guidelines) consist of the following sections:

• Issuer Responsibilities
• Petition Review Process
• Overview of Common POAP Use Cases
• Sizing and Distribution Best Practices

The Guidelines will be reviewed biweekly, with major changes announced quarterly.

Discussions on policy and related topics will be held frequently on the POAP Discourse.

Issuer Responsibilities

The Proof of Attendance Protocol is dedicated to preserving memories and creating richer connections. Issuers using the protocol should consider the sustainment and growth of the POAP ecosystem in their typical usage.

Protocol Preservation

• Responsible issuance is a core responsibility of POAP issuers. Issuers must verify attendance of collectors at events and/or collector eligibility for POAPs. Issuers must also size drops responsibly.

Good Citizenship

• The POAP Community must abide by a mutually agreed upon code of conduct, and should act as good stewards of the technology POAP brings to the world.

Craftsmanship

• Memories are humanity’s most valuable asset, and as such, POAP takes their preservation very seriously. These memories must be presented and represented thoughtfully in the production and distribution of collectibles minted with POAP.

Petition Review Process

Initial Review

After an issuer petitions the Curation Body to drop a POAP, the petition undergoes a manual review by the curators. Reviews have several possible outcomes:

• Approval (without comment): In the best case scenario, curators have no objections to the preparation or execution of a drop. The issuer receives an email that confirms the drop is approved.

If a drop cannot be approved without comment, curators may reach out to the issuer (via the email provided when the drop was set up) for the following reasons:

• Request for Information: In some cases, additional information is required by curators to make a decision about the petition.
• Conditional Approval: In other cases, a drop may be approved with relatively minor changes to the drop (content or distribution). After an issuer revises their petition as requested, the drop will be approved promptly.

Drops are rejected when they are conceptually too far out of alignment with the POAP ethos, or when distribution presents too high a risk and compromise cannot be reached with issuers. If a drop is rejected, issuers are notified via email within 48 hours.

Appeals

The following are the most common reasons drops are rejected, in order of frequency:

1. Engagement Farming: POAPs as a reward for promotional activities (like generic social media engagement, or simply joining a community) are usually rejected, in absence of further information for consideration.
2. Poor Drop Execution: Drops are rejected in cases where issuers appear incapable of distributing POAPs to collectors responsibly. This may be due to platform issues, overly ambitious logistical endeavors by new issuers, or simply historical evidence.
3. Low Production Quality: POAPs are collector’s items, and, as such, should be developed with a certain degree of care. Low quality or duplicative artwork is often rejected by the POAP Curation Body.

If issuers wish to appeal a rejection, head to the official POAP website and open the chatbot at the bottom right hand of your screen. This will allow you to communicate directly with the POAP Curation Body. A respectful, professional, and collaborative relationship between issuers and curators is vital for the health of the POAP ecosystem. The foundation of this relationship is a mutual understanding of the Guidelines.

Ultimately, the final determination of whether a petition is approved rests with the POAP Curation Body, as the stewards of the POAP ecosystem.

Best practices for creating a drop can be found in the POAP Help Center article on Creating Quality POAP Drops.

For specific suggestions on implementing distribution methods, please see the Guidelines section on POAP Distribution.

If you are interested in getting a more comprehensive overview of Curation Guidelines, please head to http://curation.poap.xyz/.