An introduction to Kickback (https://kickback.events), an Ethereum blockchain application which uses crypto economics to attempt to solve the problem of no-shows at free events.

1. Incentivizing event attendance through
crypto economics
ickback
Ramesh Nair / @hiddentao
Co-founder

2. “Crypto-economic incentives”
Actors are driven by economic incentives,
standard game theory applies.
The rules and logic are underpinned and
enforced through cryptography, i.e. the
blockchain.
Frees us to just focus on ensuring the
incentives are correct.

3. Meet-ups are great…
…FREE meet-ups are even better!
But there are 2 big problems…

4. A common problem: No-shows
• Hard to plan and
budget for
• Low turnout can
“break” an event
• Discourages future
participation

5. With common solutions…
Introduce scarcity
Do fewer events
Limit to fewer max. people
Early RSVP deadline
Spend more $$
Marketing and promotion
Pizza, beer, gifts
VIPs
Ask for more commitment
Jump through hoops to sign-up
Chase up no-shows and query them
Monetary solutions…

6. Monetary solutions
*https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/asset/ultimate-way-reduce-no-shows-free-events/
Charge if no-show
Pros: Participant only charged if
they don’t show up
Cons: Requiring card details will
deter some people.
Paid tickets
Pros: Will increase turnout due to
higher perceived value of ticket*
Cons: No longer free, and upfront
payment will deter many people
Deposit they get back
Pros: Will increase turnout*. Still
effectively free for participant if
they show up to the event.
Cons: Need to collect money and
then give it back. Could still deter
people due to upfront payment.
Cumbersome
payment
logistics!

7. Remember the fundamentals…
“If I don’t need to pay I’ll
happily sign up, because
it isn’t costing me
anything”
“If I have to pay then I
need to think carefully
about it. I wish it was
just free”
“I signed up, but it was
free, so it’s ok if I
change my mind now
and give it a miss”
“I signed up, and it cost
me, so if I change my
mind now I’ll have
wasted my money”

8. Deposit they get back
“If I don’t need to pay I’ll
happily sign up, because
it isn’t costing me
anything”
“I signed up, and it cost
me, so if I change my
mind now I’ll have
wasted my money”

9. Deposit they get back
How can we make the logistics of this easier?
Enter smart contracts!
Ethereum
Smart
Contract
Withdraw
Ethereum
Smart
Contract
Finalize attendance
Ethereum
Smart
ContractRSVP

10. Additional incentive
If I don’t turn up my initial commitment gets split
among everybody else did turn up!
Ethereum
Smart
ContractRSVP
Ethereum
Smart
Contract
Withdraw
This is how Kickback currently works!

11. Does it work?
• 7 events at #DevconFour 2
• 500 people RSVP’d
(>$2k in contract)
• Avge. 60% turn up rate
(low due to the type of events)
• Avge. 50% payout profit
• 10+ London Ethereum
meetups 1
• 112 people RSVP’d
• Avge. 90% turn up rate
(was 50% prior to using Kickback)
• Avge. 11% payout profit
1 https://medium.com/noblocknoparty/the-history-of-deploying-smart-contracts-on-ethereum-mainnet-10-times-7a4fdd5b065
Profitable for
participants
Turn up rate
inconsistent
2 https://medium.com/wearekickback/the-road-to-prague-9d3fed10f89b

12. Inconsistent turn-up rate
Not suitable for certain
event types
Need a cutoff time for
arrivals
Deposit needs to be
higher >$5
Not suitable if there
are multiple similar
events at same time

14. Criticisms
UX / flow
Concept

15. Potential improvements
Withdraw anytime,
reuse as deposits
Different payout
strategies
Better guidance
for organisers,
e.g. deposit size
Fiat -> Crypto
on-ramp
+1 RSVPs,
transfer registration

16. Second problem: Sustainability
“I would love to use
Kickback but I don’t
want to pay”
“I wish I could keep
my costs down so
that I could run more
meetups”

17. What’s a good solution?
Make Kickback
free
Charge
attendees
Event
sponsors
Companies
want
Potential new
users/customers
Token
distribution
Brand
awareness
Organizers
want
Minimal
costs
Participant
incentives
Larger
audience
Sponsorship

18. Do it on-chain
Sponsor
Money
PotaddToPot
Sponsor
Sponsor
Money
PotbidForMoney
Organizer
Sponsor
Money
PotacceptBid
Sponsor
Sponsor
Money
PotwithdrawMoney
Organizer
We would like to
integrate with existing
on-chain systems

19. 2019 onwards…
Sponsorship
model
DAI / ERC-20 support
(Khyber/Bancor)
New withdrawals
architecture
Raise funding!
Subscription
Pricing
FIAT on-ramp for
non-crypto users
Ethereum
Scalability

20. Incentivizing respectful communities
EventBrite
Meetup Patreon
Kickback?

21. Find us online
@_jefflau@makoto_inoue @hiddentao
@wearekickback
kickback.events

22. Thank you!